Author(s)

XiaoFang Ma, HongWei Yang^*

Affiliation(s)

School of History and Culture, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, China.

Corresponding Author

HongWei Yang

ABSTRACT

Humboldt was a humanitarian abolitionist as well as a physical geographer whose antislavery thought has exerted a positive influence on Latin American Independence Movement in the early-to-middle 19th century. However, with the intense focus on his scientific expeditions and discoveries, previous studies have failed to examine his antislavery thought. In view of this, the present study systematically reviewed academic works, diaries and letters of Humboldt himself and previous researches on him, and presents findings as follows: a). The seed of his Anti-slavery thought was planted by the Enlightenment thinkers of Prussia in his early youth; b). The miserable living conditions of the enslaved and the inhumane scenes of slave trade that he had witnessed during his expeditions hardened his determination to abolish slavery; c). Irritated by the slaveholders’ insatiable avarice for wealth at the cost of lives of the enslaved, Humboldt envisioned a phased reformative solution to end slavery gradually in Latin America.This is the first comprehensive research regarding Humboldt as a abolitionist. The research findings can serve as significant implications for a better understanding of the formation and influences of anti-slavery thought of scientific travelers like him in the early post-colonial era.

KEYWORDS

Alexander von Humboldt; antislavery thought; Latin America; slave trade; Abolitionist Movement

CITE THIS PAPER

XiaoFang Ma, HongWei Yang. Research on Alexander VON Humboldt’s antislavery thought and his phased reformative solutions to abolish slavery in Latin America. Trends in Social Sciences and Humanities Research. 2024, 2(2): 78-88. DOI: 10.61784/tsshrv2n2104.

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