HUMBOLDT AND THE AMERICAN WEST: DEFENDING OR DEFEATING THE ‘MANIFEST DESTINY’?1

Abstract

ABSTRACTWith Humboldt's long‐lasting interest in the scientific exploration of the American West and the promising future he foresaw for the United States once the nation expanded to the Pacific, it is not surprising that he was appropriated to promote the ‘Manifest Destiny’ – the conviction that Americans were destined to settle on the entire North American continent. His continuous support of the people and institutions involved in this endeavour was understood as a statement in favour of this belief, and Humboldtian science was used in order to justify settlement and the growth of the new nation. However, this appropriation put Humboldt in a delicate position regarding the Spanish crown, to which he was grateful for the exceptional travel authorisation he had received in 1799, and to Mexico, the nation that had awarded him honorary citizenship in 1827. It is therefore necessary to take a closer look at his stance on US territorial interests. This article analyses the questions of whether Humboldt really believed in the idea of American exceptionalism, how he expressed himself regarding specific settlement projects, and whether US expansion, including its consequences for Spanish and later Mexican interests, was in accordance with his personal convictions.