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Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 76-19,776 ANTAKLY, Waheeb George, 1945- AMERICAN PROTESTANT EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS: THEIR INFLUENCE ON SYRIA AND ARAB NATIONALISM, 1820- 1923. The American University, Ph.D., 1976 Education, higher Xerox University Microfilms,Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 Copyright, 1976, by Waheeb George Antakly Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. AMERICAN- PROTESTANT EDUCATIONAL MISSIONS: THEIR INFLUENCE ON SYRIA AND ARAB NATIONALISM, 1820-1923 fcy Waheeb George Antakly Submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of The American University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Signatures of Committee: r Chairman: Date: 3 1975 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 THE AMERICAS UNIVERSITY LIBRARY Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This study would have never been completed without the patience and constant assistance of many people. It was begun under the direction of Dr. John Abernathy Smith, who remained a patient adviser even after he left the faculty of The American University. Dr. Sterling Whitley undertook the chairmanship of the committee at a critical moment, and to him and to Dr. Paul Leedy I owe a debt of gratitude. Dr. Juanita Fletcher deserves my very special thanks for the many hours she spent as a friend reading my manuscript and guiding my research. Especially warm appreciation is expressed to the librarians of the Congregational House in Boston for making it possible to use the Records of the Prudential Committee of the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions and to the staff of Houghton Library, Harvard University for allow ing me to use their voluminous collection of the records of the American Board. Dr. George Attiyah, Head of the Middle East Division, Library of Congress, deserves special thanks for explaining to me the system of classification of Arabic journals at the library, which would illuminate the thesis of this study. I am also grateful to my superiors at the Embassy of Kuwait for understanding, interest, and tolerance during the writing of this dissertation. ii Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. iii Finally, I am thankful for the assistance and patience of my wife, Maria. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ABSTRACT .......................................... (1) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................. il Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION ............................... 1 2. TRIAL AND ERROR: THE EARLY YEARS OF THE AMERICAN MISSION IN SYRIA................... 37 3. THE NEW STRATEGY: PROTESTANT SCHOOLS FOR SYRIA....................................... 67 4. HIGHER EDUCATION IN BEIRUT: THE SYRIAN PROTESTANT COLLEGE.......................... 91 5. FRUITS OF PROTESTANT EDUCATION: THE AWAKENING OF ARAB LITERATURE AND NATIONALISM................................. Ill 6. CONCLUSION.................................. 144 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................... 149 iv Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION Between the last quarter of the nineteenth century and the end of World War I, the Arab portion of the Ottoman Empire experienced an awakening of national consciousness that paved the way for movements toward independence in the twentieth century. Arab nationalism, especially in Syria, grew out of a literary awakening, which, in turn, owed much to the educational work of American Protestant missionaries. These missionaries arrived in Beirut in 1820, founded churches and, after a moment of despair over the conversion of Moslems and the reinvigoration of Eastern Christian sects, turned their main attention to educational work. These educational missions, which after 1866 included as their center the Syrian Protestant College (after 1919 the American University of Beirut), were highly successful and attracted the best minds of Syria and other Arab regions. Students trained in these American Protestant schools became the prominent leatfers of the Arab movement in the latter years of the nineteenth century. They were awakened to their heritage and to the worth of Arab culture and came to dislike Ottoman despotism. Discontent over Ottoman rule and their sense of urgency of independence culminated in an Arab 1 Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 2 revolt against the Ottomans in 1917. THE PROBLEM This dissertation attempts to analyze the impact of American Protestant missionary education on the Syrian literary awakening and, in turn, the rise of the Arab nationalism. Although dealing with the early activities of these missionaries and their decision to establish churches and schools, this study concentrates mainly on the period between 1866, when the Syrian Protestant College was founded and the end of World War I when Syria achieved independence from the Ottomans and came under direct French mandate. It seeks to answer the following questions: 1. What was the American Protestant mission to Syria? 2. Why did these missionaries establish schools, a college, and other educational institutions? 3. Who attended the educational institutions established by these missionaries? 4. How were Syrians educated by American Protestant missionaries? 5. What was the impact of this education on graduates of American Protestant institutions and, through them, on the Syrian literary awakening of the nineteenth century? 6. What was the impact of this education on the development of Arab nationalism? Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. 3 HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION TO THE PROBLEM In historical geography, Syria includes the modern nation of Syria, part of Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, and Palestine. To the north, the Taurus mountains form a barrier between the Syrian plain and Asia Minor. The Mediterranean lies to the west. On the south the Syrian plain changes to desert, and on the east it adjoins the Euphrates River Valley. Together with the Valley of Mesopotamia to the east, Syria forms the Fertile Crescent. This area was one of the cradles of civilization, and it is likely that the first domestication of wheat, the discovery of copper, and the invention of pottery took place in Syria. These develop ments helped speed up the change from a nomadic existence into a sedentary life of farming and helped create the possibilities for political organization, trade and cities.* Ancient Syria Syria remained an area of political fragmentation, but its location at the crossroads of trade routes brought conquerors from east and west. Amorites, Canaanites, Assyrians, Aramaeans,Philistines, Persians, Greeks, and Romans invaded the region, and Syria became one of the most cosmopolitan parts of t’e world as the result of the *Philip K. Hitti, History of Syria (New York: The Macmillan Company, 1951), p. 26. Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission. rise and fall of these conquerors. The original inhabitants, nevertheless, r— *>ined remarkably resistant to change. As Philip Hitti has remarked, "Syria was almost unique as a place

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