Like Jefferson, Benjamin Franklin was a man of immense intellectual breadth. He founded the College of Philadelphia in 1749. Franklin was also the co-founder of the American Philosophical Society with John Bartram. Early members included George Washington, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton, John Marshall, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Rush, and the lesser-known Michael Hillegas who edited the Declaration of Independence and served as our nation’s first Treasurer. Despite its appearance as a pantheon of early political and military leaders of an upstart nation, the APS was, and continues to be, an elite assembly of the leading thinkers of the day.
Ours is a nation conceived in intellectual idealism. The visionary leaders who conceived this republic were deep thinkers who embodied the best citizenship that is at the heart of liberal learning. They were avid scientists, political theorists, natural historians, and moral philosophers. Theirs was, however, an idealism deeply rooted in practical wisdom. Among the many articles in the first volume of the Transactions of the American Philosophical Society published in 1771 were the Society’s observations of the Transit of Venus in 1769, an essay on grape cultivation and wine making, and designs for an automated bilge pump. The preface of that initial volume began:
Knowledge is of little use, when confined to mere speculation: But when speculative truths are reduced to practice, when theories, grounded upon experiments are applied to the common purposes of life; and when, by these, agriculture is improved, trade enlarged, the arts of living made more easy and comfortable, and of course, the increase and happiness of mankind promoted; knowledge then becomes really useful. That this Society, therefore, may, in some degree, answer the ends of its institution, the members propose to confine their disquisitions, principally, to such subjects as tend to the improvement of their country, and advancement of its interest and prosperity.
— “Preface,” Transactions of the American Philosophical Society, volume 1.
The establishment of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences is another notable example of the integration of these goals as addressed in their founding document:
And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the end and design of the institution of the said Academy is to promote and encourage the knowledge of the antiquities and the natural history of America; to determine the uses to which the various natural productions of the country may be applied; to promote and encourage medical discoveries, mathematical disquisitions, philosophical enquiries and experiments, astronomical, meteorological and geographical observations, and improvements in agriculture, arts, manufactures and commerce; and, in fine, to cultivate every art and science which may tend to advance the interest, honor, dignity, and happiness of a free, independent, and virtuous people.
— Charter of the Incorporation of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, 4 May 1780.
The charter members of the AAAS were alumni and faculty of Harvard, but they immediately began to induct new members from outside that circle and beyond the nation. Many of these new members were already affiliated with the APS, and nearly all of the early members played leading roles in the revolution and the establishment of the Republic (Tables of the early members of AAAS and APS and be found below).
The same spirit of scientific thinking and a flourishing of the enlightenment that fueled the APS and AAAS provided the spark that created our new republic and led to the rise of liberal arts colleges throughout the new nation. These institutions prepared the next generation of leaders, and they have continued to produce a disproportionately high percentage of leaders in science, letters, business, and government. Liberal arts colleges represent only 3% of American college students, yet “a third of all Fortune 500 CEOs have liberal arts degrees,”[1] and yet the value of what we do in liberal education is questioned in the media daily.
One of the greatest ironies of our time is the celebration of anti-intellectualism as self-proclaimed patriotism. Nothing could be farther from the truth; America’s greatest hope for the future is to celebrate the intellectual ideals of its founders, and the best stewards of these ideals remain our liberal-arts colleges.
American Philosophical Society Early Members:
| John Adams | 2nd U.S. President, 1st V.P., Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, Sons of Liberty, founder of AAAS |
| William Alexander | Major General in the Continental Army |
| John Bartram | Botanist and explorer |
| Nicholas Biddle | Naval captain in the Revolutionary War |
| Owen Biddle | Member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, Colonel in the Continental Army, also a member of AAAS |
| Benjamin Franklin | Great American polymath, U.S. Minister to Sweden and France, 1st U.S. Postmaster General, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, also a member of AAAS |
| Benjamin Gale | Physician, member of the General Assembly of Connecticut, also a member of AAAS |
| Alexander Hamilton | First Secretary of the Treasury, trustee of Kirkland College, which would be named Hamilton College upon his death |
| Michael Hillegas | Editor of the Declaration of Independence, first Treasurer of the United States |
| Francis Hopkinson | U.S. District Court Judge, Continental Congress, signer of the Declaration of Independence, composer |
| Thomas Jefferson | 3rd U.S. President, 2nd V.P., 1st Secretary of State, Minister to France, Declaration of Independence, Continental Congress, founder of the University of Virginia |
| James Madison | 4th U.S. President, 5th Secretary of State, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. Constitution |
| John Marshall | Secretary of State, Chief Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court |
| James McHenry | Signer of the Constitution, delegate to the Continental Congress, and Secretary of War |
| Thomas Paine | Political activist and theorist |
| David Rittenhouse | First director of the U.S. Mint, also a member of AAAS |
| Benjamin Rush | Signer of the Declaration of Independence, member of the Continental Congress, Surgeon General in the Continental Army, Sons of Liberty, and founder of Dickinson College |
| Ezra Stiles | President of Yale, also a member of AAAS |
| George Washington | 1st U.S. President, Continental Congress |
| Benjamin West | Artist, also a member of AAAS |
Early international members included:
