Eugenics Movement In The Early 1900's

This changes brought about by the Darwinism movement brought about the rise of a new movement called the Eugenics Movement and Social Darwinism.

As technology improves, so do human capabilities of altering nature, which in turn creates increased responsibility. This directly relates to genetic engineering, which is beginning to morph into a reality. There are advocates for both sides that convey their personal opinions about the hypothetical results, but neither is clearly superior since both arguments speculate upon an unknown future. Hungarian psychologist, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, outlines this topic in his essay “The Future of Happiness,” which focuses on the history of selective breeding and compares the goal of happiness with genetic engineering. Csikszentmihalyi alternates between viewpoints regarding genetic engineering but presents a perspective dominated by warning. Csikszentmihalyi’s presents a chronologically structured explanation of selective breeding with progressive rhetorical questions that balance his support between the validity of the scientific study of happiness and his trepidation regarding potential dangers of the use of genetic engineering for predetermined beneficial traits.

Most people have a common knowledge on the holocaust, and about the horrible things that happened with it, but to what extent? Therefore, I will be typing this paper about Hitler; his beliefs and intentions on the concentration camps. I will also be typing about the concentration camps, how they formed, the way people were treated, how the people got there, and how eugenics was used in the concentration camps and in other countries too.

Eugenics is the study or belief that a way to improve the quality of the human population is by discouraging reproduction of people who have genetic defects. Thus, a person presumed to have genetic defects is discouraged to reproduce, and someone without genetic defects would be encouraged to reproduce. The story in the movie relating how one deaf couple had a still-born baby. After the infant was delivered the doctor sterilized the woman without her consent. This was a way to rid the human population of an undesirable trait-

The sterilization of Carrie Buck and the eugenics movement in the U.S. is an example of this relationship, as the eugenics movement and biological determinist thought permeated society. Carrie Buck was up against four powerful institutions, medicine, academia, law, and the judiciary, not to mention the gender and economic differences. While discussing the economy, Calavita explains a shift in business models that applies to Buck’s case. Calavita writes, “The charisma and credentials of the ‘grand old men’ who traditionally made up this transnational arbitration club continue to provide it with an aura of genteel legitimacy, but that its actual operation has been rendered highly technocratic and rational” (Calavita, 34). The ‘grand old men’ described can also be applied to the four, elite, professional institutions Buck was against during her case. With an aura of professional legitimacy, these powerful institutions work under the belief that the government and society should be ruled by an elite group of technical experts. With their elite professions, Dr. Albert Priddy, Harry Laughlin, Aubrey Strode, and Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes saw it within their right to control who could reproduce, and who would reproduce valuable babies for the

Eugenics or “good breeding” is meant to improve the human race through the gene pool using various methods. Similar to designer babies, the process could be used for good, but like Colin Tudge points out, “…although guns and bombs can be used as agents of peace, [humans] should not be overly surprised when in practice they are used to make war” (Tudge 282). Eugenics can be performed simply by regulating who and who cannot mate. It can also be done by sterilization, a procedure that permanently blocks pregnancy in a woman, which was a reality for many. The most famous account was performed by Germany, specifically the Nazis, during WWII, when 400,000 women were sterilized (Tudge 284). The list of countries does not stop there, though, Canada, Norway, Finland, Estonia, Iceland, and Sweden all allowed for sterilization. Even the United States participated by sterilizing up to 100,000 people (Tudge 284). Its participation happened between 1911 and 1970, when six states passed laws that allowed the government to do such a horrible thing. “Horrible” can be used to describe the sterilization that occurred due to the countries’ reasoning behind it. The women were not given the choice, but rather the procedure was done to those that were deemed “feebleminded.” Germany took this a step further and based sterilization on race (Tudge 284). Through sterilization, the

Margaret Sanger was a birth rights advocate and in her later years, supported eugenics. Eugenics is the belief that all of the good human qualities can be the main characteristics instead of all the bad qualities in the human population. In the speech, Sanger believes that people with mental illnesses should have limited children or no children at all which proves that she supported negative eugenics and sterilization.

