...characteristics in them. British biologist Francis Galton coined the word eugenics in 1883, which in Greek literally meant good in birth Galton believed that marital unions between people of what he regarded as excellent genetic stock ' could be expected to produce offspring with the same or similar qualities (Last , 2007). However, the eugenics movement was frowned upon by many people because it was used by the Nazi regime in Germany, as it pushed to improve the human race by eliminating the people they despised. Thus, eugenics and racism are linked by the fact that every person will have their own rights and it is prone to be abused by people who want to dominate the weak. As a cousin of Charles Darwin who introduced to the world the theory of evolution, Galton incorporated Darwin’s idea of survival of the fittest into his notion of eugenics. The goal of eugenics was the improvement of the human species through the careful selection of parents. Galton identified two primary processes to achieve this end. Positive eugenics encouraged individuals who were above average both mentally and physically to produce more offspring. Negative eugenics proposed that individuals who were below average should have fewer or no children. This second proposal could be achieved through institutional segregation, marriage restrictions, or sterilization (Berson Cruz 300). His exact words for these processes were eugenics first objective is to check the birth-rate of the unfit. The second...
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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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...Throughout the past year, many forms of inequality have been put under the limelight. Movements like Black Lives Matter and issues like the North Dakota pipeline have made all U.S and global citizens aware of the rampant inequalities in the world. In the past, there have been many attempts to find the origin of this inequality. Previous movements like the Eugenics movement tried to establish the root of these problems as differences in genetics between different peoples. Though the moral grounding of this theory was incredibly unstable, it still gained popularity in the early 20th century. However, this theory has been proved immoral and incorrect countless times. The real origin of this inequality is the geographical locations of different...
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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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...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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...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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...involvement of eugenics and its deep participation in the Third Reich. The SS Main Office served as a driving force in distributing propaganda. For example, slogans had been imprinted and displayed on walls, most often containing violent warnings of the dangers of mixing Aryan blood with other races which were considered undesirable. Similar to American ideology, Nazi leaders believed that the degradation of the German race was due to the addition of primarily Jewish blood. These ideas were followed by enforcement of the Nuremberg laws in 1935 that prohibited the union, and sexual relations between unfit members of society, like the Jews and Roma, and those with pure German blood. The SS Main Office is also responsible for the creation of Lebensborns. Lebensborns were special programs that were composed of eight rules which focused on Aryan women and their duty to have as much offspring as possible in order to create their ideal race. Doctors also encouraged SS soldiers to...
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...Cullen Smith U.S. History Mrs. LaPietra 5 April 2024 The Inequality of Race in America The first slave in the English colonies was a man named John Punch, who was believed to be a runaway indentured servant; as a punishment he was sentenced to lifelong servitude in 1640. This is an example of how the origins of race in America relate back to the terrible transformation of slavery in the English colonies. The inequality of race was used to establish laws to keep non-white Americans separate from the American society. Slavery is one of the main causes of inequality in America. The start of race-based slavery was the “terrible transformation” in the English colonies; this was a law that stated the freedom of a child born in the U.S. is based on...
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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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...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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...The Red Scare was a movement in response to the communist Bolshevik Revolution in 1917, which was the belief that immigrants such as Jews and Eastern Europeans brought alien ideologies like socialism and communism to America that would be harmful to American democracy. The Red Scare was an American campaign during the 1920s designed to wipe out the spread of communism in the U.S. by spying on their own citizens, restricting immigration from communist countries, and deporting hundreds of immigrants. Hiram Evans argues, “We believe that all foreigners…would become a part of us, adopt our ideas and ideals, and help in fulfilling our destiny along those lines, but never that they should be permitted to force us to change into anything else.” Evans reflects the ideology...
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