FRANZ LIEBER - PIONEER OF GYMNASTICS, SCIENTIST AND POLITICIAN

by Horst Ueberhorst

University of Bochum

Considering all the Germans who emigrated to the USA in the 19th Century it was doubtlessly one man who took the biggest influence in the social and political life of North America beside Carl Schurz: Franz Lieber. He started his career as one of three pioneers of German gymnastics but then turned to science and politics where he gained national and international approval.

Jahn's followers Beck, Follen and Lieber, who had to leave Germany as political refugees due to the 'Karlsbader Resolution' (gymnastic embargo, prohibition of students' associations, prosecution of demagogues) and Metternich's restaurative politics, became fore-runners of gymnastics in New York, especially in Massachusetts. There it came to a close cooperation with American educationalists (Cogswell, Bancroft) who had studied in Germany (Gattingen). Karl Beck became a teacher of Latin and gymnastics at the Round Hill School in Morthampton, Mass., built a gymnastic-ground similar to the 'Haserrkide' and translated Jahn-Eiselen's "Deutsche Turnkunst" (German Art of Gymnastics) into the English language, given the new title "Treatise on Gymnastics, taken chiefly from the German of F.L. Jahn." His gymnastics included a surprising variation of exercises, as there were heavy gymnastics, a daily run through the forest, competition- and baH-games, swimming in summer and ice skating in winter.

While Beck's activities as a gymnastic teacher were limited to school interests FoHen built the first gymnastic-ground at an American university, Harvard University of Cambridge, and in the adjoining Boston he opened the first public gymnastic-ground. But already at the end of 1825 Follen received a professorship for church-history in Harvard, later for German language and literature. In 1831 Beck accepted an offer to the same university and became professor of Latin language and literature. The example of those two, who found enormous approval as scholars, show that in Massachusetts German gymnastics and German culture were seen to be strongly connected to each other.

This is illustrated more clearly by the life of Franz Lieber who continued the works of Follen in 1827 and later opened "Or. Lieber's Swimming-School" in Boston. This school modelled on the swimming-baths of Pfuels in Berlin where Lieber himself had learned how to swim. Franz Lieber, who was born

i n Berlin on March, 18th 1798, had turned to liberal-democratical ideas very early. When seventeen years old he participated i n the battle against Napoleon and was badly wounded. Immediately after his recovery he joined the gymnasts on the 'Hasenheide' and became one of Jahn's admirers and closest confidantes. That and his close connection to students' associationists made him unpopular with the Prussian government. He was sent to prison for four months and after his release was excluded from all Prussian universities. But the chance to study was given to him by the liberal system of 'Sachsen- Weimar' with Goethe as its minister. To prevent the imminent protest of the Prussian authorities he hurried t o achieve an academic graduation, hoping to be more protected by that. Why he was given the doctor's degree on August 4th. 1820 after only four months of study at that university is s t i l l inexplicable. After a short study of mathematics in Dresden (Sachsen) he left for Greece to participate in the Greek fight for freedom against Turkey but came back soon after being disappointed. For a short time he worked as a private tutor for Barthold Niebuhr, the Prussian ambassador in Rome and a highly reputed historian, and it was for his intercession that Lieber was allowed to go back to Prussia and continue his studies. But when it came to new threats against him because of his connections to former student's associationists he fled from Berlin t o England.

In London Karl Volker, a gymnast Lieber used to know, had established a large gymnastic-ground which was well attended. Leiber helped him t o teach the classes. Here he met the American John Neal from PortlandlMaine, a well-known advocate and romancer, who told him that they were looking for a successor to Karl Follen in Boston. Lieber agreed to take over the gymnastic education i n Boston but also suggested the building of a swimming-baths. After his conditions were fulfilled--800 dollars income for the first year and free passage--he set off and arrived in Boston on July. 4th 1827, the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. Soon after he started his work as a teacher of gymnastics and swimming1 but he was not able t o realize his aims. The popularity of the gymnastic-ground soon dissolved. Exercises were practiced for only two years, then "no talent could be interested in using the gymnastic-ground any longer, for it wasn't new any more and further, cartoons had been published caricaturing some of the gymnastsn.* By that time the gymnastic-ground was no longer directed by Lieber. In 1829 he gave the reasons for the failure of gymnastic facilities in America and published a plan for a comprehensive program of physical education i n the USA.3 Lieber believed that the main reason for the diminishing interest in gymnastics was the fact that there were no distinctions made between different age groups so that adults and young people had to exercise together. He developed a new differentiated exercise-system and a

