Social Darwinism In Brave New World

History is written by the victors, like the captains’ of the American Industrial Revolution. To defend the captains’ of industry, British biologist Thomas Huxley perverted Darwin’s theory of evolution, creating the term Social Darwinism, where he applied natural selection to social hierarchy in civil society. In the United States, the industrial boom of the late 19th century led to the creation of new social class and hierarchy: the owner-class in charge and the working-class laboring. Amid the industrial economic boom, average Americans suffered from lax labor laws and unethical business practices, carried out by the owner-class. At the end of the 19th century, the majority of Americans labored for a living. At the same time, the

In the case of Leland Stanford, his story embodies the revolving door of American politics, where businessmen enter politics and upon leaving the political sphere, go back to their business adventures. Stanford continued his work with the Central Pacific Railroad, eventually merging it with the Union Pacific to create the first American Transcontinental Railroad. But, the United States sued Stanford’s estate unsuccessfully for his handling of the Central Pacific Railroad’s federal grants and subsidies. Aside from Stanford’s dealings with the railroad, he invested his money into the university that bears his name. Along with Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon bears Andrew Carnegie’s name and Cornelius Vanderbilt built Vanderbilt University in Tennessee. Adding to the list of robber barons’ building universities, John D. Rockefeller laid claim to the University of Chicago, which formulated the Chicago style of writing used by modern American historians. To this day, these institutions of higher learning rank among the best in the nation: among the Princetons, Yales, and Harvards. On top of this, Carnegie and Rockefeller created philanthropic projects to push higher education. Also, Rockefeller’s General Education Board went on to promote public schools throughout the country. The philanthropy of these men does not overshadow their statuses as robber barons of the 19th century for their unethical business practices. Rockefeller mastered the business practice of horizontal integration, buying out competitors, and eventually having his business split by the federal government. Often used in defense of the captains’ of industry, social darwinism, a perversion of Darwin’s theory of evolution by natural selection, stated that humans’ were subject to the same laws as animals, where the most fit survive. This idea assumed that the robber barons came to