...If someone asked 100 average Americans about eugenics, the overwhelming majority of them would likely announce that they had a negative impression of the concept, rightly or wrongly. Over the last century, eugenics — which is defined as good genetics — has had a checkered history due to how different governments and political leaders have tried to implement the theory. These failed eugenics attempts have had severe socio-political consequences on countries around the world. Within this paper, three eugenics-based policies will be addressed in greater detail. These policies are: birth control, race-based sterilization policies and genocide (on varying scales). Birth control is a relatively recent phenomenon — primarily entering the national agenda after the Industrial Revolution as more and more families left the countryside and moved into urban areas. Prior to this demographic shift, birth control had only been practiced by a handful of people and the methods that were utilized (such as abstinence and withdrawal) had a relatively high failure rate (A brief history of, 2014). Following the Industrial Revolution, birth control was introduced at different rates in different countries — driven by demographic differences, as well as each country's individual religious beliefs and preferences. Certain religions have been much more adamantly opposed to birth control than others. Interestingly, the United States was one of the slowest countries to embrace birth control. In fact, a...
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...Eugenics Intro The Theory of Eugenics was a widely embraced during the early 20th century. Canada and Germany both have their roots tied to misapplication of Darwinism that emerged from Britain. The term Eugenics first appeared in England and was coined by Francis Galton in 1869. Galton and supporters of eugenics promoted Social Darwinism, which applied the concept of biological evolution to societies. This embraces the notion that human societies can evolve into “superior” forms. These Governments targeted marginalized groups and applied the principles of racial hygiene using forced sterilization, and genocide. Even though Canada and Germany used different over arching strategies, but their main objective was to determine who is fit to be apart of the nation. Similarities During the 1930’s eugenics benign form promoted healthy living and “social purity”. However in its tyrannical form, the program-sought ways to ensure “fit” members of society that portrayed undesirable elements were bred out of the population. In most countries where eugenics beliefs were enshrined in legislation, efforts were made to limit reproduction among “unfit” groups through public education, institutionalization and forced sterilization. While Nazi Germany, eugenics beliefs woven into nationalism led to the forced sterilization thousands. They created concentration camps for Jewish and the “Lebensborn” program in which young German women with classic Nordic features forced to mate with members...
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...Paul Popenoe and Roswell Johnson, in their blatantly eugenicist 1918 University textbook, Applied Eugenics, supported a national education system that would work as “a sieve through which all children in the country are passed” and “which will enable the teacher to determine just how far it is profitable to educate each child that he may lead a life of greatest possible usefulness to the state and happiness to himself.” Teachers must inspect children for ability and inability, for compulsory education should be utilized for both positive and negative eugenics programs. In the quote, they talk about the hazards of 'too great a democritazation' of the country is dangerous. They focus on how the notion of democracy functions - How every person, lay man or an expert, has one equal vote. They approach the subject through a different viewpoint, a more morally weighted, "What ought the people to want?", as opposed to "What do the people want?" Through this lens of intention and collective good, Popenoe and Johnson try to point out that often more times than not, the vox populi want something that in the long term, may be harmful or detrimental to the society and welfare of the state. This is the problem they have with democracy and the system of governance it gives mandate to, the layman being given as equal a vote as an 'expert' in the field. They mention that most of the general population know little about the most important projects that will benefit society, and still expect...
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...Eugenics focuses on the unique inborn mental and physical qualities of groups and the factors that influenced the full development of those qualities within a society. Eugenics can be considered the science of promoting good births within a society rather than in humanity, because the concept of good birth varies from society to society. The qualities of individuals in a group are acquired, it was believed, from a common ancestor who possessed unique inborn mental and physical qualities that were passed from generation to generation. Genetics and heredity are the basic building blocks of eugenics but rapid industrialization, urbanization, intense growth of American industry, agricultural mechanization, and widespread immigration all played roles too. The cities and population growing without enough adequate housing were some factors that led to the practice of eugenics. Carrie Buck was committed to the Virginia Colony for Epileptics and Feeble Minded in Lynchburg, Virginia. Carrie and her mother were judged to be "feebleminded" and promiscuous, primarily because they had both had borne children out of wedlock. Carrie's child was also judged to be "feebleminded" at seven months of age! Three generations of "imbeciles" became the "perfect" family for Virginia officials to use as a test case in favor of the eugenic sterilization law enacted. In 1924 the Supreme Court concurred "that Carrie Buck is the probable potential parent of socially inadequate offspring, likewise afflicted...
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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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...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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... 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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...Eugenics was used to control the human race by “eliminating” people with disabilities, and others who would affect the dream of a “perfect white race”. Eugenics was an incorrect use of Darwin’s theory of evolution. For example, Darwin’s theory of evolution was about survival of the fittest, and with evolution there would be no individuals with disabilities or defects. However, he says this was not meant to manipulate the human race. Darwin’s theory of evolution was used for plants, and animals. Carrie Buck was an individual who suffered the horrific events of the pseudo-science that was applied in Lynchburg, Virginia. Eugenics impacted Carrie Bucks life in a various amount of ways. Carrie Buck was raped by someone in her family and ended up becoming pregnant. She was sent to Lynchburg right after she gave birth to her daughter, named Vivian. They deemed Carrie to be feeble-minded, and decided she was unfit to be a member of the society. Carrie Buck was then sterilized at Lynchburg, changing her life forever. Not only was Carrie sent to Lynchburg, but her mother was sent to Lynchburg as well for being “feeble-minded”, and they believed that this was even proof that the...
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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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...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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...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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...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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...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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...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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...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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