From an Indefinite Homogeneity: Catholic Colleges in Antebellum America

Antebellum Catholic colleges reflected what Herbert Spencer called an "indefinite homogeneity" in that they were less clearly differentiated from other aspects of the life of the Church than they are today, and their internal composition was amorphous in that they combined a mixture of functions later embodied in separate and distinct institutions. The discussion consists of four parts: (1) college-founding from the 1790s to the 1850s, (2) the ways in which colleges were immersed in the overall life of the Church, (3) the "mixed" quality of their internal make-up, and (4) changes noticeable by midcentury that moved them toward a more restricted role in the life of the Church and promoted their eventual development into recognizably "modern" institutions of higher education.