The Liberal Arts in Colonial Colleges of British North America —— Its Characteristics, Causes and Functions

Abstract

The establishment of colonial college in British North America was driven by religious purposes as well as the puritans' sense of cultural mission. In order to purify their religion and culture and make knowledge serve their religious beliefs, the puritans established colonial colleges under the extremely difficult conditions at that time, which enabled the traditional educational ideas to take root and sprout in the North American continent, and initiated the precedent of higher education in the United States. British colonial college in North America is the inheritance and development of liberal arts in the west, which forms a unique higher education system in combination with the free soil of America.The establishment, preservation and development of colonial college had a great impact on the formation of the United States and the establishment of the American higher education system.The purpose of this paper is to sort out its formation characteristics, influencing factors and functions in order to reproduce its important historical value.