[6] His wealth came from smuggling at the time of the Continental Blockade, when trade in goods of British origin was prohibited.

[6] In 1818 Humann led a deputation charged with presenting the grievances and demands of the Strasbourg business community to the government, with great success.

[10] From the middle of the 1820s he was involved in various large or technically advanced industrial projects as a manager, organizer or source of funding.

[11] He was appointed a member of the general council of commerce, chaired by Jean-Baptiste de Villèle, the Minister of the Interior.

[6] The king formed the "ministry of all talents" headed by Marshall Soult on 11 October 1832, with Humann as Minister of Finance.

Issues in the first session included the budget, loans for Haiti, spoils from the Algiers expedition and taxes on colonial and domestically produced sugar.

Later sessions dealt with the guarantee of Greek debt following recognition of the independence of Greece, compensation to the United States for losses resulting from the Continental Blockade, laws related to the Bank of France and savings banks, the tobacco monopoly and pensions for civil servants.

The most important measure was to undertake a new census to determine wealth and property taxes owing, which resulted in virulent attacks from the opposition but was carried through to completion.

[6] Antoine Maurice Apollinaire d'Argout delivered a eulogy on Humann in the Chamber of Peers on 4 July 1843.