Social Darwinism Essay

Social Darwinism started in Britain in 1870. Social Darwinism is basically a collection of theories that promotes the idea that that humans compete for existence and those that are more “fit” survive life. They based their theories on Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution. Some Darwinists believed that the government shouldn’t change human nature by regulating economy or attempting to solve social problems. They promoted competition because they believed that some people, nations, or races were better fit to survive. These theories gave birth too many ideas that we know today such as imperialism, racism, capitalism, and discrimination.

Though Social Darwinism is linked to Charles Darwin, Darwin did not address human evolution specifically in

A movement known as reform Darwinism promoted the idea that humans needed new ideas and institutions as conditions change. For example, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr believed that the Constitution of the United States should be adjusted according to the changes in American society. Some reform Darwinists used Darwinism to justify sexist and racist ideas and the promotion of inequality. For example, Eugenists believed that a specific race or social group were naturally superior to others. They tried to control human heredity by passing laws that banish marriage between different races and breeding for social misfits such as criminals or mentally

It started when Britain ended slavery, and the birth to abolitionists. The idea was that black people were less superior to white people however by ending slavery it was believed that black people will rise and prosper, though they weren’t at the same level and class of white people, not yet. The next idea was imperialism, where Britain. Europe, America, and many other empires believed in expanding their empire no matter what the cost. That essentially was due to social Darwinism where they believed they had the right to rule over those people of lesser purpose than them. This transformed to the idea that darker or different races didn’t have the right to exist and this drove genocide. This idea took place in Tasmania, Africa, and even in Nazi Germany. The British settlers in Tasmania viewed the Tasmanians as savages and they killed any aboriginal that they faced. As the number of aboriginals decreased and came close to extinction. The British feared this therefore they promoted the idea of racial quality which ultimately failed, though it was the basis of racial equality in Europe and America. As different races rejected the ideas of civilization the British came to question the idea if these races could actually be civilized. Then came Tomas Carlyle who was a writer that appealed to slavery. He wrote, in the 19th century, about the necessity of inequality and that it was the proper way to rule society. As this idea was