Karl Marx - Journalist, Historian, Economist, Philosopher

Yusuf Harris

Prof Neal

History

January 29, 2018

Introduction

Karl Heinrich Marx was born May 5th, 1818, in Trier, Rhine province, Prussia or present day Germany. Marx was one of nine children, His father Heinrich and mother Henrietta Marx gave birth too. Marx’s father Heinrich was a prominent lawyer who deeply admired the likes of Emmanuel Kant and Voltaire, he was also outspokenly in favor for Prussian reform. Both of Marx’s parents were Jewish with rabbinical ancestry, at the age of 35, Marx’s father Heinrich converted to Christianity in 1816.

One reason for the conversion of religion by his father was that one year prior in 1815 their was a law that banned Jews from high society. Heinrich Marx was baptized a Lutheran, and not a Catholic which in Trier was the leading faith, he “equates Protestantism with intellectual freedom.” At the age of 6, along with his siblings Karl Marx was baptized, his mother later was baptized after his father had passed away in 1825. As a student Karl Marx was rather ordinary, he received most of his education at home until he was 12 years old, he then went on to spend 1830 to 1835 at Jesuit High school in Trier, though during his time of attendance it was the Friedrich-Wilhelmina Gymnasium. Karl Marx furthered his education by attending the university of Bonn, earning a reputation as a high spirited and rebellious in nature Marx was very much apart of the student life. In only two semester, he found himself incarcerated for drunkenness, disturbing the peace. He also amassed debts and was the participant of a duel. By the end of his year at the University of Bonn, Marx’s father demanded that he would attend the University of Berlin which was more serious. In Berlin Marx would study law and philosophy, during this time he was introduced to the philosophy of G.W.F Hegel, who was a professor at the university until his death in 1831. Marx took part of a group of radical students named the young Hegelians, they criticized religious and political establishments during that time.

Conclusion

In 1836 Marx became secretly engaged to Jenny Von Westphalian, a highly desirable woman from a prominent family in Trier who was four years older than Marx was. Marx’s father at this time felt angst due to the engagement and his sons growing involvement in radicalism. A series of letters were written by Marx’s father, in these letters his father expressed his worries about what he considers his son’s “demons”, he also criticized him for not taking marriage seriously, especially when his wife had ascended to a high social class. Marx received his doctorate degree from the university of Jena in 1841, but due to his radical politics he was unable to obtain a teaching positions. Marx in the year 1842 was a journalist, he was the editor of Rheinische Zeitung, a liberal newspaper in Cologne. April 1, 1843 the government ordered that the news paper be stifled. Marx on March 18th decided to step down as editor, three months later he married Jenny Von Westphalen and in October they moved to Paris.