Cornelius de Pauw
Encyclopedia
Cornelius Franciscus de Pauw or Cornelis de Pauw (Corneille de Pauw in French
; 18 August 1739 — 5 July 1799) was a Dutch
philosopher, geographer and diplomat at the court of Frederick the Great
of Prussia
.
Although born in Amsterdam
, son of Antonius Pauw en Quirina van Heijningen, he spent most of his life in Kleve
. Working for the clergy, he nonetheless became familiar with the ideas of The Enlightenment. During his lifetime he was considered to be the greatest expert on the Americas
, although he never visited the continent; he also wrote at length on the origins of ancient peoples, rejecting the popular idea of the time that China
would have originally been a colony
of Ancient Egypt
.
He was a specialist in ethnologic studies as well, publishing a study of American Indians in French in 1768. Daniel Webb, an English scholar and translator, translated portions of de Pauw’s work into English for a public that was hungry for information regarding the new continent of America.
De Pauw had not actually ever been to America, and he had no hesitation in rejecting the observations of those who had if they differed from his preconceptions, as witness his comments on the Aztec calendar. Despite this, he was reputed in his lifetime to be Europe’s foremost authority on the Americas. He read the accounts of Buffon and other scientists, naturalists, and explorers, and drew his own quite interesting conclusions. De Pauw was of the opinion (shared with other European scientists of that time) that the American natives were inferior to natives of northern and western Europe, and that this was partly the fault of American climate and geography.
Some quotes from his works: "The American [native], strictly speaking, is neither virtuous nor vicious. What motive has he to be either? The timidity of his soul, the weakness of his intellects, the necessity of providing for his subsistence, the powers of superstition, the influences of climate, all lead him far wide of the possibility of improvement; but he perceives it not; his happiness is, not to think; to remain in perfect inaction; to sleep a great deal; to wish for nothing, when his hunger is appeased; and to be concerned about nothing but the means of procuring food when hunger torments him. He would not build a cabin, did not cold and the inclemency of the atmosphere force him to it, nor ever quit that cabin, did not necessity thrust him out. In his understanding there is no gradation, he continues an infant to the last hour of his life. By his nature sluggish in the extreme, he is revengeful through weakness, and atrocious in his vengeance…." "The only authority they respect, is that of their old men, whom, however, they abandon from the moment that through weakness or disease they become an incumbrance; as is the case with beasts of prey, who are left to perish miserably when they are no longer able to hunt and provide for themselves. This ingratitude in the young savage towards the author of his being, and the protector of his infancy, is the law of the animal nature…."
"The Europeans who pass into America degenerate, as do the animals; a proof that the climate is unfavourable to the improvement of either man or animal. The Creoles, descending from Europeans and born in America, though educated in the universities of Mexico, of Lima, and College de Santa Fe, have never produced a single book. This degradation of humanity must be imputed to the vitiated qualities of the air stagnated in their immense forests, and corrupted by noxious vapours from standing waters and uncultivated grounds…." Rejecting the existence of the Aztec calendar: "It cannot be, because such a practice presupposes a long series of astronomical observations and very precise knowledge for calculating the solar year, which cannot coincide with the prodigious ignorance in which those peoples were submerged. How could those (peoples) have perfected their chronology who did not have words to count above ten?" Elsewhere: "There are none of these languages in which is possible to count above three. It is not possible to translate a book, not just into the languages of the Algonquins or of the Guaranis or Paraguayans, but even into the languages of Mexico or Peru, because they lack a sufficient number of terms capable of enunciating general concepts."
De Pauw extended his theory to the livestock and wild animals of the Americas as well:
"The degeneracy which prevails in the stranger animals, among whom I shall reckon man, differs in different provinces. Dogs, which in Peru are subject to the venereal disease, are not so in the northern regions; hogs, which dwindle in Pennsylvania, in other places lose their shape, but not their stature; in the English colonies, European sheep become smaller, without losing their wool; in the islands, as in Jamaica, they change their wool for a hair hard and coarse, which cannot be manufactured…."
