Francis Lieber`s Attitude on Race, Slavery, an Abolition

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Hartmut Keil
• Subject Area: Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2004 to 2006
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 5435708

As part of a project on race relations between German immigrants and African Americans in the 19th century, this particular research will focus on Francis Lieber, a liberal who fled from Prussia in the 1820s and became an American citizen. Lieber is well known as a policial scientist and philosopher. The focus here, however, is on Lieber's views on race and the institution of slavery, and on his practical experience with "the peculiar institution" during his long tenure at South Carolina College from 1835 to 1856. The project intends to shed light on Lieber's ambivalent role during his long sojourn in the leading slave state, in an intellectual and political environment where he was confronted with misgivings and mistrust. Lieber's personal papers need to be consulted in the archives and libraries - above all the Huntington Library - listed in the schedule outline. This study will also place Lieber`s experiences in the broader context of relations between German immigrants and African Americans in the antebellum period including the stereotypical perceptions that Southerners as well as African American abolitionists held of German immigrants.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants