The Role of Darwinism in America
Darwinism was a theory developed by Charles Darwin that stated all species of organisms arise and develop through natural selection. Small inherited variations that increase the individual’s ability to compete, survive, and reproduce were also critical features of the theory. The Darwinism theory, on the other hand, had sociological, eugenics effects to the United States of America ,without forgetting opposition from Christian groups which I will talk about in this essay (Cooke & Ring, 2020)
Darwinism Classification of Some Individuals Being Inferior and Its Justification
Social Darwinism is a loose set of ideologies that emerged in the late nineteenth century. Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection was used to justify various sociological views. The idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better began to emerge. However, Darwin’s theory of evolution stated that only plants and animals best adapted to their environment would survive to reproduce and transfer their genes to the next generation (Fuchs, 2016)
Charles Darwin stated that some individuals in society are inferior and justified in the following way. He openly commented on his theories stating that the fit inherited qualities such as industriousness and the ability to accumulate, wealth while the unfit were innately lazy and stupid; hence they formed the majority of the poor in the society. Darwin borrowed various phrases like “struggle for existence” from sociologist (Herbert spencer) and the phrase “struggle for existence” from an economist (Thomas Malthus) to try explaining his concept further(Hallenberg & Tennant, 2015)
Social Darwinism and Eugenics Shaping Immigrant Experience in America
The eugenics phenomenal was launched by a scientist called Francis Galton, which was aimed at improving the human race. This was to be achieved by ridding the society if its undesirables as he called them. The undesirables were the poor who the elites were claiming that the best way to reduce their numbers was to prevent them from reproducing, as they were considered a burden to the society.
Social Darwinism and eugenics shaped immigrants’ experience in America in the following way: a massive number of immigrants came to the United States during the second industrial revolution. The whites, Anglo-Saxon Americans viewed these newcomers who differed from earlier immigrants, in that they were less likely to speak English and more likely to be catholic or Jewish rather than protestant.
The whites believed that these new immigrants, who hailed from eastern or southern Europe, were racially inferior. This was the social Darwinism approach of the immigrants by the American nation during the nineteenth century.
Reasons Why Fundamental Christians Opposed Darwinism
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution was quite interesting. The approach tried to explain how a man can to be and evolved over the years. The theory, however, linked man to have a common ancestor who was the apes. The Christian community did not appreciate this theory as it vividly went against the belief of God creating the universe as a whole. One of the eminent evolutionists ever, Harvard paleontologist (George Simpsons) claimed that “man is the result of a purposeless and natural process that did not have him in mind” (Seemann, 2019)
The sentiments stated above clearly go against the beliefs of the Christian faith. The church fraternity stood firm in the church and to the original creation theory documented in the bible. They publicly spoke against other phenomenal that were against the creation theory preached in the churches (Begley et al., 2017)
Reference
Begley, M., Coghlan Jr, S. M., & Zydlewski, J. (2017). A comparison of age, size, and fecundity of harvested and reference White Sucker populations. North American Journal of Fisheries Management, 37(3), 510-523.
Cooke, A., & Ring, C. (2020). Psychophysiology of Sport, Exercise, and Performance.
Fuchs, C. (2016). Neoliberalism in Britain: from thatcherism to cameronism. tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique. Open Access Journal for a Global Sustainable Information Society, 14(1), 163-188.
Hallenberg, K., & Tennant, M. (2015). Criminology picks up the gauntlet: responses to the Whole Earth exhibition.
Seemann, K. W. (2019). Seemann-CV-General. pdf.