author
Jared Sparks
1789–1866
A pioneering American historian and editor, he helped preserve the papers and lives of the nation’s founders for future readers. He also served as a Unitarian minister and later became president of Harvard College.
1 Audiobook
Life and Treason of Benedict Arnold
by Jared Sparks
About the author
Born in Willington, Connecticut, in 1789, Jared Sparks rose from a modest background to become an important figure in early American literary and historical life. He studied at Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard, worked as a teacher, and entered the Unitarian ministry before moving into editing and scholarship.
Sparks became known for gathering, editing, and publishing key documents from the American past, especially the writings and papers of major Revolutionary-era figures. As editor of the North American Review and later as a historian and biographer, he helped shape how 19th-century readers understood George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and other founders.
He later served as McLean Professor of Ancient and Modern History at Harvard and was president of Harvard College from 1849 to 1853. Remembered as both an educator and a preserver of historical sources, Sparks played a major role in making early American history more accessible to later generations.