HIS-144-RS-Darwinism
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Grand Canyon University *
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144
Subject
History
Date
Feb 20, 2024
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docx
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2
Uploaded by ConstableScienceWren31
Name: Valeria Estrella
1.
How was Darwinism generally and eugenics specifically used to impact America’s immigration policies? (125-300 words)
Darwinism is a belief about how living things change over time. It says that the strongest and best adapted survive and have babies. Eugenics is a related idea, but it only applies to
humans (Markfield, 2019). It says that some traits, like race or sex, are better than others. This idea affected how America treated immigrants who were different. They were given bad jobs and not treated fairly. This still happens today, like when people from Mexico or
Hispanic backgrounds are paid less. Darwinism and eugenics were important in shaping America's immigration policies and how immigrants were treated. They will look for the healthiest individuals for them to be able to migrate. 2.
How did the popularity and acceptance of Social Darwinism lead to the classification of some people as inferior? Who were the superior and who were the inferior? How were the inferior people treated differently? (125-300 words)
Social Darwinism was an idea that some people believed in a long time ago. They thought that just like animals in nature, some groups of people were better and more important than others. The groups that were considered better were usually white, European, Christian, and male. They were treated well and had more opportunities. But the groups that were considered less important, like women and people who were not white or European, were treated badly. They were not allowed to vote and were not given
the same rights as the better group. This idea was used to justify treating these groups differently and to take over other countries (Schultz, 2018). 3.
Who were Fundamentalist Christians? What were some specific reasons that Fundamentalist Christians opposed Darwinism? (75-200 words)
The fundamentalist Christians were a group of Christians who wanted to protect their faith and what they believed in (Schultz, 2018). They followed the teachings in the Bible very strictly and didn't agree with the idea of evolution. They thought that evolution went
against what the Bible said about how everything was created. They saw it as a big challenge to their beliefs and wanted to stop them from being taught. 4.
What were the most impactful ways Darwinism affected American society? (125-300 words)
Darwinism, which is the theory that living things change over time through natural selection, had a big impact on American society in different ways. One way was through Social Darwinism, which was a way of thinking that applied Darwin's ideas to how people should live and work together. This created more competition and differences in social classes. Another impact was eugenics, which was the belief that certain traits should be chosen to make humans better. This led to some people thinking that certain
groups of people, like those with disabilities or different skin colors, should be treated badly or even gotten rid of. Darwinism also affected education, because some people were worried that teaching about evolution would go against their religion. However, this
was decided to be against people's rights to practice their own religion. Darwinism also caused some religious leaders to think that it was a threat to their beliefs and to society's morals. Lastly, Darwinism helped people understand how evolution works and how important it is to take care of the environment. Overall, Darwinism had a big impact on how people saw American society at that time and still does today (Dixon, 2009). References
Dixon, T. (2009). America’s difficulty with Darwin. History Today, 59(2), 22–28.
Markfield, M. H. (2019). A More Perfect Union: Eugenics in America. NAELA Journal, pp. 15, 17-37
Schultz, K. (2018). HIST 5 (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Wadsworth.
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