Pauw’s work also dealt with the manners and customs unique to the natives of the Americas, ranging from the Eskimos and Canadian Indians in the north to the Peruvians in the south. De Pauw speculates on differences and similarities between the North Americans and natives in Siberia. He notes:
The Tunguses, a people of Siberia, are, like the Canadians, grave, phlegmatic, and speak little; because they have but few ideas, and still fewer words to express them; add to this, that the silence and gloom of their forests naturally induce an habitual melancholy. Hence it is that they prefer strong and inebriating liquors, which quicken the motion of the blood, and set the machine in action, to the most precious gifts that can be made them."
"The Tunguses hang their dead on trees, so do the Illinois of America; they cannot dig graves in the earth frozen hard to the depth of twenty feet. This is obviously nothing more than a coincidence…."
In a discussion about the physical characteristics of native Americans, he writes of a peculiar custom among the Caribbeans:
"There is in the Caribane a sort of savages who have hardly any neck, and whose shoulders rise as high as the ears; this too is factitious, and brought about by laying great weights on the head of the infant, which compress the vertebrae of the neck, and force them to descend into the hollow formed by the two bones of the upper part of the breast. These monsters appear, at a certain distance, to have the mouth in the middle of the breast; and may well renew, to travelers ignorant and delighting in wonders, the ancient fable of the Acephales, or of men without heads."
De Pauw writes of the appearance of the Eskimo:
"They are the most diminutive race of human kind, their stature in general not exceeding four feet. They have enormous heads, are extremely fat and corpulent, and much under-limbed. On examining the extremities of their limbs, one perceives that organization has been checked by the severity of that cold, which contracts and degrades all earthly productions. Man, however, resists this impression in higher degrees towards the Pole than trees or plants, since beyond the 68th degree neither tree nor shrub is to be found, while savages are met with 300 leagues beyond that elevation.
"
His work that stirred tremendous controversy in its time and provoked responses from the leading American citizens. An "Anti-Degeneracy" campaign against the assertions of de Pauw and his colleagues involved notaries such as Thomas Jefferson
and James Madison
.
As a renowned scholar, he corresponded with the major philosophe
s of his time - including Voltaire
-, and was asked to contribute articles to the Encyclopédie
. He was the uncle of Anacharsis Cloots, to whom he was also a teacher.
De Pauw died in Xanten
. Napoleon I of France
had an obelisk raised in his memory in Xanten.
Francisco Javier Clavijero
, exiled in Bologna, attached a series of "Dissertations" to his Storia antica del Messico with de Pauw "the principal target of my shots." In his history of the rise and fall of the Aztec empire, Clavijero ("Francesco Saverio Clavigero") of course dealt with the Mesoamerican calendar system, and in the "Dissertations" he quoted de Pauw's remarks shown above, pointing to the many scholars, European and Indian, who had described the calendar previously. He also showed how to count up to forty-eight million in Nahuatl
, listed a number of Nahuatl words for metaphysical and moral concepts, pointed out that the Gospels and Thomas a Kempis
's The Imitation of Christ had been translated into Nahuatl, acknowledged his debt to Indian writers such as Ixtlilxochitl
, and catalogued authors both European and American born who had written in American languages ranging from Tarahumara
to Cakchiquel
.
Another Jesuit exile in Italy, the Chilean Juan Ignacio Molina
, accused de Pauw of "always attempting to degrade and discredit the Americas". Some of Pauw's statements on the poor aspects of the mineral wealth of the Americas were countered by Molina as well as Pauw's claims on the shorter lives of people who inhabit the Americas.
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
; 18 August 1739 — 5 July 1799) was a Dutch
Dutch people
The Dutch people are an ethnic group native to the Netherlands. They share a common culture and speak the Dutch language. Dutch people and their descendants are found in migrant communities worldwide, notably in Suriname, Chile, Brazil, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, and the United...
philosopher, geographer and diplomat at the court of Frederick the Great
Frederick II of Prussia
Frederick II was a King in Prussia and a King of Prussia from the Hohenzollern dynasty. In his role as a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire, he was also Elector of Brandenburg. He was in personal union the sovereign prince of the Principality of Neuchâtel...
of Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
.
