Social Darwinism in American Politics Essays - 1199 Words

Introduction Social Darwinism is a quasi-philosophical, quasi-religious, quasi-sociological view that came from the mind of Herbert Spencer, an English philosopher in the 19th century. It did not achieve wide acceptance in England or Europe, but flourished in this country, as is true of many ideologies, religions, and philosophies. A good summary of Social Darwinism is by Johnson: In these years, when Darwins Origin of Species, popularized by Herbert Spencer as quot;the survival of the fittest, quot; and applied to races as well as species in a vulgarized form, Social Darwinism, the coming Christian triumph was presented as an Anglo-Saxon Protestant one. Social Darwinism is by no means dead, for vestiges of it can be found in the†¦show more content†¦(That is, they were not of the same kind, type or variety.) What this seemed to mean to Darwin was biological evolution. Organisms better suited to their environment gained some survival advantage and passed their genetically transmitted advantages to their offsprings. Darwin thought that this process was extremely slow and even. In fact, we became aware that it is neither slow nor even: there are examples of a good deal of change in a short period of time; and there are examples of very little change over a long period of time. Nor did Darwin understand the mechanism by which the transmission took place. This was to be figured out by Gregor Mendel, Thomas Hunt Morgan, DeVries and in our own time, Watson and Crick who deduced the spiral shape of the DNA molecule. Darwins discoveries struck his native England, as well as Europe, and this country with an enormous impact. They ran into total conflict with the idea of special creation, which one can find in the Book of Genesis, especially Chapter I and II. The emotional impact of Darwins discoveries have not abated. The Misapplication of a Biological Theory But, for our purposes, it is the use to which some people made of biological evolution which concerns us. Some simplified the idea to quot;survival of the fittest.quot; Others believed that an identical process took place among human beings. They believed that white Protestant Europeans had evolvedShow MoreRelatedAmeric Land Of Oppression1175 Words   |  5 Pagesshared opinion causes the underlying discontent: the president-elect is not supportive of the multiple demographics that compose the United States. There is a feeling of underrepresentation from these minority groups who have been long overlooked in politics. The protest is not a cry for help but a demand for change. The massive police force surrounds the protesters attempting to block their march. This border between the two opposing sides is a symbolic reminder of the ongoing power struggle, of theRead MoreThe Many Faces Of Social Darwinism1496 Words   |  6 Pages Kimberly Hollman HIS356K March 3, 2016 The Many Faces of Social Darwinism Hollman 1 of 5 The second half of the 19th century was a time of great flux in the United States. The impact of the Civil War perturbed all spheres of American domestic life, leaving its citizens in a state of anxiety regarding their beliefs, government, and even their fellow man. These changes happened concurrently with advances in the sciences: on the eve of the Civil War, Charles Darwin published his influential On theRead MoreThe Great Impact On Intellectual And Artistic Endeavors And Theses Ideas Essay1262 Words   |  6 Pagesdecades following the Civil War as the United States was changing from a primarily agricultural to an industrialized nation the American intellectual landscapes were changing in equally important ways. New ideas in the worlds of literature, science and philosophy were having great impact on intellectual and artistic endeavors and theses ideas were not just influencing the social elites but also America’s growing mass of ordinary, literate citizens. This influen ce would set in motion a change in massRead MoreThe Theory Of Biological Evolution1192 Words   |  5 PagesSocial Darwinism is defined as the application of the theory of biological evolution to human affairs. It was used to justify and clarify many notions of nationalism and imperialism. Science played a huge role in the coming about of this new discovery but in reality, the society shaped the science of what it was about. Charles Darwin was the root of new era and was profound to come up with the theory of evolution. His theory had become one the fundamental unifying principles of modern biology andRead MoreCall Of The Wild : A Zeitgeist Of Naturalism1243 Words   |  5 Pages During the Gilded Age, the ideas of Social Darwinism take hold. Social Darwinism is â€Å"a term scholars use to describe the practice of misapplying the biological evolutionary language of Charles Darwin to politics, the economy, and society† (â€Å"Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age†). But how is London’s novel a zeitgeist of Naturalism? Jack London’s The Call of the Wild is a zeitgeist of Naturalism with its usage of Atavism, and a key ideology of Social Darwinism, which is the survival of the fittestRead MorePresident Reagan Essay797 Words   |  4 PagesChloe Carr Professor Blodgett History 271 May 14 2013 Social Darwinism Shaping Reaganomics Ronald Reagan made many economic decisions that supported his beliefs in Social Darwinism throughout his presidency. Social Darwinism is considered to be the ideas of struggle for existence and  Ã¢â‚¬Å"survival of the fittest,† a term coined by Herbert Spencer in order  to justify social policies. Over time the individuals with superior biological characteristics will dominate populations that this superRead MoreSocial Darwinism Is An Ideology Of Society1566 Words   |  7 PagesSocial Darwinism is an ideology of society that seeks to apply biological concepts of the laws of evolution by natural selection of evolutionary theory to sociology and politics, often with the assumption that conflict between groups in society leads to social progress as superior groups outcompete inferior ones. How we got to the point of coining the modern term of â€Å"Social Darwinism† we would have to turn to the famous man himself, Charles Darwin. At first glance, Charles Darwin seems an unlikelyRead MoreThe Assassination Of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.1304 Words   |  6 PagesGreat Depression was present in every aspect of society from the richest CEO to the poorest pauper. Although the Great Depression dampened the American mood, it created a desire for security and stability in the United States while ultimately uniting the country politically through aspirations of reformation, economically through expanding Social Darwinism, widening the wealth gap, and socially through an optimistic attitude. The Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted until 1939, and its effectsRead MoreThe Theory Of Progressive Evolution1726 Words   |  7 Pagesin particular earlier Christian apologetics focusing on the complexity of nature as evidence for God such as that of William Paley s analogy of the supposedly irreducible complexity of nature. Micheal Shermer similarly outlined the emphasis Neo-Darwinism placed on constant reiteration of the importance of Darwin s â€Å"idea†, defined as a singular, revolutionary entity within the history of science that was first exclusively formed in 1837 and confirmed by others8 in the progressive vein of Thomas SRead More Spoon River in History Essay1062 Words   |  5 Pagesthe different social, economical, and political trend and influences throughout the United States. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The city of Spoon River went through many of the same social trends that the United States experienced like social Darwinism and the change in woman roles in society. The idea of social Darwinism had its part in the country as well as in Spoon River. In Spoon River Anthology the character Felix Schmidt found out the hard way of the concept of social Darwinism where only the