Ww1 Eugenics Research Paper

Up first was Dr. Johnson who gave a brief history to the history of the Eugenics Movement in the United States. She first briefly spoke of the difficulty in teaching eugenics

Eugenics is a complex term that has been studied and discussed internationally and throughout the eras. A basic definition of eugenics is the scientific study of race improvement. The definition is then broken up into two different aspects, positive eugenics and negative eugenics. Positive eugenics is defined as improving a race by focusing on ways to increasing the better population. Incentives are given to those superior races or populations to have children and get married. On the other hand negative eugenics is decreasing the chances of the inferior race or population from having children. This type of negatives eugenics is trying to stop those who are determined on having inferior genes from passing on their inferior traits that would corrupt the population as a whole. The whole study of eugenics is based on the theory that the gene a person is born with determines their outcome in life. Using this theory some scientists are given a way to justify categorizing groups of people into superior or inferior classes based on race. The study of eugenics was discussed around the world having the main powers being in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.

Eugenics, derived from the Greek word eugenes meaning well born, is defined as the study or belief that by encouraging people with good genetic traits to reproduce and discourage those people with less desirable traits the human race can benefit. There were certain groups of people who were affected by these sterilization laws, including people that were mentally disabled or ill and those from socially unacceptable areas of life, that were adopted in 32 states starting in the 1930’s. These sterilizations were done on over 350,000 people in the span eleven years between 1934 and 1945 (Kaelber), leading the United States into one of the darkest parts of our history.

Shortly after the turn-of-the-century, nearly two-thirds of states in America enacted laws that required sterilization of various criminals, mentally ill, epileptics, alcoholics, and sufferers of poverty (Largent, 2011). All of this effort was exerted to prevent undesirable children from being born. It was justified by the assumption that unfit people aren’t capable of adequate parenting; therefore their offspring would be a financial burden on society. Strong ideals and dogma were the weapons chosen by eugenicists to get involuntary sterilization legalized.

Eugenics is a taboo science, but back in 1883 it was a modern advancement, discovered by Francis Galton (Carlson). Galton’s original mission was to improve humanity by encouraging the best and healthiest couples to simply have more children; Galton created positive eugenics (Carlson). However, with the positive comes the inevitable negative. Negative Eugenics was more set on preventing the least able from reproducing, in order to preserve the fitness of the human race through

The 1920s were an interesting decade to say the least. The end of the first world war in 1918 spurted social change all over the world, and the United States was not immune to these changes. During the World War the American people suffered an immense amount of emotional turmoil. The end of the war, coupled with the favorable outcome for the United States, shifted the American peoples energies. Especially those of the younger generations, from those of feeling uncertainty and fear to a joyous carpe diem mentality. This led to the emergence of the roaring 20s. The rise of the flapper, a consumer society, and jazz music all epitomized this decade. However, not everyone was on board with these social changes. Typically, the older generations

Before analyzing history, the term Eugenics should first be defined. The term “eugenics” was defined by Sir Francis Galton. He quoted, “EUGENICS is the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage” (Galton 1904). In a simple form, he meant that Eugenics is a movement

Eugenics has been an exceptionally questionable science that has existed on the planet for a considerable length of time. Eugenics, also knows as selective breeding is characterized as the investigation of or confidence in the likelihood of enhancing the characteristics of the human species or a human populace by such means as disheartening reproduction by people having hereditary deformities or attempted to have inheritable undesirable attributes or empowering proliferation by people dared to have inheritable attractive qualities

In final analysis, the employment of eugenics in both Germany and the United States depicts the sciences variation in regards to the context of the nation in which it is being implemented in. Germany was enthralled with eugenic science because, after such an enormous military loss and the economic turmoil that came soon thereafter, they were in a state of weakness and said weakness could seemingly be solved by creating a superior fighting force. The appeal of preventing a future political, social, and economic slump like the one that they faced after World War One was substantial in the employment and enforcement of eugenics within the area, as preparedness for future conflict could reprise their lost power on an international scale. The United