Biography
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, son of Antonius Pauw en Quirina van Heijningen, he spent most of his life in Kleve
Kleve
Kleve , is a town in the Lower Rhine region of northwestern Germany near the Dutch border and the River Rhine. From the 11th century onwards, Kleve was capital of a county and later a duchy...
. Working for the clergy, he nonetheless became familiar with the ideas of The Enlightenment. During his lifetime he was considered to be the greatest expert on the Americas
Americas
The Americas, or America , are lands in the Western hemisphere, also known as the New World. In English, the plural form the Americas is often used to refer to the landmasses of North America and South America with their associated islands and regions, while the singular form America is primarily...
, although he never visited the continent; he also wrote at length on the origins of ancient peoples, rejecting the popular idea of the time that China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
would have originally been a colony
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
of Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt
Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of Northeastern Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC with the political unification of Upper and Lower Egypt under the first pharaoh...
.
He was a specialist in ethnologic studies as well, publishing a study of American Indians in French in 1768. Daniel Webb, an English scholar and translator, translated portions of de Pauw’s work into English for a public that was hungry for information regarding the new continent of America.
De Pauw had not actually ever been to America, and he had no hesitation in rejecting the observations of those who had if they differed from his preconceptions, as witness his comments on the Aztec calendar. Despite this, he was reputed in his lifetime to be Europe’s foremost authority on the Americas. He read the accounts of Buffon and other scientists, naturalists, and explorers, and drew his own quite interesting conclusions. De Pauw was of the opinion (shared with other European scientists of that time) that the American natives were inferior to natives of northern and western Europe, and that this was partly the fault of American climate and geography.
Some quotes from his works: "The American [native], strictly speaking, is neither virtuous nor vicious. What motive has he to be either? The timidity of his soul, the weakness of his intellects, the necessity of providing for his subsistence, the powers of superstition, the influences of climate, all lead him far wide of the possibility of improvement; but he perceives it not; his happiness is, not to think; to remain in perfect inaction; to sleep a great deal; to wish for nothing, when his hunger is appeased; and to be concerned about nothing but the means of procuring food when hunger torments him. He would not build a cabin, did not cold and the inclemency of the atmosphere force him to it, nor ever quit that cabin, did not necessity thrust him out. In his understanding there is no gradation, he continues an infant to the last hour of his life. By his nature sluggish in the extreme, he is revengeful through weakness, and atrocious in his vengeance…." "The only authority they respect, is that of their old men, whom, however, they abandon from the moment that through weakness or disease they become an incumbrance; as is the case with beasts of prey, who are left to perish miserably when they are no longer able to hunt and provide for themselves. This ingratitude in the young savage towards the author of his being, and the protector of his infancy, is the law of the animal nature…."
"The Europeans who pass into America degenerate, as do the animals; a proof that the climate is unfavourable to the improvement of either man or animal. The Creoles, descending from Europeans and born in America, though educated in the universities of Mexico, of Lima, and College de Santa Fe, have never produced a single book. This degradation of humanity must be imputed to the vitiated qualities of the air stagnated in their immense forests, and corrupted by noxious vapours from standing waters and uncultivated grounds…." Rejecting the existence of the Aztec calendar: "It cannot be, because such a practice presupposes a long series of astronomical observations and very precise knowledge for calculating the solar year, which cannot coincide with the prodigious ignorance in which those peoples were submerged. How could those (peoples) have perfected their chronology who did not have words to count above ten?" Elsewhere: "There are none of these languages in which is possible to count above three. It is not possible to translate a book, not just into the languages of the Algonquins or of the Guaranis or Paraguayans, but even into the languages of Mexico or Peru, because they lack a sufficient number of terms capable of enunciating general concepts."
