Neubarth
At the Ballpark July 30th
Eugenics was essentially "born" as a scientific curiosity in the Victorian age.
In 1863, a close cousin of Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton, theorized that if talented people married only other talented people, the obvious result would be continuing improvement in offspring. Just like breeding farm animals for improvement in certain features, humans could breed for intellect and artistic capacity.
In the Early 1900's, Galton's ideas were imported to the United States. That coincided with a revived interest in Gregor Mendel's principles of heredity.
It only seemed obvious that followers of eugenics belief would advocate that Mendelian concepts determining the color and size of peas, corn and cattle also governed the social and intellectual character of man. To the eugenicists, "Refined intelligent people were that way because they had evolved beyond the lower functioning masses of unwashed humanity.
Of course from that point forward many people added cultural and national biases to eugenics. That has tarnished the name, but the practice with noble goals still is seen as attractive by numerous groups of people around the world.
In 1863, a close cousin of Charles Darwin, Sir Francis Galton, theorized that if talented people married only other talented people, the obvious result would be continuing improvement in offspring. Just like breeding farm animals for improvement in certain features, humans could breed for intellect and artistic capacity.
In the Early 1900's, Galton's ideas were imported to the United States. That coincided with a revived interest in Gregor Mendel's principles of heredity.
It only seemed obvious that followers of eugenics belief would advocate that Mendelian concepts determining the color and size of peas, corn and cattle also governed the social and intellectual character of man. To the eugenicists, "Refined intelligent people were that way because they had evolved beyond the lower functioning masses of unwashed humanity.
Of course from that point forward many people added cultural and national biases to eugenics. That has tarnished the name, but the practice with noble goals still is seen as attractive by numerous groups of people around the world.