Eugenics, developed by an eminent scientist, Francis Galton, is the science of improving the qualities of the human species or a human population by controlling breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristic traits and decrease the occurrence of undesirable characteristic traits or genetical defects (Bergman, 2000.) Eugenic sterilization refers to the involuntary sterilization of certain categories of individuals without their need for consent by those subjected to the procedure (Pozgar, 2012, Pg. 411.) Individuals classified as mentally deficient, feeble-minded, epileptic, promiscuous, sexual deviants, or persons classified as habitual criminals were mainly targeted (Pozgar, 2012, Pg. 411.) Eugenicists argued degenerate traits tainted society through the reproduction of the lowest class and sterilization was to keep the "handicapped" from perpetuating themselves (Kaelber, 2014.) In addition, eugenicists also argued that "feeble-minded" individuals were believed to be financial burdens to society by overcrowding prisons, hospitals and living off welfare (Kaelber, 2014.) Sterilization was seen as a way to prevent the spending of tax dollars on the "feeble- minded" (Kaelber, 2014.) These arguments allowed Eugenics to become an acceptable practice. Advocates believed that getting rid of the "feeble-minded" and mentally deficient would decrease the undesirable characteristic traits within the human gene pool and ultimately improve the human population.

Throughout history, many people have consistently tried to prove that groups with inborn qualities can either vastly improve or degenerate different races over time. This rhetoric has been proven multiple times throughout the course of the last century in the United States and Nazi-reigned Germany. Supposedly, this rhetoric has been disproven throughout the United States; however, there are proven accounts that the United States government has recently supported this theory of sterilization of minorities by supporting the eugenics movement. This movement was not only practiced in Nazi Germany, but also on United States soil. The topic of improving the genetic makeup of different races has not only just become a common theme for many modern day countries to use to make their societies more genetically fit. However, it has adopted the basis for current racism that is clearly apparent in today’s society. If improving genetic fitness was not a concern to past societies, then people in general would be more open to interracial and cross-cultural relationships rather than completely disregarding the idea of dating someone that is visibly genetically different.

Sharing the same principle, Nazi eugenicists also focus in investigating heritable traits. Galton argued that mental abilities are heritable, and people have the responsibility to maintain these “natural gifts.” He claimed that the failure of Athenian women to reproduce resulted for the Greek civilization, which he considered as the “ablest” race, to disappeared. This then suggests that maintaining desirable heritable traits is necessary for the improvement of human races population. With hereditary traits as center of eugenics, eugenicists started to investigate the role of hereditary in different diseases and characteristics. For instance, Karl Pearson investigated the influence of hereditary in intelligence, mental illness, alcoholism

"She has Daddy's eyes and Mommy's heroin habit", read one billboard advertising female sterility for drug addicted women. There are hundreds of thousands of children born to drug-addicted mothers each year. Many of these children are born with health issues and some only live a short time after birth. In an effort to combat the issues potential children born to drug-addict women may suffer, Barbara Harris founded Project Prevention formerly known as C.R.A.C.K (Children Requiring a Caring Kommunity). The organization offers drug-addicted women $300 to undergo sterilization. Project Prevention has been compared to the eugenic sterilization program that was active during the last nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The eugenics sterilization

In order to understand why the Eugenics movement gained a strong following during the 20th century, one must understand the movement’s origins and general purpose. Eugenics can be traced through social and scientific origins. Eugenics was established after a turbulent era in American history (Allen). American industry was growing rapidly; there were more Americans leaving rural areas for life in the big city (Allen). Social Darwinism was a movement that was attempting to explain social and economic inequalities (Allen). Eugenics offered a solution to the rapidly growing problem of the poor

During World War II the idea of creating a “master race” was a large goal that was in the minds of the Nazi’s, but this fact is quite common knowledge to many. Whether people know the idea through knowledge of Hitler’s reign committing genocide during the Holocaust, or by knowing his want for blonde hair and blue-eyed citizens. While many know these facts and beliefs, there are still the individuals whom do not know the name behind this social movement, or part of the history and current practices of this movement. This movement is called eugenics, which is practiced through the ideas to remove the undesirable genes and traits of people, but keep what are considered to be desired to breed a better human race. Historically, the process was done by having individuals with the more wanted traits breed and having people with unwanted traits not. However, overtime this has changed, as the views toward the past movement have changed to see it in a negative way. Now, the movement has changed in the form that the process of using technology to decide and understand what genes parents have and if they will be passed down to their children. In short, eugenics is the social movement to improve the genes of humans historically done through breeding, and today considered to be practiced through altering genetics technologically.