general concept of the 'art of gymnastics' containing lots of new exercises and parts. Every town should get a combination of a gymnastic--and play ground which allows adults as well as children to do proper exercises. With that idea he paved the way for the playground-movement which developed at the turn o f the century and which led the public health movement and active recreation for people o f all classes i n town. Further Lieber expected gymnastics t o provide a feeling of solidarity and spirit of union as an active remedy against the party-spirit which he called the "cancer of free towns". Lieber's essay not only contained experiences of gymnastic-days in Berlin, the build-up of the common spirit of Jahn's gymnastics, but also showed social- political aims which referred to the later science of politics and reformer of the law. Also progressive were his thoughts of integration of women and girls into the programme, renunciation of drill and a joyful practice under the aspect of health, decorum and grace.4 The essay showed that the failure of gymnastics in Boston was not a result of poor planning.5 Besides that he created a completely new installation in North America with the construction of swimming-baths. He first followed the orthodox methods of V. Pfuels-- swimming at an angle and actual-gymnastical exercises--he soon recommended exercises of gliding and getting-used-to-the-water in shallow water, an important step to the later "natural swimming".

Already in 1827 Lieber started on his more extensive works, the "Encyclopedia Americana", which was intended t o be written after the pattern of the famous Brockhaus' Encyclopedia. During the period 1829-1843 an encyclopedia of 13 volumes was finished under his direction, which was then published by Carey in Philadelphia and was edited six times in that time. This helped Lieber t o become well-known. Before that some editors of German newspapers had made Lieber their correspondent because he was recommended to them by Niebuhr who was now professor of history in Bonn. But Lieber's attempt t o publish his own newspaper was a failure. Additionally his application for a professorship at the University of New York was accepted. He was, however, hired to plan the curriculum of the "Girad College" and moved to Philadelphia.6

During a journey to Boston in 1831 he met the two Frenchmen Alexis de Tocqueville and Gustave De Beaumont, who started a nine month trip through America. Later De Tocqueville published the impressions of this journey in his famous work "De la Democratie en America" (1835-1840). The fact that de Tocqueville was neither a dogmatist nor a follower of a special party enabled him as a European to undertake a critical analysis of American society. Similar t o Lieber he was full of reservations but still admired democracy. Although de Tocqueville did not agree with the system of choosing mainly those politicians who followed the wishes of the people with

the result of inconsistency and lack of continuity. He was convinced of the superiority o f this form of free government for two reasons: first it was based on respect for the law, second it showed the willingness of the citizens t o become active, looking after the public safety and feeling responsible for the observance of their laws. Still it was not only the choice of freedom instead of tyranny which united the French and the German, but also an interest in the reforms of Massachusetts, especially in the execution of sentences. Already when Lieber prepared his article "Prison Discipline" for his encyclopedia he worked at the two movements of the American reformatory efforts: solitary confinement during night-time and common silent work during day-time as opposed to complete isolation the whole day through. His experiences in Prussian prisons made Lieber plead for a complete solitary confinement, but before he transplanted and commented on the Frenchman's report about prison-systems he visited modern prisons in the USA to get new information and t o talk w i th the goalers. A t the same time he had an active correspondence with the two leading German criminal lawyers (N.H. Julius and Karl J.A. Mittermaier in Heidelberg). After Lieber commented on de Tocqueville's report he led the criminal dispute to i t s climax; in Germany Lieber was now seen as one of the leading reformers in American execution of sentences. When he visited Berlin in 1844 the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV even offered him a leading position in the Ministry of Justice.7 Lieber refused because he had accepted a professorship for history and political economy at Columbia College in South Carolina, an offer which was made to him in 1835 thanks to the recommendation of influential friends. In the meantime in 1839 his main work "Manual of Politic Ethics" was published and initiated his reputation as a famous scholar. It was a handbook on political ethics which also contained principles of an interpretation of civil and political laws and civil freedom and self-government, a book that was used by all important schools in the USA after that time. He wrote t o his German colleague: "It's about time to work hard and with love of truth on lots of things with great influence on politics but st i l l do not belong to political science or jurisprudence. I speak about things like public opinion, parties, parliamentary groups, oppositions, whether the right t o vote does also include the duty t o vote ...."a His second important and probably most famous work "On Civil Liberty and Self-Government" was written in Columbia, S.C., too.9 Here he goes back to the main thoughts of de Tocqueville's report "De la Democracy en Amerique", which showed a connection between radical efforts for equality and despotism. Like de Tocqueville, Lieber asked himself how the individual could be protected against the mass of a modern estate, how something that was historically grown could be saved. And like Tocqueville he also realized that there isn't an opposite between equality and freedom but between freedom and tyranny. So his central questions were:

what makes civil freedom, how can this freedom be preserved, what is this freedom threatened by? In the notes of Frank Freidel, the Lieber biographer, it says that the southern states reacted to this book with enthusiasm, the northern states were a bit more reserved, the Daily News in London picked up the main problem with the work. The English newspaper did right i n criticizing the fact that Lieber did not consider the phenomenon of slavery in his discourse.10 Lieber was well aware of this and indirectly a conscientious doubt showed up: on the one hand due to his position he felt obligated to the state of South Carolina and i t s university, on the other hand he had to reject slavery as a man to whom freedom was above all. In the long term he couldn't live in such an unequal society, but first he started carefully to discuss the "strange arrangement", as he called slavery euphemistically, and tried to move the problem into the public conscience.

