"[2] However, his academic career was ultimately cut short due to his impartial stance on religion and personality clashes with the university regents and certain faculty members, leading him to spend the remainder of his life in self-imposed exile in Europe.

Tappan attended Union College and studied under its president, Eliphalet Nott, graduating with Phi Beta Kappa honors in 1825.

[6] A throat affliction[5] prompted him to leave for a trip to the West Indies, and upon his return he joined the faculty of the University of the City of New York as a professor of philosophy.

These works had called forth favorable comment from both European and American scholars, including Victor Cousin, whom Tappan respected and whose precepts he followed.

[9] Isaac E. Crary and John Davis Pierce, the architects of Michigan's educational system, drew inspiration from the Prussian model of public instruction as detailed in Cousin's report.

[9]: 40  In his reports and addresses, Tappan expanded on the foundational ideas established by John D. Pierce further developing the educational plan of the state.

Through his observations of educational progress, Tappan concluded that the most effective approach to constructing such a system was to first establish the higher institution.

He believed that as erudite administrators from this university gradually extended their influence, it would naturally lead to the creation and reinforcement of schools at lower levels, ultimately benefiting a broader population.

Young men who have passed through the intermediate grade, and, hence, who have learned the art, and formed the habits of study, resort to them to hear their lectures, to breathe their spirit, to copy their example, and to submit themselves to their guidance.

[19] Previously, when the university lacked a president, the Board of Regents aimed to maintain a balance among different Protestant denominations when appointing faculty members.

The university expanded library and museum spaces by abolishing the dormitory system and remodeling North and South College buildings, which had initially served dual purposes.

His attempts to secularize faculty appointments and his impartial stance on religion faced backlash during a time of heightened religious fervor.

[14]: 39–52 In September 1857, during the Detroit Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church held in Port Huron, resolutions were presented condemning the moral condition at the university.

"[23] He immediately left Michigan and moved his family to Europe, residing in Berlin, Paris, Bonn, Frankfurt, Basel, and Geneva.

[24] Tappan's firing was unpopular with students and the broader community, as it came with no warning, at a time when the university was more successful than ever, for no wrongdoing other than personal friction with the regents, and from a board whose terms in office were all expiring (save one) in just a few months and who were due to be replaced with new regents (already elected) who had expressed a desire to form a better working relationship with Tappan.

"[26] At the suggestion of his supporters, Tappan himself wrote a lengthy response to his dismissal, generally praising the first Board of Regents and excoriating the second as incompetent, and also singling out certain faculty members for criticism.

[29] Tappan, who had moved to Europe after his firing, expressed a desire to return, but twice deferred accepting the invitation, citing first his age[30] and then the health of his daughter.