„Ich bin es aber einem inneren moralischen Gefühleschuldig …“ Neue Dokumente und Hintergründe zum Humboldt’schenProtest gegen J. S. Thrashers The Island of Cuba

Abstract

In 1856 Alexander von Humboldt felt compelled to publish a short article in German, English, French, and American newspapers, in which he protested against J. S. Thrasher’s mutilation of his Essai politique sur l’île de Cuba. Thrasher had published an English-language version of this text in New York, in which he falsified and omitted Humboldt’s sentiments about slavery and the transatlantic slave trade. Our article offers a closer look at Thrasher’s unauthorized infringements and Humboldt’s reaction to them, including briefly the impact Humboldt’s protest had on the 1856 U.S. presidential elections. A second section focuses on Thrasher and his advocacy of Cuba’s annexation to the United States as yet another slave state.