By that time Lieber had an active correspondence with John C. Calhoun. the leader of a southern states party, discussing the question of a minority protection. Due to the expansion of the United States to the Pacific Ocean it had to be decided which of the states were to be given the right to keep slavery. To Calhoun the union should be only allowed limited sovereign power because all the states had voluntarily ceded the rights of sovereignty, but Lieber saw the union as an indivisible whole with unlimited sovereign power. This question became extremely important when slavery was supposed to be expanded by the Act of Kansas-Nebraska in 1854. By that time South Carolina threatened to walk out of the union. When Lieber recognized that despite his warning of a secession his people weren't prepared to look for agreement he demanded to keep the nation united by force if there was no other option. In 1856 he resigned from the University of South Carolina and moved to New York, where he was elected to become professor of history and political economy at Columbia College in spring 1857.

During the Civil War he was decidedly on the Union's side and became a close counsellor of Lincoln to whom he gave advice on martial law. The oldest of his sons was engaged in the fight on the side of the Southern states. He was killed in the battle of Williamsburg. The other two served in the Union Army and one of them died from injuries.

When the war started Lieber turned to the questions of martial law: how were the prisoners of the southern states, who were looked at as rebels, to be treated and what was supposed to happen to the slaves? Already in winter 1861162 Lieber had done eight lectures about "Laws and Usages of War"'? in the Law School of Columbia College, because those questions were of special interest in the war. Because there were no plain rules given by the law, Hallek, the commander-in-chief of the western army, expected Lieber to

work out a plan. Lieber finished that work i n autumn 1862 and gave it to Hallek with the title: "Guerilla Parties Considered with References t o the Laws and Usages of War'. Thereupon Lieber was ordered onto a committee of the Washington Ministry of War as the only civil participant, a committee that worked on questions of martial law. In May 1863 Lieber's essay about "Instructions for the Government of Armies of the United States in the Field" was published. In 157 articles Lieber gave exact rules about authorities and limits of war-power in hostile territory, about the public and private property of the enemy, about prisoners of war, about the loot and about conditions of armistice and capitulation. These so called "General Orders" were also given t o the southern states who first declined but then accepted them.

Because Lieber sympathized with the Republican Party he was elected as chairman of the 'Loyal Publication Society' which aimed t o inform the population by hand-bills t o get them politically activized. Discussed were actual questions such as racialism, nationalism, and particularism. Ten of the ninety pamphlets were written by Lieber,one being an "Appeal t o all Germans in America: Lincoln or McClellan?" where Lieber supported the re- election of Lincoln.12

Directly after the victory of the Union Army Lieber, who was chairman of a court of inquiry at that time, was given the order to find and record the conquered documents of the southern states. For him the northern victory was first of all a vindication of his nationalistic theory, a triumph of the thought of state-unity. Already in earlier essays about 'Civil Freedom' and "Political Ethics" Lieber had shown his point of view in that question by writing: "The normal type of government i n our period of political civilization i s the national policyM.l3 Due to his experiences as a young man and the vicinity to Jahn's world of ideas Lieber saw nationalism as an historical phenomenon and a nation as people united in one state strongly connected by common language, traditions and institutes.

But when he recognized the interdependence o f national and international developments and processes he started t o look beyond the national borders. Therefore he made suggestions for the announcement of a congress t o codify internationally accepted laws, the expansion of the rights of neutrality, remarks on free trade, international copyright and international standardization of weight-, measure- and coin-units.

