Editing College of William & Mary (section)

===American Revolution===
{{see also|History of the College of William & Mary#Slavery and William & Mary}}
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| image1            = Thomas Jefferson by Rembrandt Peale, 1800.jpg
| image2            = James Monroe White House portrait 1819.jpg
| footer            = U.S. presidents [[Thomas Jefferson]] and [[James Monroe]] were educated at William & Mary.
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During the [[American Revolution]], the [[Colony of Virginia]] established a freedom of religion, notably with the 1786 passage of the [[Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom]]. Future U.S. President [[James Madison]] was a key figure in the transition to religious freedom in Virginia, and [[James Madison (bishop)|Right Reverend James Madison]], his cousin and [[Thomas Jefferson]], who was on the [[Board of Visitors]], helped the College of William & Mary make the transition. In 1779, the college established graduate schools in law and medicine, making it one of the institutions that claimed to be the [[first university in the United States]]. As its president, Reverend Madison worked with the new leaders of Virginia, most notably Jefferson, on a reorganization and changes for the college which included the abolition of the Divinity School and the Indian School and the establishment of the first elective system of study and honor system.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.virginiavignettes.org/?p=21 |title=Virginia Vignettes » What Was the Brafferton School? |publisher=Virginiavignettes.org |date=August 2007 |access-date=September 26, 2008 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071111135556/http://www.virginiavignettes.org/?p=21 |archive-date=November 11, 2007}}</ref>

The College of William & Mary is home to the nation's first [[collegiate secret societies in North America|collegiate secret society]], the [[Flat Hat Club|F.H.C. Society]], popularly known as the [[Flat Hat Club]], founded on November 11, 1750. On December 5, 1776, students [[John Heath (politician)|John Heath]] and [[William Short (American ambassador)|William Short]] (class of 1779) founded [[Phi Beta Kappa]] as a secret literary and philosophical society. Other [[Secret societies at the College of William & Mary|secret societies]] known to exist at the college currently include: The [[Seven Society (College of William & Mary)|7 Society]], 13 Club, Alpha Club, [[Bishop James Madison Society]], The Society, The Spades, W Society, and [[Wren Society]].<ref>[http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 "Shhh! The Secret Side to the College's Lesser Known Societies"]. ''The DoG Street Journal''. {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110928112053/http://www.dogstreetjournal.com/story/2049 |date=September 28, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Peeking Into Closed Societies – The Flat Hat |url=http://www.flathatnews.com/variety/2284/peeking-into-closed-societies |url-status=dead |access-date=January 28, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930180325/http://www.flathatnews.com/variety/2284/peeking-into-closed-societies |archive-date=September 30, 2011}}</ref>

[[Thomas R. Dew]], professor of history, metaphysics, and political economy, and then president of William & Mary from 1836 until he died in 1846, was an influential academic defender of slavery.<ref>{{cite book |last=Brophy |first=Alfred L. |title=University, Court, and Slave: Proslavery Thought in Southern Courts and Colleges and the Coming of Civil War |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=2016 |isbn=978-0-19-062593-1}}</ref>{{rp|21–47}}

In 1842, alumni of the college formed the Society of the Alumni<ref>{{cite web |last=Barnes, II |first=F. James  |url=http://alumni.wm.edu/history/index.shtml |title=William & Mary Alumni > History |publisher=Alumni.wm.edu |access-date=September 26, 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080924094530/http://alumni.wm.edu/history/index.shtml |archive-date=September 24, 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref> which is now the sixth oldest alum organization in the United States. In 1859, a great fire destroyed the College Building. The [[Alumni House (College of William & Mary)|Alumni House]] is one of the few original antebellum structures remaining on [[Campus of the College of William & Mary|campus]]; notable others include the Wren Building, the [[President's House (College of William & Mary)|President's House]], the Brafferton, and Prince George House.