...During the eugenic movement there were internal concerns about criminals, insane, feeble mindedness, alcoholics, paupers, derelicts, delinquents, orphans, prostitutes and those unable to support themselves. These traits were considered to be hereditary defects that cannot be eliminated by environmental procedures. Many studies supported and illustrated the use of sterilisation as negative eugenics such as the Juke family published in 1875 and the Kallikak family in 1912 where one or more members of the family were considered to be unfit. In 1907 Indiana was the first state to pass involuntary- sterilisation based on the eugenic ideologies of the unfit. By 1931, 30 states had passed this law. As the concept of the “unfit” was subjective and...
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...Several of these ideas of separation are found in the eugenics movement. Eugenics is the science of improving mankind by discouraging those with weak genes from having children and encouraging those deemed superior. This discouragement overall was not intended as a punishment for the weak, but it was designed to alleviate them the hardship of having to bring up children which they couldn’t support. ("Eugenics: Did the Eugenics Movement Benefit the United States?" 19). Eugenics started with Sir Francis Galton; he was a scientist in the U.K. studying hereditary patterns in people when he developed the early ideas of eugenics and the word itself. The movement started in 1904 (with Galton’s coining of the word) and became popular rapidly due to the fleeting imperial ideas that...
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...these changes the need for labor escalated in many of the urban areas, with millions of Europeans emigrating to capitalize of these employment opportunities. By this happening Americans in the upper and middle classes began to fear these minority groups. With the passionate ethnocentrism due to the fears, Herbert Spencer would spur the American eugenics movement. Eugenics is the study of human heredity and genetic principles for the purposes of improving the human race by limiting the proliferation of defective gene pools (Polirstok, 2012). As Charles Davenport introduced the eugenics movement...
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...persons were considered for sterilization. The thought was that by sterilizing the ‘unfit’ and the minorities, the worst genes would be eliminated, therefore only the best genes would reproduce. Focusing my research between the years 1869-1974, this paper will investigate the birth of eugenics and Michigan's adoption of the science, which resulted in the massive human rights violations of the states 3,786 residents. This paper will provide the answer to, why was eugenic sterilization such a commonly accepted science in Michigan during the early 1900’s until the sterilization law was repealed in the 1974? My research will show that eugenic sterilization, although heinous in nature, was justified by Michigan scientists and residents a like by claims of a more humane society and was thought to be the saving grace of mankind. Eugenics is a word derived from Greek meaning "well born" and was formulated by British scientist Francis Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, after an 1869 study which stemmed from his cousins idea of better evolution. This work concluded that heredity was the sole factor in a persons make up—all things good and bad, anywhere from intellect to deformations. The definition of eugenics given by Galton was "The study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally." With concerns of how our world would end up if reproduction remained the same, he encouraged only the most intelligent...
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...eliminate the reproductively inadequate. Eugenics presented two worldviews of women, one the ideal women who was empowered to improve and protect the family, and race, the other the degenerate women who needed to be controlled to stop the spread of inferior genes. Eugenics played a prominent role in the regulation of children and the educational institutions they attended, which had adverse effects on the family. For example, within the American context, a literature of ‘normality’ was being developed to contrast healthy children with their ‘feebleminded’ counterparts. The advent of educational programs for children with learning difficulties began to be implemented in Canadian provinces in the 1910s. However, these programs were designed to kick ‘imbecile’ children out...
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...Immigration, Eugenics, White Ethnics, Mexican Americans U.S. Immigration Legislation (Tyner, 60) -1907: U.S. Japan Gentlemen’s Agreement -Denied entry to Japanese laborers -1917: Immigration Act -Denied entry to illiterates (meant to exclude Southern and Eastern Europeans) -Designated an “Asiatic Barred Zone” denying entry to people from the lands between India, Australia, and Japan 1924: Johnson-Reed Act (National Origins Act) -Promoted by the American eugenics movement -Designated to maintain national purity and security -America should remain a white, Protestant nation -All others must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanently inferior status. *Eugenics want to keep white/Anglo-Saxon -Product of scientific racism - Applied to Charles Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory to modern, industrial civilization (Social Darwinism) -1890s: popular with educated Americans concerned about an imminent “race suicide” due to low Anglo-Saxon birth rates -1903: American Breeders Association founded -1906: its Committee on Eugenics formed “to emphasize the value of superior blood and the menace to society of inferior blood.” -1908: first Eugenics Society (England) -1909: first professorial Chair in Eugenics established (University College, London) -By 1910: emergent international eugenics movement proclaimed itself “the science of human improvement through programs of controlled breeding.” -Eugenicists advocated selective eugenic mating, immigration...
