 Both schools were under increased competition with eastern colleges thanks to improved transportation, as well as the stress of the Civil War, which had taken many of their students to battle.Further, the public's willingness to support two institutions of such similar character in such close proximity was wearing thin.Efforts to unify the two colleges, in 1807, 1817, and the 1840s, had traditionally failed because of an inability to agree on a location for the unified institution.