Different perspectives on the idea of merging states and the meaning of the word itself, as well as the nature of the law among them were raised in the earliest law courses offered in the United States for which detailed documentation survive. In 1790, courses on law were taught for the first time by James Wilson, at the University of Pennsylvania, and by St. George Tucker at the College of William and Mary. Wilson only lectured for two terms and never delivered about half of his lectures: nevertheless, his manuscripts were collected and published posthumously by his son Bird Wilson in 1804. At the College of William and Mary, between 1790 and 1803, St. George Tucker offered a course on law, the gist of which he published in 1803 as appendices to Sir William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England.