Alexander von Humboldt's visit to Washington and Philadelphia, his friendship with Jefferson, and his fascination with the United States

Northeastern Naturalist, 2001 by Schwarz, Ingo

ABSTRACT - Alexander von Humboldt paid a short visit to the United States at the end of his famous travels in the New World. In Philadelphia, he met the leading scientists of the country. More importantly, President Jefferson invited him to Washington where he supplied the government with the latest statistical and geographical facts about New Spain (Mexico). Jefferson appreciated Humboldt's scientific achievements; Humboldt found Jefferson's Notes on Virginia a model of how to describe a region. Between Humboldt and Albert Gallatin, the Swiss-born Secretary of the Treasury, a lasting friendship developed based on common interests, e.g., in monetary questions.

Humboldt's interests with regard to the U.S. were centered around three topics: the spread of slavery and its consequences in terms of the maintenance of the Union; the mining of gold as compared with Russia; the possibilities of building a canal between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

The debate over the slave question caused Humboldt to increase his criticism of American politics. He used his influence in Prussia to have a law passed that prohibited the ownership of slaves, thereby signaling his opposition to slavery to American leaders. In addition, Humboldt envisioned the improvement of international relations through free trade, and therefore favored projects such as an inter-oceanic canal. He never stopped admiring the achievements of the new nation in the sciences. That is why he liked to call himself "half an American."

In May 1804, Alexander von Humboldt was on his way from Havana to Philadelphia. While the ship was lurching through a terrible storm, he entrusted the following thoughts to his journal:

"I felt very much stirred up. To see myself perish on the eve of so many joys, to watch all the fruits of my labors going to pieces, to cause the death of my two companions,1 to perish during a voyage to Philadelphia which seemed by no means necessary (though undertaken in order to save our manuscripts and collections from the perfidious Spanish policies)."2

A few days later the storm had calmed down and the traveler was able to see the final stage of his American voyage in a different light. On the 19th of May he and his companions saw the mouth of the Delaware River - and were relieved.

There is no indication that Humboldt had planned the short detour to the United States long in advance. Of course the travelers had heard of the republic during their expedition to Latin America. When at the end of September 1799 they stayed in Cariaco, Venezuela, they "for the first time in these climates [...] heard the names of Franklin and Washington pronounced with enthusiasm."3 While staying in Caracas around the turn of the eighteenth century, they learned of George Washington's death in December 1799. Sometimes Humboldt compares aspects of social life in the Spanish colonies with those in the U.S., but neither in the letters nor in the travel journals do we find a plan to visit the new republic, which Humboldt was able to praise and later criticize so eloquently.

Apparently it was the American Consul in Havana, Vincent Gray, who convinced Humboldt that a short trip to Philadelphia and Washington would be welcomed by the American authorities. Gray sent several dispatches to Secretary of State James Madison, introducing Humboldt. The prospect of seeing the highest representatives of the republic and sharing with them some of the knowledge that he had acquired during his expeditions must have flattered Humboldt's vanity a great deal. Thus, one of the first letters which he wrote on North American soil on May 24th, was directed to President Thomas Jefferson. This letter is an outstanding example of Humboldt's art of communication. He knew of course how to write letters of introduction to high ranking persons for friends and colleagues. But in this case, he had to introduce himself to the President of a country, moreover to one of the fathers of American independence. But his motto was "Lauten gehort zum literarischen Handwerk" (an author must ring bells in order to get attention). How did Humboldt master this task?

He starts his letter by mentioning a country which he had visited: "Having arrived from Mexico on the blessed ground of this republic ..." He does not mention the place he immediately came from, namely Cuba. It is, of course, Mexico which interested the President most. Humboldt was quite aware that Jefferson felt the need for information about the region the United States had just bought from France - the Louisiana Purchase. Humboldt had something to offer in this respect. But the first sentence of his letter goes on:

" ... this republic, whose executive powers have been entrusted to your enlightened spirit, it is my pleasant duty to express to you my respect

and high admiration which your writings, your actions, and the liberalism of your ideas have inspired from my earliest youth."

His motivation to visit the U.S. here sounds somewhat different from the journal entry: