Description
A collection of the German American
political philosopher and educator Francis Lieber. The collection includes Lieber's
correspondence, notes, manuscripts, and published material accumulated in the preparation of
his works covering his political and academic career. The collection includes, among other
material, volumes, essays, lectures, journals, commonplace books, printed material, and
ephemera.
Background
Francis Lieber (1800-1872) was a German American political philosopher and educator. Lieber
was born in Berlin, Prussia, on March 18, 1800; some sources state his birth year as 1798 as
he lied about his age in order to enlist in the Prussian Army. Lieber joined the Colberg
regiment in 1815 and was wounded at the Battle of Waterloo. He was educated in Germany,
mainly in the field of mathematics; after a short stay in England in 1826, he moved to
Boston in 1827, where he lectured on history and politics. He married Mathilde Oppenheimer
on September 21, 1829; together they had three sons: Oscar Montgomery Lieber (1830-1862),
trained as a geologist, he fought for the Confederacy and died at the Battle of Eltham's
Landing; Hamilton Lieber (1835-1876), served in the Union Army and was severely wounded but
survived the war; Guido Norman Lieber (1837-1923), also served in the Union Army and became
a United States Army lawyer and jurist. Francis Lieber was the first editor, from 1829 to
1833, of the 13 volumes of the Encyclopedia Americana. In 1832, Lieber prepared a plan of
education for the newly founded Girard College (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania); he lived in
Philadelphia from 1833 until 1835. In 1835 Lieber accepted a professorship of history and
political economy in the South Carolina College (later University, Columbia, South
Carolina); he remained at South Carolina until 1856 when he was appointed to a similar chair
in Columbia College (later University, New York). He held this chair until 1865 when he
became professor of political science in the Columbia Law School, a post he held until his
death, in New York, on October 2, 1872. Besides his work as a university professor, Lieber
was regarded as the founder of the Systemic Study of Government in the United States. He was
active in the South before the war against secession, and during the war he was frequently
summoned to Washington by the Secretary of War for consultation. His work "Instructions for
the Government of the Armies of the United States in the Field" was promulgated in the
general orders of the War Department (General Order 100, also known as the "Lieber Code"),
which was later used as a basis for the Geneva Convention. From July 1865 to August 1867,
Lieber held the position of Chief of the Archive Office of the War Department, an office
which was established for the purpose of preserving and examining the Confederate Archives
captured in Richmond; and in 1870, he was chosen by the United States and Mexico as final
arbitrator on the United States and Mexican Claims Commission. Lieber was a prolific writer
who published numerous articles, essays and books, but he was also an enslaver while living
in South Carolina from 1835 to 1856, though some of his writings speak against slavery and
are pro-abolitionist.
Restrictions
The Huntington Library does not require that researchers request permission to quote from
or publish images of this material, nor does it charge fees for such activities. The
responsibility for identifying the copyright holder, if there is one, and obtaining
necessary permissions rests with the researcher.