In 1820, Dampe was sentenced to death for advocating the abolition of absolute monarchy and the establishment of a free constitution. However, his sentence was commuted to exile and he was imprisoned in "the Balloon" on the tiny island of Fredriksø. Following the abolition of exile as a form of punishment in 1840 he was placed under house arrest on Bornholm. In 1848, he was granted amnesty by Denmark's new king, Frederick VII. The following year, in 1849, the Danish Constitution was introduced pretty much the way Dampe had proposed.

His dissertation provides an overview of the main principles of the Quran’s ethical teachings, the arguments for following them, pre-Islamic Arab ethics before Muhammad, and what Muhammad thought about himself. Then follows an excursus on Muhammad’s clever ways of granting himself authority and finally, an appendix with ten pages of philological commentary.

Biblioteca Danica I, 596.