De Pauw extended his theory to the livestock and wild animals of the Americas as well:
"The degeneracy which prevails in the stranger animals, among whom I shall reckon man, differs in different provinces. Dogs, which in Peru are subject to the venereal disease, are not so in the northern regions; hogs, which dwindle in Pennsylvania, in other places lose their shape, but not their stature; in the English colonies, European sheep become smaller, without losing their wool; in the islands, as in Jamaica, they change their wool for a hair hard and coarse, which cannot be manufactured…."
Pauw’s work also dealt with the manners and customs unique to the natives of the Americas, ranging from the Eskimos and Canadian Indians in the north to the Peruvians in the south. De Pauw speculates on differences and similarities between the North Americans and natives in Siberia. He notes:
The Tunguses, a people of Siberia, are, like the Canadians, grave, phlegmatic, and speak little; because they have but few ideas, and still fewer words to express them; add to this, that the silence and gloom of their forests naturally induce an habitual melancholy. Hence it is that they prefer strong and inebriating liquors, which quicken the motion of the blood, and set the machine in action, to the most precious gifts that can be made them."
"The Tunguses hang their dead on trees, so do the Illinois of America; they cannot dig graves in the earth frozen hard to the depth of twenty feet. This is obviously nothing more than a coincidence…."
In a discussion about the physical characteristics of native Americans, he writes of a peculiar custom among the Caribbeans:
"There is in the Caribane a sort of savages who have hardly any neck, and whose shoulders rise as high as the ears; this too is factitious, and brought about by laying great weights on the head of the infant, which compress the vertebrae of the neck, and force them to descend into the hollow formed by the two bones of the upper part of the breast. These monsters appear, at a certain distance, to have the mouth in the middle of the breast; and may well renew, to travelers ignorant and delighting in wonders, the ancient fable of the Acephales, or of men without heads."
De Pauw writes of the appearance of the Eskimo:
"They are the most diminutive race of human kind, their stature in general not exceeding four feet. They have enormous heads, are extremely fat and corpulent, and much under-limbed. On examining the extremities of their limbs, one perceives that organization has been checked by the severity of that cold, which contracts and degrades all earthly productions. Man, however, resists this impression in higher degrees towards the Pole than trees or plants, since beyond the 68th degree neither tree nor shrub is to be found, while savages are met with 300 leagues beyond that elevation.
"
His work that stirred tremendous controversy in its time and provoked responses from the leading American citizens. An "Anti-Degeneracy" campaign against the assertions of de Pauw and his colleagues involved notaries such as Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Jefferson was the principal author of the United States Declaration of Independence and the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom , the third President of the United States and founder of the University of Virginia...
and James Madison
James Madison
James Madison, Jr. was an American statesman and political theorist. He was the fourth President of the United States and is hailed as the “Father of the Constitution” for being the primary author of the United States Constitution and at first an opponent of, and then a key author of the United...
.
As a renowned scholar, he corresponded with the major philosophe
Philosophe
The philosophes were the intellectuals of the 18th century Enlightenment. Few were primarily philosophers; rather they were public intellectuals who applied reason to the study of many areas of learning, including philosophy, history, science, politics, economics and social issues...
s of his time - including Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
-, and was asked to contribute articles to the Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie
Encyclopédie, ou dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers was a general encyclopedia published in France between 1751 and 1772, with later supplements, revised editions, and translations. It was edited by Denis Diderot and Jean le Rond d'Alembert...
. He was the uncle of Anacharsis Cloots, to whom he was also a teacher.
De Pauw died in Xanten
Xanten
Xanten is a historic town in the North Rhine-Westphalia state of Germany, located in the district of Wesel.Xanten is known for the Archaeological Park or archaeological open air museum , its medieval picturesque city centre with Xanten Cathedral and many museums, its large man-made lake for...
. Napoleon I of France
Napoleon I of France
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
had an obelisk raised in his memory in Xanten.