In conclusion, the idea of eugenics develops during the progressive era and it affect many people during this period of time. This idea of eugenics was where more progress occurs in science. Well not all about the idea of eugenics is bad is has some good points like it can reduce number of babies born with some mental illness or some with really bad illness. Science help this to be possible because we progress in science as the time passes. As we continue to progress science would also progress because science is what has us where we are

Though eugenics may begin with good intentions, through events such as The Holocaust, one can see how quickly the good intentions can be twisted and turned into something vile and inhumane. It really boils down to the fact that yes, the human race is imperfect. But in that imperfection beauty is found in the diversity as well as progress. If humans were all perfect specimens, there would be no reason to dream or hope for a better tomorrow. The dreamers are the ones who advance society and always have been. No collection of mortal men should be put in charge of who is worthy of reproducing or not. Eugenics was not formally put into effect for a reason. Other routes can be taken to improve the future generations without depriving the living humans of their right to have

Furthermore, men were the majority of sterilization victims and then intension shifted dramatically to women. The unfit mother and well-fit dependency affected many people. Plan Parenthood has led to the eugenics movement with eugenics mania occurring. The unfit motherhood was the real problem in the society. In the 1960’s, black power groups formed and race genocide occurred. However, California is an important place of history of sterilization. There were clinics in poor neighborhoods. Thus, Sterilization have affected many immigrants, women were told that if they don 't remove their Fallopian tubes they will lose their immigration rights and housing benefits. Some people argue that Sterilization is a protection not a punishment. After post WWII population in 1970-1974, there was an ¾ increase in female sterilization. Race, identity, culture, social status has affected many people, especially women in the world. Sterilized women assured their social status within their tribe. With forced sterilization there is an agency in the body. However, the bodies were considered as property just like slavery. Women activism, government regulation and practices were the closure of federal funds which were going to subsidize

The amazing thing about the world today is the rapidly changing society, and the contemporary technology. Something that scientist have been working to perfect for many years is the modernization of eugenics. It is changing the way people are born by selecting specific traits for an individual to be smarter, stronger, more attractive and many other traits. Many parents of the new generation are willing to try the science of eugenics for their child to be customized to them.

Eugenics was prominent during the twenties and aimed to improve the human population by reducing the likeliness of defective genetic traits. Eugenics was practiced mainly in institutions for patients who possessed traits that could be passed through reproduction. During the time of eugenics, a young woman named Carrie Buck was sterilized in order to prevent passing on the traits that she and her mother possessed. Carrie and her mother were both institutionalized and considered “feeble minded”, therefore they were seen as unable to contribute to the procreation of the human race. These ideas of perfecting the human race resembled that of Hitler’s, as described in the Mein Kampf. America never went as far as Hitler, for the policies were intended to help advance society, without causing direct harm

“Eugenics and Compulsory Sterilization Laws: Providing Redress for the Victims of a Shameful Era in United States History,” is an article by, Michael Silver, that addresses the issue of eugenics and involuntary sterilization laws. He specifically looked at the sterilization laws that were practiced in the 20th Century in the United States. Silver brings forth the argument that sterilization laws violate the constitutional rights of Americans of procreation and childrearing. Throughout the article, Silver explains the history of how the laws were created, practiced, and how they affected those that were involuntarily sterilized. As the article progresses, Silver gave examples of how individual states and the United States, collectively as a

The Eugenics Movement fit in with the larger history of education during the early 1900s mainly because it contributed to racial and social biases. The idea that intelligence was genetic and there were genetic differences between different groups of people further separated people, and limited their educational proficiencies. The movement

The phrase ‘Nature versus Nurture’ was coined by English Polymath, Francis Galton in his 1874 publication of English Men in Science: Their Nature and Nurture. Galton was Darwin’s cousin and he said in his biography that ‘The publication in 1859 of the Origin of Species by Charles Darwin made a marked epoch in my own mental development, as it did in that of human thought generally.’ At the point of publication Galton had been a medical student, a naturalist, anthropologist and an explorer but from 1865 onwards Galton dedicated his life to the study of Eugenics.