The University of Michigan | Page 9

of the practical problems which faced those who
held the fate of the University in their charge was the question as to
where students, sufficiently trained in the higher branches, were to be
found in a state which numbered, all told, not more than 100,000 souls,
scattered for the most part in little frontier settlements. This explains
the provisions for the branches, which were to be in effect the high
schools from which the University was to draw its students. For a time
this was the actual development; but after the branches were
discontinued, high schools, supported by the various towns of the State,
came into existence and were eventually bound to the University
through the admission of their students by certificate. Thus the same
end was accomplished and at less expense.
When one considers the actual situation in Michigan at that time, the
program outlined by this act seems extraordinarily ambitious if not
actually ridiculous. The hard and primitive life of those days is almost
inconceivable now, and yet the change has come well within the
lifetime of the oldest inhabitants of many thriving cities of the State.
The secret lay in the extraordinary increase of the population. Settlers
came in so rapidly that, where in 1834 there were but 87,278
inhabitants, there were over 212,267 in 1840, and it was precisely this
growth, evidences of which were on every hand, that encouraged those
educational pioneers to aim high. The result has justified their
optimism; though there were to be many years of small things and
limited means before the fulfillment of this early vision. As Professor
Hinsdale wisely says in his History: "A large scheme would do no harm

provided no attempt were made at once to realize it, and it might in
time be well filled out; while a small plan, in case of large growth,
would require reconstruction from the foundation." The result has
amply proved the worth of the venture.
As has been seen, the University was to be but a part of a complete
state system. As a corollary in the minds of its sponsors private
institutions were to be discouraged. Superintendent Pierce even queried
whether it would not be wise to forbid them altogether. That proving
entirely impracticable, the alternative was to make the University and
the branches so good that private schools could not meet their
competition. He first endeavored to prevent the chartering of private
colleges; later he sought to deny them the privilege of conferring
degrees. In this he asked the advice of Eastern educators, among them
President Wayland, of Brown, who wrote him, "By a great number of
small and badly appointed colleges you will increase the nominally
educated men, but you will decrease the power of education because it
will be little else but the name."
In spite of this support his efforts, however, were not effective and in
1839 the Legislature in the name of freedom and opposition to
monopoly passed an Act to incorporate the Trustees of Marshall
College, in Pierce's own home town. By 1850 several such charters
were granted and in 1855 the degree conferring power was given these
institutions. It is doubtless true that at least some of the opposition with
which the University had to contend during her early years may be
traced to this first policy, which aroused the sectarian spirit behind the
smaller colleges and it was important to that extent; but far more
significant was the alternative of concentrating all the energies of the
State in the one great institution. Events have proved this the wise
course. We have had the example of less wise counsel in neighboring
commonwealths where the state universities have suffered from a
multiplication of small schools and have only recently been able to
acquire their full stature as true universities.
The establishment of the branches, which preceded the opening of the
University by several years, and their quick discontinuance, is an

interesting episode connected with the University's early years. They
formed the necessary preparatory schools for the coming University,
and furnished the first instruction under its auspices in the new State.
By the end of 1838 five branches with 161 students had been
established with the "decided approbation and support of the
inhabitants." For some years these academies flourished in a modest
way, though they never enrolled more than 400 students in any one
year. But this effort, which originally aimed to cover every county in
the State, soon arrived at the place which might have been foreseen
from the beginning. The branches began not only to overshadow the
parent institution but actually to eat up all of the University's resources.
The necessary action followed quickly when the University began to
demand all the available income; in 1842 the Regents gave notice that
the appropriations for