The modern languages, chiefly French, were taught more or less by the same methods as the accepted classical languages and Hebrew. It was only in the first quarter of the nineteenth century that George Ticknor introduced at Harvard detailed work on modern European literatures. This was followed in the twenties and the thirties by the introduction of some Spanish and Italian, largely influenced by the revolt of the Spanish colonies in South and Central America. We should not then be surprised that the earliest interest in the Slavic languages was shown by individuals who, by some means or another, had had contact with the Slavic world and whose concern was more or less amateurish. Some of these men were college graduates. Others had had no formal connection with the colleges of the day but had learned to know and appreciate Slavic culture and had set themselves the task of making and publishing translations in America. These began to appear shortly after the War of 1812. The Napoleonic Wars and later the war with England had interfered with American trade and commerce but had also stimulated American interest in Europe. This interest was also aroused by the Greek war for independence and the formation of a group of Hellenophiles in New England. Even before this, in 1810, the Congregationalists of Boston had established the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. It sent missionaries to the Near East and these, originally working to convert the Mohammedans, soon transferred their activity to Orthodox Christians and to the foundation of such American missionary educational institutions as Roberts College and the American University in Beirut, later to play so prominent a part in the Balkans and the Ottoman Empire. The visit of the Marquis de Lafayette in 1825 also recalled the American Revolution and the services of the various foreign officers who had served in the American Army, including Generals Pulaski and Kosciuszko. Interest in Poland was again stirred by the Polish Uprising of 1831.[17] Thus the growing American prosperity and the strengthening of the American national consciousness started a ferment which for a number of years caused a growing interest in some forms of Slavic culture in the United States, especially in New England. We must remember that this was before any mass Slavic immigration to the United States, although there were a considerable number of Slavs in the country, especially in the north and in the ocean shipping sections.