Karl Marx was born on May 5, 1818, in Trier, Germany. His father being a successful lawyer and a protestant convert, Karl had doors open to him throughout much of his upbringing. He was an avid reader with a great interest in literature and philosophy. Marx achieved outstanding marks in gymnasium (the equivalent of high school) and won a prize for his senior thesis on "Religion: The glue that binds society together."

Marx enrolled in the University of Bonn in 1833 to study law, yet because of Bonn's status as a "party school", Karl did poorly academically. His father did not stand for a wasted mind so he enforced Marx' transfer to the University of Berlin, a well-structured school where he enrolled in a circle of students called "The Young Hegelians." This was a philosophical group, which looked upon post-Aristotelian, and post-Hegelian Philosophies, and was led by the innovational Bruno Bauer...