Editing College of William & Mary (section)

===Colonial era (1693–1776)===
[[File:William and Mary.jpg|thumb|King [[William III of England|William III]] and Queen [[Mary II of England|Mary II]], the college's namesakes]]
[[File:35 JamesBlair1941-005-1-scaled.jpg|thumb|[[James Blair (clergyman)|James Blair]], founder of William & Mary]]
A school of higher education for both [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] young men and the sons of the colonists was one of the earliest goals of the leaders of the [[Colony of Virginia]]. The college was founded on February 8, 1693, under a royal charter to "make, found and establish a certain Place of Universal Study, a perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other good arts and sciences&nbsp;... to be supported and maintained, in all time coming."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://swem.wm.edu/departments/special-collections/exhibits/exhibits/charter/charter/ |title=Earl Gregg Swem Library Special Collections |publisher=Swem.wm.edu |access-date=September 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080919125611/http://www.swem.wm.edu/departments/special-collections/exhibits/exhibits/charter/charter/ |archive-date=September 19, 2008 |url-status=live}}</ref> Named in honor of the reigning monarchs [[William III of England|King William III]] and [[Mary II of England|Queen Mary II]], the college is the second-oldest in the United States after [[Harvard University]] (1636). The original plans for the college date back to 1618 at [[Henricus|Henrico]] but were thwarted by the [[Indian massacre of 1622]], a change in government (in 1624, the Virginia Company's charter was revoked by King James I and the Virginia Colony was transferred to royal authority as a [[crown colony]]), events related to the [[English Civil War]], and [[Bacon's Rebellion]]. In 1695, before the town of Williamsburg existed, construction began on the College Building, now known as the Sir Christopher [[Wren Building]], in what was then called [[Middle Plantation (Virginia)|Middle Plantation]]. It is the oldest college building in America. The college is one of the country's nine [[Colonial Colleges]] founded before the [[American Revolution]]. The charter named [[James Blair (clergyman)|James Blair]] as the college's first president (a lifetime appointment which he held until he died in 1743). William & Mary was founded as an [[Anglican]] institution; students were required to be members of the [[Church of England]], and professors were required to declare adherence to the [[Thirty-Nine Articles]].<ref>Webster, Homer J. (1902) "Schools and Colleges in Colonial Times", ''The New England Magazine: An Illustrated Monthly'', v. XXVII, p. 374, [https://books.google.com/books?id=0d5-lMzq79wC&pg=PA373 Google Books entry]</ref>

In 1693, the college was [[University constituency|given a seat]] in the [[House of Burgesses]], and it was determined tobacco taxes and export duties on furs and animal skins would support the college. The college acquired a {{convert|330|acre|km2}} parcel for the new school,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://williamsburgpostcards.com/other/other14a.htm |title=The Silence of the Graves by Terry L. Meyers |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020716161329/http://williamsburgpostcards.com/other/other14a.htm |archive-date=July 16, 2002|url-status=usurped}}</ref> {{convert|8|mi|km}} from Jamestown. In 1694, the new school opened in temporary buildings.

[[Williamsburg, Virginia|Williamsburg]] was granted a royal charter as a city in 1722 by [[the Crown]] and served as the capital of Colonial Virginia from 1699 to 1780. During this time, the college served as a law center, and lawmakers frequently used its buildings. It educated future U.S. Presidents [[Thomas Jefferson]], [[James Monroe]], and [[John Tyler]]. The college has been called "the Alma Mater of a Nation" because of its close ties to America's founding fathers and figures pivotal to the development and expansion of the United States. [[George Washington]], who received his surveyor's license through the college despite never attending, was the college's first American chancellor. William & Mary is famous for its firsts: the first U.S. institution with a royal charter, the first Greek-letter society ([[Phi Beta Kappa]], founded in 1776), the first collegiate society in the country ([[Flat Hat Club|F.H.C. Society]], founded in 1750), the first student honor code and the first collegiate [[William & Mary Law School|law school]] in America.{{efn|The independent [[Litchfield Law School]] in [[Litchfield, Connecticut]], began offering formal legal education five years before William & Mary.}}<ref>{{cite journal |last=Blondel-Libardi |first=Catherine R. |title=Rediscovering the Litchfield Law School Notebooks |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/44369759 |journal=Connecticut History Review |volume=46 |issue=1 |pages=70–82 |date=2007 |issn=0884-7177 |s2cid=254480254 |jstor=44369759 |doi=10.2307/44369759}}</ref>