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...Applied Eugenics Ashley Harris PHI 103 Informal Logic Instructor Eric Maass Ashford University September 11, 2014 Applied Eugenics P. Propene and R.H. Johnson approach the ideology of eugenics and present information that would promote the “racial betterment” of humanity and the Caucasian race. They emphasize the chance of “imbecile” and “unfit” children are high when races are mixed and this this is the reason that eugenics is a positive change for the world. The flow of immigrants from inferior nations in Europe, Africa and Asia are seen as a threat to the work that the “patriots and forefathers” put forward to make America into a flourishing nation. Eugenics is seen as a solution to a population boom and unwanted pregnancies in poor and overcrowded communities, the majority of which is made up by minorities. . In impoverished communities it would be a god send in order to keep mothers form having children they cannot afford to take care of while also keeping the unfit and inferior community at manageable numbers. The authors also mention the overcrowding of Asian countries and recommend legal restrictions to prevent the same issue in the United States. Propene and Johnson also mention that though there are races that are compatible with the Nordic line, there are still some who are unfit to procreate. This excerpt is inductive and deductive in nature, though it can be seen as valid or invalid, weak or very strong; the audience of the discussion would be the judgment...
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...Hello Jonathan, I think you made a good point when you mentioned how breeding within a small population would lead to genetic defects. As we covered before, one problem with eugenic ideals, aside from morality issues, would be the limited genetic information available for safe reproduction. If one were to believe that a population has remained “pure” after many years, then the resulting generations would show multiple genetic defects. The article worked forward to defend the conclusion that migrations caused a mix between the many different societies which dismisses the concept of a ‘pure’ European. The reasoning used past evidence from reliable observations that occurred through several migrations at different time periods to validate the...
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...In this section the author Isenberg begins by emphasizing the two leading movements the began 1900, eugenic movement and Darwinism. She says, that Du Bois in his speech declared that social Darwinism had found such a favor in America because the very idea of survival of the fittest ratified the reactionary racial politics that already prevailed. Darwin endorsed an inevitable inequality among men and the races of men that no philanthropy ought to eliminate. This theory stressed the necessity for human intervention to improve the race thought better breeding. Eugenicist compared good human stock to thoroughbreds equating the wellborn with superior ability and inherited fitness. Pseudoscience, masquerading as hereditary science, provided Americans...
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...imbecility, society can prevent those who are manifestly unfit from continuing their kind” Interviews here Reveal of speaker, explanation of Eugenics in U.S Why did you pick this topic? Eugenics is a word often associated with Hitler and the Nazi regime, however many people are unaware that the first applied version of Eugenics took place in America. Eugenics originally circulated around the U.S in the early 20th century, beginning with the first laws passed in Indiana in 1907, over 60,000 disabled persons or people considered ‘degenerate’ were forcibly...
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...Science of Eugenics Eugenics is the science concerned with the proposed movement of the human traits. It aims at improving the inborn qualities of a race. The principle of eugenics was characterized by a strong belief in the power of hereditary .Early eugenics movements were founded in Germany, Britain and the USA. In the early twentieth century, eugenics became more popular when it was commonly practiced around the globe. Its programmes and policies that countries enacted included segregation, birth control, genetic screening and marriage restrictions. These policies aimed at encouraging reproduction among the genetically advantaged and negative elimination through sterilization. Eugenics policies were first implemented in the early 1900 in the United States. It has roots in France, Germany, Great Britain and the United States. The scientific standing eugenics started to decay when Ernst Rudin used eugenics as a validation for the racial policies of Nazi Germany. In Germany, the zeitgeist German spirit of a time was commonly used. Zeitgeist was expressed through means such as in culture or in philosophy where its argument was that if Darwin had not existed, his theory of evolution would still have been in print. Francis Galton, a British philosopher, coined the term eugenics in 1883 and gave a detailed meaning that eugenics is all influences that are likely to give more suitable races a better probability of surviving over the less suitable. After reading Charles Darwin’s...