With great pleasure Lieber had heard about the foundation of the "International Red Cross" by Henri Dunant and about the announcement of a conference which eventually passed the "Genf Convention' in 1864. To him this was a further corroboration and agreement with his determinations concerning injured people which he had planned in his "General Orders". He

also welcomed the foundation of an international court. Since he related more and more t o international law Lieber got engaged in a busy correspondence with the well-known international lawyer, professor Bluntxhli from Heidelberg, and with the Frenchman Labolaye. The Belgian lawyer Gustave Rolin-Jacquemyns published several of Lieber's essays in his "Revue de Droit lnternational et de legislation compree" and he agreed to his proposal of calling up an international congress on questions of international law. Because Lieber's recommendation was similar to the one made by the President of the 'Red Cross' his ideas were paid great attention and his "General Orders" became known all over the world. His instructions, which were far more detailed than the European reglementations used to be, were picked up by Bluntchli i n his work "Modern international Law'. AS documents they were used in the "Haag Conventions" between 1899 and 1907. In his studies about Lieber, Freidel emphasizes that the American troops were st i l l bound to Lieber's solemn demand when they occupied Germany and Japan in 1945: "The United States acknowledges and protects, in hostile countries, the religion and morality of the inhabitants, especially those of women, and the sacredness of domestic relations.14

Concerning the most important results and effects Lieber gained during his life, he must be seen first of all as a pioneer of nationalism and international laws. But besides that there are also the impulses he gave to establish a new scientific field which deserve the appreciation of politics in the USA, efforts which were mainly carried by the idea of a German-American transfer in cultural matters and eventually found an end in Lieber's work at Columbia College in New York. It had started in Massachusetts with the cooperation of Cogswell and Bancroft who had both studied in Gottingen. Bancroft, who later became a famous historian, worked as the ambassador of the USA in Berlin for a long time and there did a lot for better German- American cultural connections. And it was his intercession that allowed John Burgess to study at the universities of Gottingen, Leipzig and Berlin. Burgess, who was the founder of the first Faculty of Political Science in North America, became the successor of Francis Lieber when he accepted the professorship of history, political science and international law at Columbia College in New York. But different to Lieber he was more interested in academic and scientific reforms than in political and social ones. The German model showed him a way to canonize and organize his Faculty of Political Science, and later he even used the German ideas of contents and methodology for his education. Lieber, who died in 1872, did not live to see that, although he had created the base of this development. In the memorial speech Judge Thayer laid special stress on Lieber's idealistic mind when he said: "America is greatly indebted to him. Hardly anyone has taught so many of our people in the truth

of history, in the rules of ethics and the bases of political science as Lieber did."ls

Above the entrance-hall of Lieber's house in New York could be read the maxime that reflected his thoughts and which he had been prepared to live on: Patria cara, carior libertas, veritas carissima (dear to me is my father land, dearest the freedom, dearest the truth).

REFERENCES

1Cit. by Metzner,Henry (Ed.): Jahresberichte des Vororts des Nordameri-kanischen Turnerbundes (1881-1919)' here: Jahrbuch (Jb.) 1. p. 13; also Geldbach, Erich: Die Verpflanzund des deutschen Turnens nach Amerika. Beck, Follen, Lieber. in : Stadion, I, 2; Keitschrift fiir Ceschichete des Sports und der Korperkultur, KiSln, 1977, p. 375-376.

*Leonard, Fred E. A Guide t o History of Physical Education. Philadelphia, 1927, p. 244.

3Jahrbuch 1.p. 18. 4Francis Lieber. (Review of) A Treatise on Gymnastics. American

Quarterly Review Ill, March 1928, p. 126-150. 5Francis Lieber (Review of) The Elements of Gymnastics for boys and

Calisthenics for young ladies by Gustavos Hamilton. London 1827. American Journal of Education, Vol. Ill, No. VI, p. 487-491. Microfilm Deutsche Sporthochxhule Koln.

6A constitution and plan of education for Girard College of Orphans. Philadelphia 1834.

7Tagebach Franz Liebers: Lieber papers (Visit to Europe from Apr. 14, 1844 to Jan. 16, 1845) Archiver of the South Caroliniana Library. Columbia University, S.C.

BLieber t o Mittermeier. 10, 5, 1836. Cit. by Franz V. Holzendorff: Aus den Denkwiirdigkeiten eines Deutsch-Amerikaners 1800-1873. Stuttgart- Berlin 1885, loc. cit., p. 168.

gLieber, Francis: On Civil Liberty and Self-Government. Philadelphia 1853 and 1859 (second edition).

lofriedel, Frank: Francis Lieber nineteenth century liberal. Baton Rouge 1947, p. 279.

'Ifreidel, loc. cit.,p. 324. IzDyer, Br.: Francis Lieber and American Civil War. The Huntington

Library Quarterly, July 1939. p. 449-465. 13.4150: Manual of Political Ethics 1838-1839 and On Civil Liberty and

Self-Government 1853- 1859. Isfriedel, loc. cit., p. 341. IsThayer, Russel: The Life. Character and Writings of Francis Lieber.

Philadelphia 1873, loc. cit. Jb., 1, S 18. Kirsch, August: Franz Lieber. Turner, Frieheitsklmpfer und Emigrant

1798-1 830. Dissertation KoIn,1953.