The Early Life Of Karl Marx Essay

, Research Paper

Karl Marx s early life was extremely important in shaping the way he thought about society and governments and what he thought could make them better, and his experiences and up-bringing made him a pro-communist writer and believer. Karl Marx was born on May 5th in the year 1818. He was born in the small town of Trier, Germany. Trier is located in Western Germany near France and is considered the most French-like city of Germany. Trier was built by the Romans and lies in the heart of the wine region which makes vineyards the principal business of Trier. The city numbered some 12,000 people back in Marx s time.

Trier was once part of Napoleon s empire, but was incorporated into Prussia by 1815. Western Germany was mostly inhabited by the Jewish. Many Jews converted to Catholicism due to the Jewish faith not being liked by government leaders.

Marx was born into a middle-class Jewish family. His mother and father were both Jewish. His father, being the head of the family, converted to Catholicism. Judaism was not accepted especially for the father of the family. Judaism was passed down by Marx s grandfather being a Rabbi and a faithful Jew. Marx s mother refused to convert to Catholicism, but allowed all seven of her children to be baptized.

The Jews had benefited greatly from Napoleon s activities. Napoleon s activities had broken many of the barriers that had made the Jewish Ghetto . Jews were included more throughout society. Napoleon s defeat hurt the Jews and brought back the Ghetto . It also made many of them convert to Catholicism because of the fear of being persecuted and the fact that the German Princes were not nice to the Jews. Also many anti-Jewish lies were made in 1816, so Marx s father took the name Heinrich Marx and was accepted into the Catholic church in 1817. Heinrich was not a genius but he was an intelligent person.

One of Karl s quotes from his college years describes the anti-Jewish beliefs in Germany quite well, The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a mountain on the minds of the living. (Karl Marx, The Passionate Logician, pg. 6) This was pointed towards all the people that still held on to their negative views towards Jews.

Heinrich Marx mostly tried to conform with the Prussian Government in public. At one time he expressed non-conformist opinions in public. When he did this the Prussian Police reacted and Heinrich withdrew everything he said. The police used force in these instances where people expressed non-conformist views.

Karl was a very good child. Though he was stubborn, he was definitely more gifted with intelligence than other children. He made strong impressions on his father by his hard work and his superior intelligence over his other siblings. Karl kept his father close while keeping his mother at a distance. Marx did well in grade school. He was well-behaved and got good grades but he did not like school.

Karl did not have any close friends in school. He preferred spending time with adults, most likely because they were more intelligent. Marx spent most of his time with his father and the Royal Prussian Privy Councilor Ludwig Von Westphalen. Ludwig added many ideas to Marx s mind and also gave him more liberal views. Ludwig also had many intellectual interests that helped Karl.

Karl had many ways of thinking about the world and of course he was gifted in his intelligence. Many people said he had an abstract approach to the world. which gave him a very legalistic way of thinking. He was also very causistic and analytical about society and the world. He believed that all men were created equal in personal relationships, legally and also politically.

Heinrich Marx and his son Karl had very different opinions on what he should do with his life. Karl had wants and his father had wishes for his son. Heinrich wanted him to do practical things with his intelligence like inventing new things that are useful to people. Marx had no interest in any science or inventions. Marx focused more on what he liked in school. Marx liked literature and rhetoric. He read tirelessly because he thought reading was the most necessary thing for a good education, which helped him become more knowledgeable on all types of things. Karl decided to write poetry for a while in his late teens. He enjoyed writing essays and poems.

Karl was very undecided at this time in his life. He didn t know whether he d follow his dad s wishes or his own wishes. Marx wrote this quote later in his life which really describes this point in his life. We cannot always take up the profession we feel ourselves suited for; our social relations have begun more or less to crystallize before we are able to determine them (Karl Marx, Passionate Logician, pg.12).

Karl s first college experience at the University of Bonn was not a great one. He was not the diligent student of his early years in elementary and high school. He ran up debts quickly and became very careless about money. He had one arrest for drunkenness and noisiness. He was also involved in a duel with pistols which he admittedly says was the stupidest thing he ever did in his life. He had to leave the University of Bonn for being caught dueling. Marx s parents were extremely disappointed in him because of his actions while at college.

After Marx left the University of Bonn he fell in love wi