Table of Contents
Toward the late 19th century, a period of growth and industrialization entered the united states. Natural resources, cheap labor supply, and a self-sufficient food supply became abundant and largely contributed to the industrialization of the United States. This era was known as the American Industrial Revolution. As a result of this growth in prosperity, the American people began to adopt a heavily opportunistic and an excessively materialistic view towards life.
Through this came Social Darwinism, which was established to describe the idea that humans, like plants and animals, compete in a struggle for existence. The basis of Social Darwinism was dependant on the theories of evolution developed by British scientist and naturalist Charles Darwin. Although Social Darwinism is largely controversial and criticized by many, it is still very much reflected in current societies (survival of the fittest and welfare). Social Darwinism has impacted everything from poverty and eugenics to imperialism and immigration.
Charles Darwin
In 1859, Charles Darwin, English naturalist, biologist, and geologist, released one the most important books in both science and history On the Origin of Species. In the book, Darwin discusses his scientific theory on the process of evolution through natural selection. Natural selection is the process by which organisms adapt to their environment as a way to survive and reproduce which results in evolution. Eventually, people got hold of Darwin’s work and began applying his ideas to the social world.
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Social Darwinism
Along with Darwin’s brilliant work on the evolution of species came followers known as Social Darwinists. These followers included sociologist and others who used Darwin’s work to create what is known as Social Darwinism, taking the words and ideas Charles Darwin used to describe the biological world and applying those ideas to the human social world as stated before. Perhaps, the most popular Social Darwinist was sociologist Herbert Spencer.
Like many others who followed Darwin’s work, Spencer believed in the idea that those who were poor were naturally weak and unfit for society and should be removed from the human species through evolution. They embraced laissez-faire capitalism. Their theory was that in order to rid the human species of the weak (poor) the government should not aid or get involved with social issues in relation to the poor. On the other hand, they believed that those who were economically and socially successful (i.e businessmen) were naturally fittest.
For these ideas, Herbert Spencer coined the phrase “Survival of the Fittest”. However, unlike Darwin, these followers were not only adopting Darwin’s theories, they were perverting them for their own social, economic, political agenda. Fortunately, these Social Darwinist views are no longer tolerated in society due to their corrupt and malicious interpretations of the evolutionary theory. (Foner, E. 2017; Mclain, S. 2013)
Social Darwinism in Relation to Poverty and Eugenics
“Social Darwinian language like this extended into theories of race and racism, eugenics, the claimed national superiority of one people over another, and immigration law” (KhanAcademy.org). Various sociologists and political theorists sided with Social Darwinism in order to stop government aid for poor individuals. Their ideology was that poverty was the result of “natural inferiority”, which should be eliminated from the human population.
In his argument in favor of Social Darwinism, Herbert Spencer used the example of a young woman from upstate New York named Margaret, whom he regarded as a ‘gutter child.’ Because government help had kept her alive, Margaret had, as Spencer wrote, “proved to be the prolific mother” of two hundred descendants who were “idiots, imbeciles, drunkards, lunatics, paupers, and prostitutes.” Spencer ended his argument by asking, ‘Was it kindness or cruelty which, generation after generation, enabled these to multiply and become an increasing curse to the society around them?”(Spencer, Herbert, 1981)These ideas influenced the eugenics movement of the nineteenth and twentieth century.
According to Webster’s Dictionary eugenics is the science of improving a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. The eugenics movement endeavored to improve the prosperity and intelligence of humans by sterilizing individuals considered to be’feeble-minded’ or ‘unfit.’ Eugenic sterilizations, which disproportionately centered around women, minorities, and immigrants, continued in the United States until the 1970s. (Lombardo, Paul 2011)
Social Darwinism in Relation to Immigration and Imperialism
The destructive ideologies of Social Darwinism also impacted the interactions between America and other nations. As the Second Industrial Revolution brought an influx of immigrants into the United States, white, Anglo-Saxon Americans saw these newcomers as inferior. “Many whites believed that these new immigrants, who hailed from Eastern or Southern Europe, were racially inferior and consequently ‘less evolved’ than immigrants from England, Ireland, or Germany”(Tichenor, Daniel 2002).
Likewise, Social Darwinism was used as a justifiable argument for American imperialism in Cuba, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. Many supporters of imperialism argued that it was the responsibility of white Americans to civilize ‘backward’ peoples. With the association of Social Darwinism to Nazi propaganda, arguments about Social Darwinism and eugenics lost much of their popularity in America during and after WWII. Additionally, modern biological science and research have disproved the theory of Social Darwinism.
Conclusively, Social Darwinism has significantly impacted American society. It has had an impact on social, economic, and political relations. Social Darwinism was the result of greed on part of the one percent (wealthy people), who completely had no regards for the lives of those who were struggling to make it in society.
References
- Foner, E. (2017). Give Me Liberty! An American History. WW Norton &.Lombardo, P. A. (2011). A century of eugenics in America: From the Indiana experiment to the human genome era. Indiana University Press.
- McLain, S. (2013, May 09). Evolutionary theory gone wrong | Sylvia McLain. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/science/occams-corner/2013/may/09/evolutionary-theory-gone-wrong-darwin
- Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/ap-us-history/period-6/apush-gilded-age/a/social-darwinism-in-the-gilded-age
- Spencer, H. (1981). The man versus the state: With six essays on government, society, and freedom. Liberty Classics.
