Charles Darwinism

The 19th century was one of the most revolutionized eras in the history of the world. It is in this time period that the power shift was on a constant stir; empires falling, empires rising, and important discoveries that would change the world forever. Many Significant theories and belief systems were established, as well as the rise of some of the potent people in history. One person that is remembered for his work and celebrated for his theories is English biologist and scientist Charles Darwin. He is the sole theorists who conjured up the idea of human evolution, commonly known today as “Darwinism”. In effort to ensure this is recognized this paper continues on into the life of Charles Darwin, his story, his achievements,

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, a scientific theory that supported the belief of evolution, was manipulated and applied to different areas of life, and thus it became the shaping force in European thought in the last half of the nineteenth century. Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species. He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive. They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics. This new theory was radical and interesting to the scientific world but its effects reach far beyond this small institution of

They also shared the belief that people had an individual duty to better themselves and those people that did not progress in society did not deserve help or guidance from those that were able to do so on their own. Sumner describes a person that is unable to progress individually as, “a man who is present as a consumer, yet who does not contribute either by land, labor, or capital to the work of society” and he believed that, “on no sound political theory ought such a person to share in the political power of the state. (518)” Spencer shared in this view, he stated that individuals that were wealthy and in control of business were more ‘perfect’ than those that were poor and had not tried to progress to their highest potential. He thought that the wealthy should not help the poor and that through this process a social Darwinism would occur weeding out the weak. Although some capitalists agreed with these men’s thoughts, not all did, including Andrew Carnegie.

For more than 150 years, a revolutionary idea has been spreading all over the world. It helped us discover our origins and revealed our place in nature. It led to the unification of once independent fields of scientific inquiry. And it is being used today to tackle some of the most pressing problems facing modern civilization. But its implications go far beyond science. It has shaped our culture, politics, philosophy and religion, and it has been used to justify war and genocide. That idea is Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection.

After Charles Darwin published his book “On the origins of species” in 1859, evolution became a hot topic of discussion; the notion of the human race improving itself by selective breeding started to spread (Winfield, 2012). For years

Chapter 7 revolves around beginnings of human research into the idea of evolution and an introduction of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. This chapter has given us, as students, more knowledge and insight into the topic of evolution. Since we were little kids, we always thought of evolution as the theory that establishes the link between humans and monkeys or that the phrase “Survival of the fittest” meant that the strongest always prevailed over the weak. However, this chapter has given us more detailed knowledge and background information about evolution, allowing us to lift these rumors and myths from our minds.

In topic 1, the introduction to human uniqueness and social coercion theory, we are introduced to some of the common misinterpretation behind Charles’ Darwin’s theory of evolution, specifically in regards to natural selection and survival of the fittest. One of the biggest contributors to this issue is the lack of exposure to the general public on the overall theory behind these two processes. Instead of a full detailed explanation about natural selection and survival of the fittest, we are just told that it is slow and that to be fit means a level of superiority among competition, respectively. Topic 1 revealed that this is not true, as well as stating that natural selection is about individual risk, benefit and cost is of the utmost importance(Bingham). Based on this newly found insight from the course, how does individual risk, benefit, and cost play such an important role in natural selection even though selection is seen in a population and not a

Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, created the theory of evolution. Known as Darwinism, this theory basically states that all species arise and develop through the natural selection, increasing individual’s ability to compete and survive. This paper will outline how Darwinism was used to classify some as inferior, how Social Darwinism and Eugenics shaped the immigrant experience in America, and why fundamentalist Christians opposed Darwinism. Survival of the fittest is one way to define Darwinism. This attitude could make some individuals feel inferior and unsubstantial compared to others who were stronger, smarter, more attractive, and able to respond to change.

