John Burgess

John William Burgess (August 26, 1844 – January 13, 1931) was an American political scientist. He spent most of his career at Columbia University where he created the first graduate school in Political Science. He has been described as "the most influential political scientist of the period" and "the father of American political science." He is the academic advisor of Charles Edward Merriam. Early life and education Burgess was born in Cornersville, Tennessee on August 26, 1844. His father was a staunch Whig and part of the Tennessee planter aristocracy. His family, which held slaves, were unionists, believing that slavery could more easily be maintained within a union with Northern states where the Northern states had to return fugitive slaves to the South. He attended Cumberland University in Lebanon, Tennessee from September 1861 until February 1862 when Burgess and other students fled as the Union Army occupied parts of Tennessee. In 1862, Burgess sought to avoid conscription into the Confederate Army. He escaped to Union-held territory where he was required to take an oath of allegiance to the Union. Burgess subsequently entered into the Union Army in 1862 and was stationed in West Tennessee. He undertook study of history at Amherst College, graduating in 1867. He gained admission to the bar in 1869.