Darwinism in America
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Darwinism, an evolution theory by Charles Darwin, argues that living organisms evolve through natural selection. While organisms with favourable and competitive character traits within an environment prosper and reproduce, the weaker ones die and become extinct hence the phrase “Survival of the fittest”. Despite the fact that the theory is accepted by the majority, it continues to be rejected by many Americans (Masci, 2019). Darwinism has therefore been met with mixed reactions and brought about a lot of controversy across America.
Darwinism gave rise to conflicting ideas amongst Americans on certain issues in the society. American sociologists embraced Darwin’s evolution ideas and incorporated them in their social sphere thus creating Social Darwinism. Social Darwinists used the ideas of the evolution theory in their own social context thus creating differences amongst the people. These differences ranged from race, religion, culture, ethnicities and status. American sociologists, for example, used Darwin’s evolution theory to oppose initiatives put in place by the American government to Help the poor in the society. Poverty was considered an inferiority trait (“Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age (article) | Khan Academy”, 2020). Darwinism was used by American sociologist for their own social, political and economic satisfaction.
Immigrants coming into America during the second industrial revolution, which was after introduction of the Darwin theory, faced extreme challenges. Foreigners were perceived to be inferior due to the racial differences. Those who came from Eastern Europe, for example, were said to be less evolved as compared to those that came from England (“Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age (article) | Khan Academy”, 2020). Immigrants were also regarded to have a low command of English and to be of any other religion apart from Protestant. Moreover, Social Darwinism led to the establishment of the eugenics movement which sterilized people who were seen to be lesser intelligent and healthy. The sterilizations focused mainly on women, minorities and immigrants (“Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age (article) | Khan Academy”, 2020). This shows how much Darwinism influenced the perception of people about others in the society.
Following the ideas that Charles Darwin’s evolution theory brought about, theological modernism seemed to take centre stage. It was aimed at revising traditional Christian beliefs (Melton & Sandeen, 2020). This reality began to weigh on religious leaders at the end of the nineteenth century. According to Dwight L. Moody, a missionary from Chicago, Darwinism jeopardized biblical truth and public morality (Masci, 2019). A movement known as Christian Fundamentalism was therefore formed to oppose any form of religious modernisation. This ensured preservation of the already existing religious beliefs and practices.
References
Masci, D. (2019). The history of the evolution debate in the United States. Retrieved 10 February 2020, from https://www.pewforum.org/essay/darwin-in-america/
Melton, J., & Sandeen, E. (2020). Christian fundamentalism | American Protestant movement. Retrieved 10 February 2020, from https://www.britannica.com/topic/Christian-fundamentalism
Social Darwinism in the Gilded Age (article) | Khan Academy. (2020). Retrieved 10 February 2020, from https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/us-history/the-gilded-age/gilded-age/a/social-darwinism-in-the-gilded-age
