Why Is Social Darwinism Prevalent In The United States?

Throughout America's short history the influences of Darwinism have been present whether through the segregation of others, through social Darwinism, and a long struggle between religion and evolution. Darwinism has had a long history in the United States and throughout the world of being used for the segregation of people. Immigrants could not fully prepare for the world that Social Darwinism and Eugenics had created within the states. The same way that Darwin's theory has found an abundance of supporters, it has also found a large amount of people who oppose the theory or feel threatened by it. There are many ways that Darwinism has been used to make other feel inferior to others.

Throughout history Darwinism has been used to classify people

Social Darwinism is often referred to as scientific racism. In the eyes of Social Darwinism many view the act of slavery or oppression of the weaker class a way to allow the superior class to develop a more refined culture that allows society to evolve further. A reason why Social Darwinism was (even still is) prevalent in the United States was the fact that it lined up so easily with the laws and policies that were already in place (Dennis, 1995). So as an immigrant new to this country, it had to be very difficult to adapt to being at the bottom of the "food chain" with the mentality of survival of the fittest ready to swallow them whole if they messed up. This, also, created a very negative outlook for those that were native born to the United States for it caused them to feel above and entitled compared to the others. The discovery of Eugenics caused this spark of division to grow even further for now the was a way to "prove" that on a genetic level a group of people were superior over the other; which if proven then there would be no way for anyone to be able to dispute the enslavement of one people (Dennis, 1995). An example of this when the discovery of sickle cells was discovered and physicians tested people without distinguishing between being a carrier of the disease or having it. Primarily, African Americans had this gene which caused them

Darwin was known for trying his best to present his scientific ideas in a way that it did not offend any believer or even in some perspectives were compatible with God. But his theory has been manipulated by both supporters and opposes of his work. Many people from a religious perspective believe that Darwin's theory undermines the fundamental beliefs that they hold, almost as an attack to their values (Dennett, 1995). Darwin's theory is that humans have evolved over time from other organisms, this is almost a slap-in-the-face for one of Christianity's core beliefs. Which is that God made us in His image when He made Adam and Eve; this means that above any other creature on the planet humanity has a special relationship with God. To believe in Darwinism takes away from that and that terrifies many believers. Many believe that they cannot look at the world and its complexity to only explain it by chance (Larson, 2009). Other believers see the theory as something that takes away from the human soul and from our obligation to be a moral being since we have only been evolved not made with a purpose. This means that we would not be much more than any other animal which many disagree with because humans are so much more complex than any other animal (Larson, 2009).

America has been influenced by Darwinism throughout its history through the segregation of others, through social Darwinism, and a long struggle between