| Tadeusz Kosciusko | Polish military officer who rose to Brigadier General in the Continental Army, led a Polish uprising against Russia, his will assigned his American assets to support the freedom and education of slaves in the Unites States |
| Marquis de Lafayette | French aristocrat who fought for the United States in the Revolutionary War and a significant figure in the French Revolution |
| Baron von Steuben | Prussian military officer who served as Major General of the Continental Army |
Charter Members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences:
| John Adams | President, V.P., Continental Congress, Declaration of Independence, Sons of Liberty |
| Samuel Adams | Continental Congress, Sons of Liberty |
| John Bacon | House of Representatives |
| James Bowdoin | Drafted Massachusetts Constitution, Governor of Massachusetts |
| Charles Chauncy | Influential clergyman whose writings sparked Unitarianism |
| John Clarke | Clergyman |
| David Cobb | Continental Army, U.S. House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts |
| Samuel Cooper | Declined the presidency of Harvard |
| Nathan Cushing | Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| Thomas Cushing | Continental Congress, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts |
| William Cushing | Associate Justice of U.S. Supreme Court |
| Tristram Dalton | U.S. Senator |
| Francis Dana | Continental Congress, Massachusetts Supreme Court, grandfather of Richard Henry Dana, Jr. |
| Samuel Deane | V.P. Bowdoin College |
| Peres Fobes | Professor at the College of Rhode Island |
| Caleb Gannett | Tutor and Steward at Harvard, Itinerant preacher during Revolutionary War |
| Henry Gardner | Treasurer and Receiver-General of Massachusetts |
| Benjamin Guild | Bookseller |
| John Hancock | Signer of the Declaration of Independence, President of Second Continental Congress, Governor of Massachusetts, Sons of Liberty |
| Joseph Hawley | Massachusetts legislator and proponent of the Declaration of Independence |
| Edward A. Holyoke | President of AAAS, founder of Massachusetts Medical Society |
| Ebenezer Hunt | Physician |
| Jonathan Jackson | Continental Congress, Treasurer of Massachusetts |
| Charles Jarvis | Massachusetts Ratifying Convention of U.S. Constitution |
| Samuel Langdon | President of Harvard, clergyman |
| Levi Lincoln, Sr. | U.S. House of Representatives, Lieutenant Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Attorney General |
| Daniel Little | Clergyman |
| Elijah Lothrup | Clergyman |
| John Lowell | Congress of Confederation |
| Samuel Mather | Clergyman |
| Samuel Moody | Clergyman, First headmaster of Dummer Academy, now Governor’s Academy |
| Andrew Oliver | Lieutenant Governor Province of Massachusetts Bay |
| Joseph Orne | Physician |
| Robert Treat Paine | Signer of the Declaration of Independence, First Attorney General Massachusetts, Massachusetts Associate Justice Supreme Court |
| Theodore Parsons | Physician and artist |
| George Partridge | Continental Congress, U.S. House of Representatives |
| Phillips Payson | Clergyman |
| Samuel Phillips, Jr. | Lieutenant Governor Massachusetts, President Massachusetts Senate, founder Phillips Academy |
| John Pickering | Elected to Constitutional Convention, but did not serve, Chief Justice of the N.H. Court of Judicature, First federal official removed from office for impeachment |
| Oliver Prescott | Physician, Trustee and benefactor of Groton Academy |
| Zedekiah Sanger | Clergyman |
| Nathaniel P. Sargent | Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Chief Justice of Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| Micaiah Sawyer | Physician, Massachusetts Medical Society |
| Thomas Sedgwick | Continental Congress, Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| William Sever | Massachusetts constitutional Convention |
| David Sewall | U.S. District Court, Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court |
| Stephen Sewall | Professor of Hebrew and Oriental Languages |
| John Sprague | Chief Justice Court of Common Pleas, Massachusetts constitutional Convention |
| Ebenezer Storer | Treasurer of Harvard? |
| Caleb Strong | Helped shape U.S. Constitution, Governor of Massachusetts, U.S. Senator |
| James Sullivan | Governor of Massachusetts, Attorney General of Massachusetts |
| John Bernard Sweat | Physician |
| Nathaniel Tracy | Merchant and privateer |
| Cotton Tufts | Original member Massachusetts Medical Society, Massachusetts Senate |
| James Warren | Paymaster General of the Continental Army, Massachusetts Provincial Congress, Sons of Liberty |
| Samuel West | Clergyman |
| Edward Wigglesworth | Hollis Chair at Harvard Divinity School |
| Joseph Willard | President of Harvard |
| Abraham Williams | Clergyman |
| Nehemiah Williams | Clergyman |
| Samuel Williams | Professor and Clergyman |
| James Winthrop | Librarian of Harvard, Bequeathed his library to Allegheny College |
Other early members of AAAS:
| Jeremy Belknap | Clergyman, published a History of New Hampshire |
| Owen Biddle | Member of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, Colonel in the Continental Army, and member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, also a member of APS |
| Joseph Brown | Professor at College of Providence, now Brown University |
| Benjamin Franklin | Great American polymath, U.S. Minister to Sweden and France, 1st U.S. Postmaster General, founder of the University of Pennsylvania, also a member of APS |
| Benjamin Gale | Physician, member of the General Assembly of Connecticut, also a member of APS |
| Samuel Hale | Loyalist and cousin of Nathan Hale, may have revealed the latter’s identity |
| Ebenezer Hazard | 3rd U.S. Postmaster General |
| Samuel Langdon | Clergyman |
| Arthur Lee | Diplomat to France and England, younger brother of Richard Henry, Francis Lightfoot, and William |
| William Livingston | Continental Congress, signer of the U.S. Constitution, Governor of New Jersey, father-in-law of John Jay |
| David Rittenhouse | First director of the U.S. Mint, also a member of APS |
| John Sparhawk | Clergyman, father of John Jr. who was Speaker of the House of Representatives of Connecticut, his brother-in-law was Samuel Sewall |
| Ezra Stiles | President of Yale, also a member of APS |
| Jonathan Trumbull | Governor of Connecticut before and after the revolution, father of John Trumbull, the painter |
| George Washington | 1st U.S. President, Continental Congress, also a member of APS |
| Benjamin West | Artist, also a member of APS |
[1] Ray, Edward J.: “The Value of a Liberal Arts Education in Today’s Marketplace,” Huffington Post, 24 July 2013.