Criticism
Pauw and his ideas were objects of severe criticism by some of his contemporaries, notably those with experience of the Americas. The Mexican JesuitSociety of Jesus
The Society of Jesus is a Catholic male religious order that follows the teachings of the Catholic Church. The members are called Jesuits, and are also known colloquially as "God's Army" and as "The Company," these being references to founder Ignatius of Loyola's military background and a...
Francisco Javier Clavijero
Francisco Javier Clavijero
Francisco Javier Clavijero Echegaray , was a Novohispano Jesuit teacher, scholar and historian...
, exiled in Bologna, attached a series of "Dissertations" to his Storia antica del Messico with de Pauw "the principal target of my shots." In his history of the rise and fall of the Aztec empire, Clavijero ("Francesco Saverio Clavigero") of course dealt with the Mesoamerican calendar system, and in the "Dissertations" he quoted de Pauw's remarks shown above, pointing to the many scholars, European and Indian, who had described the calendar previously. He also showed how to count up to forty-eight million in Nahuatl
Nahuatl
Nahuatl is thought to mean "a good, clear sound" This language name has several spellings, among them náhuatl , Naoatl, Nauatl, Nahuatl, Nawatl. In a back formation from the name of the language, the ethnic group of Nahuatl speakers are called Nahua...
, listed a number of Nahuatl words for metaphysical and moral concepts, pointed out that the Gospels and Thomas a Kempis
Thomas à Kempis
Thomas à Kempis was a late Medieval Catholic monk and the probable author of The Imitation of Christ, which is one of the best known Christian books on devotion. His name means, "Thomas of Kempen", his home town and in German he is known as Thomas von Kempen...
's The Imitation of Christ had been translated into Nahuatl, acknowledged his debt to Indian writers such as Ixtlilxochitl
Ixtlilxochitl
Ixtlilxochitl can refer to a number of Mesoamerican nobles, including:*Ixtlilxochitl I, tlatoani of the central Mexican city-state of Texcoco from 1409 to 1418....
, and catalogued authors both European and American born who had written in American languages ranging from Tarahumara
Tarahumara
The Rarámuri or Tarahumara are a Native American people of northwestern Mexico who are renowned for their long-distance running ability...
to Cakchiquel
Cakchiquel
The Kaqchikel are one of the indigenous Maya peoples of the midwestern highlands in Guatemala. The name was formerly spelled in various other ways, including Cakchiquel, Cakchiquel, Kakchiquel, Caqchikel, and Cachiquel....
.
Another Jesuit exile in Italy, the Chilean Juan Ignacio Molina
Juan Ignacio Molina
Fr. Juan Ignacio Molina was a Chilean Jesuit priest, naturalist, historian, botanist, ornithologist and geographer...
, accused de Pauw of "always attempting to degrade and discredit the Americas". Some of Pauw's statements on the poor aspects of the mineral wealth of the Americas were countered by Molina as well as Pauw's claims on the shorter lives of people who inhabit the Americas.
Works
- Recherches philosophiques sur les Américains, ou Mémoires intéressants pour servir à l’Histoire de l’Espèce Humaine. Avec une Dissertation sur l’Amérique & les Américains, LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, 1771 - Recherches philosophiques sur les Égyptiens et les Chinois, London, LausanneLausanneLausanne is a city in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland, and is the capital of the canton of Vaud. The seat of the district of Lausanne, the city is situated on the shores of Lake Geneva . It faces the French town of Évian-les-Bains, with the Jura mountains to its north-west...
and GenevaGenevaGeneva In the national languages of Switzerland the city is known as Genf , Ginevra and Genevra is the second-most-populous city in Switzerland and is the most populous city of Romandie, the French-speaking part of Switzerland...
, 1774 - Recherches philosophiques sur les Grecs, ParisParisParis is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
, 1788, BerlinBerlinBerlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, 1787-1788 - Selections from M. Pauw, with Additions by Daniel Webb, Bath and LondonLondonLondon is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
1795