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...Hassan 1 Hussein Hassan Mr. Horn AP Seminar February 2 2015 The Perfect Human: The Flaws in Modern Eugenics With global technologies rapidly advancing, specifically those based in the field of genetics, one might wonder where humanity is headed in terms of their offspring. The answer? Modern eugenics. Francis Galton's eugenics, centered around forced sterilization and selective breeding to eliminate undesirable traits and foster the spread of more advantageous ones (Galton), is dead. However, the idea of focusing on one’s inherited genes to eliminate passed down diseases is alive and well, albeit in a more “modern” fashion. Is modern eugenics the right way of the future for humanity? To what extent should modern eugenics be viable? Before ambitious genetic projects had begun, such as the Human Genome Project which mapped out the entirety of the human genome (Genome.gov), the only way to tamper with an individual’s genes was through their parents. Gregor Mendel earned the moniker “The Father of Genetics” because of his experiments involving the breeding of plants in the mid 19th century (Biography.com). However, modern eugenics focuses on the genes of child more than the parents through abortions and the genetic altering of the embryo to achieve the desired results. This can be achieved through a process called genetic screening, which observes an embryo’s chromosomes for any lapses or breaks (Galloway a). Embryo’s that show signs of a genetic disorders...
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...Outline + References Sociology 210 Research Paper Draft Conflict Theory and the Evolution of Eugenics in America during the 20th Century. I intend to present a purely informative paper on the sociological perspective of eugenics during the past century in the United States through Conflict Theory. A linear history of causality, implementation, and significance. 1. Conflict Theory Perspective a. Margaret Sanger b. Plato’s Republic c. Negative Eugenics d. Sterilization e. Planned Parenthood Federation of America f. Legislation g. Economic Implications Early 1900’s American political movement under Margaret Sanger 1. advocate the control over individual rights to reproduction 2. purpose of societal advantage 3. rights governed by the state and supported by a public majority 4. originally designed as a method of public oppression and controlled persecution. 5. Sanger an outspoken advocate for Eugenics a. racial dominance, class restraint, and a member of the American Eugenic Political Party, opened a family planning and birth control clinic. 6. Established first Abortion Clinics in NY b. On October 16, 1916, a member of the Eugenic party movement opened a then privately funded business, now partly funded by the public, in New York City. 7. clinic’s policy on providing pregnancy termination to the impoverished and uneducated. 8. The Birth Control Review and Birth Control...
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...Eugenics and Beneficence Eugenics and Beneficence On October 27, 2014, the North Carolina state legislature became the first in the country to officially begin compensating citizens and their families who were subjected the state’s forced sterilization program. Ninety years after the legalization of forced sterilization in the United States and forty-one years after the first lawsuit was brought by sterilized North Carolinian Nial Ramirez, it would seem as though the country is now ready to do penance in financial terms for its past actions via reparations to Mrs. Ramirez and others. (Burns, 2014) The purpose of this paper is to examine the concept of eugenics, specifically to view it through lens of beneficence, to try and view the issue from the points of view of all involved, and finally to explore some future implications about the nature of beneficence from this episode in the history of American health-care. Eugenics is the study of ways to influence (usually to improve) a population by selective breeding. ("Mosby’s Dictionary," 2009) The idea of influencing the quality of animal populations has existed since the beginning of domestication by humans, but the idea of subjecting the human race to systematic selective breeding is a more recent phenomenon. Western thought about the nature of living creatures until the 19th century had been shaped by Judeo-Christian traditions in which a creator god made and sustained all the diversity of life, and further had created...
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...Eugenics have been around for centuries. The term was coined in the late 1800’s by Francis Galton, an English intelligent (Bouche and Rivard). Eugenics is based on the idea of creating the perfect race. It’s the idea and former social movement that argues that the human race can be improved by encouraging people with good or desirable trait to reproduce and discourage reproduction with bad or undesirable traits (“What is Eugenics?”). Eugenics means “good origin” or “good birth” in Greek (Bouche and Rivard). Similar to, Hitler and how he was trying to create his perfect race. The point of eugenics is to eliminate the unwanted gene. During Hitler’s rein, he was attempting to create the perfect race. His idea of the perfect race was blonde hair and blue eyes. Many people are completely unaware that this is still practiced today. In fact, this happened close to me. My uncle, by marriage, has a younger sister with mental disabilities. She does not let that affect her life in anyway. She lives with her mother. When she was younger, she decided to go against her parent’s wishes, ran away to...
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