In the first volume of his <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rendition="#i">Kosmos</hi>, Humboldt coined a now well-known sentence that emphasized the unity of the human race: "In maintaining the unity of the human kind, we at the same time repudiate all the unsatisfactory assumptions of higher and lower races of men. There are races of men more flexible, more highly polished, through mental culture more ennobled, but none naturally more noble. All are in equal measure ordained for liberty; for liberty which in ruder conditions of society appertains to the individual, which in more polished state, in civil life and among men in the enjoyment of political institutions, is the right of the community." Humboldt’s findings on the cultures of humankind, as expressed for example in the <hi xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" rendition="#i">Vues des Cordillères et monumens des peuples indigènes de l'Amérique</hi> published in 1810–1813, as well as his studies on slavery and the plantation economy, which were initiated in particular by his experiences on the American journey, are oriented towards this conviction. Both the Krakow (especially <ref xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" target="http://kalliope-verbund.info/DE-611-BF-42729">volumes 1–3</ref>) and Berlin papers (especially <ref xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" target="http://kalliope-verbund.info/DE-611-BF-12629">Large Box 2</ref> and <ref xmlns="http://www.tei-c.org/ns/1.0" target="http://kalliope-verbund.info/DE-611-BF-12819">Large Box 13</ref>) are an indispensable source for this research focus.