The Columbiad

Joel Barlow was born on March 24th 1754 in Redding, Fairfield County, Connecticut. After a brief attendance at Dartmouth College he graduated from Yale College in 1778, although he continued his studies there for a further two years as a postgraduate student. In 1778, he published an anti-slavery poem entitled ‘The Prospect of Peace’. The American War of Independence had started in 1776 and Barlow was an ardent proponent of its aims and ambitions. He served in the Battle of Long Island and was c