Chapter 4 Harvard (1854-1858) Summary

In June of 1854, Adams is happy to put high school behind him, and heads to Harvard College, which he and his peers attend not for the sake of a good education, but for social connections and out of class traditions. Harvard creates good citizens, but not good leaders, and its influence is chiefly negative. The students form a typical group of New Englanders, and Adams gets nothing from them, because they are all the same as him. Adams also gets little from his teachers, and considers his years at college a waste of time. He prefers to be educated alone. His political biases, however, were weakened at Harvard, as it was a place of no bias, of no strong opinions or forces. "Harvard College was a negative force, and even negative forces can have value."

His social position is...