In the 19th century, scientific research progressed rapidly outside the world of industry and technology (McKay 744). British scientist, Charles Darwin, was the most influential nineteenth-century evolutionary thinker. Darwin spent his early career, amassing enormous amounts of biological and geological data from his voyage to South America (Fiero 3). In 1859, he published his classic work, The Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, where he summarizes his theory of evolution with the thought of struggle for survival, or natural selection. Furthermore, natural selection is the idea of groups of species surviving through generations by adapting to changes in the environment and using certain characteristics as an advantage. In addition, natural selection challenged traditional ideas about nature and world order, and it was also taken steps further by many thinkers. English philosopher, Herbert Spencer, saw the human race driven forward to ever-greater specialization and progress by a brutal economic struggle that determined the “survival of the fittest” (McKay 745). The notion of a body of thought drawn from the ideas of Charles Darwin that applied the theory of biological evolution to human affairs and saw the human race as driven by an un-ending economic struggle that would determine the survival of the fittest defines Social Darwinism (McKay 745). As European and American upper class sought to extend political and economic power, Social Darwinism proved to

“For their point of view does not permit of a live-and-let-live kind of carrying on. It is a point of view that justifies itself by a whole hearted acceptance of the worst of Neo-Darwinism, the Allmacht of natural selection applied rigorously to human life and society and Kultur”(p.22, Headquarters Nights by Vernon Kellogg).

In this work, Charles Darwin frequently observes and references the variation in traits amongst individuals in a population. He observed that nature selects from existing varieties the traits most suited for a particular environment. He also proposes that species descend from common ancestors, undergoing various modifications in the course of time. This concept is described by Darwin as “descent with modification” or the new variations present in new generations resulting from natural selection. One of Darwin’s more convincing points is made by way of metaphor. He wrote, “The face of Nature may be compared to a yielding surface, with ten thousand sharp wedges packed close together and driven inwards with incessant blows, sometimes one wedge

Rockefeller, Andrew Carnegie, J.P. Morgan, and Henry Ford. These were just a few business men that followed the idea of Social Darwinism. In the late 1820’s, Cornelius Vanderbilt went into business on his own, building steamships in the New York area, eventually becoming one of the largest steamship operators. In the 1860’s, the railroad industry was entering a period of great expansion, so he shifted his attention to make railroad transportation more efficient. Vanderbilt’s goal was to control the steel industry. He bought out competitors and suppliers, giving him total power to set the cost of his product to what he wanted. Vanderbilt used the idea of Social Darwinism when he transferred from working the shipping to railroad business. He knew that if he kept his shipping business, it wouldn’t be as profitable later on. That’s why he invested his money, focus, and time into building a successful railroad industry. At a young age, John D. Rockefeller acted much like a young businessman, selling candy to local children and supporting his family. In 1870, Rockefeller established the Standard Oil Company of Ohio. He eventually controlled 90 percent of the refining business. With his large profits, he drove his competitors out of business by selling the oil cheaper than what it cost to produce the oil. After taking total control, he raised the price of oil to make his money back. In 1873, Andrew Carnegie entered the steel business and by 1899, the “Carnegie Steel Company” manufactured more steel than all the factories in Great Britain. Carnegie’s success was to searching for ways to make better products more cheaply and hired chemists to improve the quality of the steel. He used a vertical integration which he bought out his suppliers, giving him total power of the cost and quality of his product. Carnegie was greatly influenced by Herbert Spencer’s, “Social Darwinism.” Spencer believed that the poor were

Young conservative christian children and their parents fear the day, in which, Darwinian Evolution is discussed in the biology classroom. The parents fear that the science behind Darwinian Evolution will cause their children to abondon the teachings in the first two chapters in the book of Genesis. The children fear that their secular classmates may challenge their beliefs because “the science of Evolution disproves God.” The fear associated with the idea that science may “disprove” the God that individuals have loved and worshiped for generations is a tremindous burden. This fear leads to christians adopting the conflict model or the separation model of relating science and religion (Alexander). Science becomes the

Charles Darwin broached the theory of natural selection in his book the Origin of Species, which has been considered the basis of evolutionary biology to this day. Natural selection is when populations of a species evolve over the course of many generations. Darwin believed that species were not created separately, but instead, species were derived from one another. In other words, the evolution of species creates many variations among creatures, and this is because all of those species came from a common ancestor, and characteristics changed to increase the species chance of survival.

CHARLES DARWIN AND THE THEORY OF NATURAL SELECTION In this essay, I will first describe ways in which Charles Darwin’s theory brought change to his society. What is Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection about? Natural selection is one of the basic mechanisms of evolution, along with mutation, migration, and genetic drift. Evolution is the change in the heritable characteristics of biological population over successive generations.(Wikipedia, 2016)