Darwin's Theory Of Natural Selection

Natural Selection is when each generation of a species develops new characteristics and adapts more to the environment to survive. This theory of evolution caused some controversy because it contradicted the beliefs of many religious leaders. It also caused scientists studying the field to reevaluate everything that they had learned! Some people tried to use this theory to justify acts like slavery and genocide. Natural Selection was used to imply that these behaviours were natural.

Before Darwin, people believed that species were unconnected, unrelated and unchanged since the moment of their creation. They also believed that people were not part of the natural world and were superior to every other species. Darwin’s theory challenged these traditional views. Many people either still believed in the 6 day creation theory, or thought that the idea of apes being our ancestors hard to believe, and preferred ancient stories of creation.
It became a very popular concept in the early 19th century and people tried to use this to engineer society. One example of Social Darwinism is racism- the belief that one ethnic group is superior to others. Even though racism can be found throughout history, Darwin’s theory gave it an alleged scientific validity. For instance, Adolf Hitler used the theory of Social Darwinism to declare that the Aryan race was superior to other races, Jews and minorities in particular. Social Darwinism was also used as a justification for