In The Name Of Eugenics Summary

The consecutive generations of families that displayed these undesired characteristics, like mental challenges, would be sterilized to halt the spreading of these traits and to segregate the members of this class of society apart from others. Most members of the upper class and scientists agreed with this viewpoint, but social reformers in the 1920’s thought “Carrie Buck was a sad example of the type of person that threatened to disrupt American societies” (Cynkar 1981). However, because of the power that the upper class had, Carrie Buck’s state-assigned guardian, R.G. Shelton, essentially had no way of protecting Carrie from the inevitable: sterilization. The legal process ended up making way to the Supreme Court where Carrie Buck was defeated (Cynkar

History throughout the United States has multiple positive and negative attributions that reflect onto today’s society. One circumstance that has been partially neglected was the eugenics movement in America; the notion of eugenics occurring in the United States is infrequently brought up today. According to Dr. Laura Rivard, the average person most likely does not even know what eugenics is. An English intellectual named of Francis Galton is responsible for starting this movement. Eugenics can briefly be defined as exploiting the fundamentals of genetics and heredity for the benefit of superiorizing the human race.

From the reading, the one thing that stood out the most is how eugenics came about and how poor white trash were seen as having an illness and disease to justify their social class status. The whole concept of eugenics just doesn’t quite sit well with me due to the fact that it believes there is a set of individuals who are superior to others, what justify that? Under what conditions does society have the right to make a reproductive choice for someone else? Chapter 3 talks about how three generations of imbeciles is enough, but in my opinion, it is not up to society to cut reproduction, especially when family and heirs have such an importance to people, regardless of social class because it has become a norm, to have a family. Although eugenics

Fueled by the fear of change, society’s ambiguous sentiments toward the unfit or feebleminded allowed prominent eugenicist to abuse their power and loosely interpret policy to fit their social constructs. Although many ethical issues can be connected to the eugenics movement, the protection of freedom and individuality are the most significant principles at stake. This is best represented in the 1927 Supreme Court case Buck v. Bell.

The eugenics movement was a very influential movement in America that was very prevalent during the early 1900’s. The premise of the eugenics movement was that society could be scientifically improved by classifying ranking members of society and trying to prevent those who were ranked low from reproducing. The eugenics movement was born out of the desire for the upper and middle classes of society to try and prove, scientifically, that they were superior to those who were in the lower classes. The people who typically made up the lower classes were usually immigrants and those who were of a different race. Eugenics was essentially the method that was used to try and exert control over the lower classes while validating the idea that those in the upper and middle classes were superior.

The writers of these sources are acting as mediums between the history and the audience. The role of the author is to inform the readers about eugenics: what it was, where it took place, and what happened. The writers intended audience are students and adults who are interested in learning about a nation’s dark history of eugenics and how it presumably began the Holocaust, or readers who are ignorant to what eugenics is and wants to find out more. The intended purpose is to inform the audience of the origins of eugenics coming from Darwin’s theory of evolution and Mendel’s work on genetics; survival of the fittest through genetic heritage.

The first eugenics movement was proposed by Francis Galton. He believed that artificial selection could be used to improve the genetic constitution of populations. In 1914 Harry Laughlin produced the model Sterilization Law that suggested sterilization of the ‘socially inadequate”. He thought that the lowest 5% of the population should be sterilized. Federally-funded sterilization programs

During the 1920s, several movements were on the rise, creating changes both politically and socially. One such movement was the Eugenics Movement. Eugenics was described by the head of the movement, Charles B. Davenport as “the improvement of the human race by better breeding.” The ideas of eugenics were based on how the inheritance of traits determined one’s appearance and behaviours and along with the idea of certain races being more superior to others. Eugenicists, those who believed in eugenics, sought to use science to solve problems in society such as alcoholism, crime and mental illnesses such as manic depression or retardation which they called “feeble mindedness.”

The idea of eugenics made it possible for involuntary sterilization. In order to improve the human race, it meant regulating reproduction. 1907 Indiana passed to sterilize the mentally insane and inmates. Their plan was to eliminate “defective” genes. By 1960 63,000 people were involuntary

The world is well aware that the acts of the Nazis were atrocious. This is not something one has to affirm, and is due, in large part, to an understanding of World War II and Hitler’s attempts to achieve “Aryan” purity. Germans have taken responsibility and shown remorse for their government’s actions. The United States’ role as leaders in the eugenics movement of the early 1900’s remains unknown by most Americans, even to many American scholars. The American eugenics movement, is at least partially responsibility for Hitler’s actions, at it laid

During the Nazi Holocaust in World War II, Adolf Hitler ordered the systematic annihilation of the Jewish population. Hitler's fixation on racial purity came from ideas promoted by Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism was derived from Charles Darwin's notion that evolutionary progress occurs from the elimination of the weak in the struggle for survival. This idea of evolutionary progress inspired the eugenics movement, which was a type of social engineering that tried to eliminate the "undesirables" of the population. As the world became more globalized, ideas spread across oceans and nations like wildfire.

There are many things that have happened behind closed doors in our great nation. In fact, even today with all the technology and possibilities to learn, the people of this nation still fall ignorant. We don’t know the evils that occur in our nation, not to mention the ideas and blueprints that caused them to come to action. There are many great sins that have been committed, and currently in the process of committing, of these I believe Eugenics to be one of the most abominable. How did eugenics start, where does it come from and who authored and supported it? I hope to delve into this during this essay.

The eugenics movement in the United States beginning in the late 19th century and extending to the mid 20th century was a biosocial movement, which advocated procedures to improve the genetic composition of the American population. This essay will examine how eugenic ideologies influenced public and social policy in the United States between 1880 and 1950. The essay will first discuss the background of eugenics and how the eugenics movement gained momentum in the United States. Secondly, it will look at the various organisations associated with eugenics, that lobbied for legislations that aligned with their beliefs. Thirdly, it will consider how the advocating of the various eugenic organisations caused eugenic ideologies to become normalised in American society. Lastly, it will study the numerous policies established in different States that were formed based on eugenic principles.

At the beginning of the 20th century, power and prestige was held by the majority of (if not only) White people. African Americans were living under Jim Crow laws, Native Americans were forced into reservations and all of the new immigrants were in crowded ghettos. Those that were a race other than White were at “the bottom of the social and political hierarchy.” One of the aims of the Eugenics Movement was racial purification. Using the concept of Mendelian genes, scientists would try to breed the best, smartest, most talented, most beautiful and always white individuals and breed out the worst and weakest colored individuals. Mixed race people were seen as not put together because it was a combination of the best and worst traits someone could have.” Frederick Hoffman, presented data, statistics and a theory that claimed African Americans would become extinct because of high death and disease rates that were caused by African Americans being biologically lesser than Whites. However, his analysis was flawed because it failed to mention how systematic poverty and social neglect could be affecting the health of African Americans.

The idea of eugenics was first introduced by Sir Francis Galton, who believed that the breeding of two wealthy and successful members of society would produce a child superior to that of two members of the lower class. This assumption was based on the idea that genes for success or particular excellence were present in our DNA, which is passed from parent to child. Despite the blatant lack of research, two men, Georges Vacher de Lapouge and Jon Alfred Mjoen, played to the white supremacists' desires and claimed that white genes were inherently superior to other races, and with this base formed the first eugenics society. The American Eugenics Movement attempted to unethically obliterate the rising tide of lower classes by immorally