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Chamisso, the third naturalist Liebersohn profiles, moved in the post-Revolutionary Parisian circles of Romantics and salons. Seasoned by the danger of popular mobilization of the Terror and the repression of the Napoleonic Wars, Chamisso focuses less on ideas of equality and more on manifestations of liberty. Conscious of the naturalists’ tendency to imprint their accounts with their own personal and philosophical bias, Chamisso sought to only “present the strange land and the strange people.”<ref>Liebersohn, pg 71</ref> Chamisso’s voyage aboard the Rurik also had more explicitly nationalistic intentions, as it was pursuing both economic and imperial goals for the Russian Empire, as well as providing passage and support for scientific research. This intersection of the interests of science and state during expeditions was to become more prominent during the Nineteenth Century.
Chamisso’s European social circles of republicans and travelers during the early 1800s included a young Joel Poinsett. Both men were known to associate with writer and republican, Germaine de Stael in Coppet, during her exile from France, and to attend her controversial salons during Napoleon’s reign.<ref> Liebersohn, Harry, <I>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674027477/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674027477&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=b9698d210fd87d30cafb30052724aed6 The Traveler’s World]</I>, Cambridge, MA: Harvard University, 2006. pg 60 and Rippy, Fred, <i>Joel Poinsett: Versatile American</I>, pg 16</ref> Poinsett traveled across Europe and Asia during the first decade of the Nineteenth Century, and spent time with many Europeans advocating intellectual and geographical exploration, like Goethe and Tsar Alexander,<ref>Rippy, pg 25-26
Krumpelmann, John T., <I>The South Central Bulletin</I>, “Duke Berhnhard of Save-Weimer”</ref> during a time when new ideas about government and citizenship interacted with accounts of contact with distant native populations. Although there is a lack of available material written by Poinsett during this time, his subsequent actions and interactions illustrate a practical combination of abstract and concrete aspects of travel and politics.
After returning to the United State and serving in the South Carolina state government, Poinsett traveled again. During the 1810s, Poinsett spent several years in South America, exploring, spreading republican ideology and attempting to foment revolution against Spain.<ref>Rippy, Fred, <I>[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0837102006/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0837102006&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=797cae81e1ab88c55df183fd986b9ece Joel Poinsett: Versatile American]</i>, pg 39-41.</ref> His story illustrates the transition from idealized depictions of foreign lands to official reports of imperialistic concern in 1822, as he wrote a traveler’s account of Mexico, while acting as an investigative agent of the United States government.<ref>Dyer, George B; Charlotte L Dyer, “The Beginnings of a United States Strategic Intelligence System in Latin America, 1809-1826”, <I>Military Affairs</I>, 14, 2,(1950).</ref>
===Mexico===
===Conclusion===
The debate over nature and nurture had powerful implications during this time of exploration and expansion. The search for an explanation for human difference inspired both philosophy and political policy, in Europe and North America, as nations sought the definition of the human species and justification for racial and social hierarchy. Colonial States and new republics used travel accounts and the developing discipline of anthropology to support their national identities and territorial agendas. Individual agency interacted with state-building projects, as theories of natural man and innate abilities defined the rights of humans to maintain their culture and territory. Taking different forms in Europe and North America, this debate continues to have profound implications in society today, as questions of race and human variety inform discussions of human potential.
[[Category:wikisWikis]][[Category:United States History]][[Category:19th Century Historyof the Early Republic]] [[Category:Jacksonian America19th Century History]] [[Category: American WestPolitical History]] [[Category:Diplomatic History Booklists]][[Category:Expert BooklistsJacksonian America]]
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===References===
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