Eugenics Behind A Veil Of Conservation Essay
Shane Nelson
LIT 349
Prof. Brown
Final paper
Eugenics behind a Veil of Conservation
What may start off having even the best of intentions could end up having some serious negative consequences. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt seemed to have started his belief in eugenics within a sense of nationalism where it was a woman’s duty to the state to birth and raise a family. He emphasized this view through his conservation programs where white, farming women were the epitome of the ideal type of person that should be procreating. Unlike the weak, feebleminded, retarded, deaf, blind, etc. who should not pass along their unwanted genetics. There are a few other authors in our text book, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, that also followed this program of eugenics masked by a conservationist agenda.
Gifford Pinchot was appointed to the National Forest Commission and developed a plan managing our nation’s Western forest reserves. He also established the Society of American Foresters, but went on to become a member of the American Eugenics Society. Another is Garrett Hardin who was an ecologist and avid writer being published many times within scientific journals. He was not only a member of the eugenics …show more content…
Galton said “the first objects of eugenics is to check the birth rate of the unfit instead of allowing them to come into being…the second object is the improvement of the race by furthering the productivity of the fit by early marriages and the healthful rearing of children.” He is also quoted as saying “…average Negroes posses too little intellect, self-reliance, and self-control to make it possible for them to sustain the burden of any respectable form of civilization without a large measure of external guidance and
LIT 349
Prof. Brown
Final paper
Eugenics behind a Veil of Conservation
What may start off having even the best of intentions could end up having some serious negative consequences. Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt seemed to have started his belief in eugenics within a sense of nationalism where it was a woman’s duty to the state to birth and raise a family. He emphasized this view through his conservation programs where white, farming women were the epitome of the ideal type of person that should be procreating. Unlike the weak, feebleminded, retarded, deaf, blind, etc. who should not pass along their unwanted genetics. There are a few other authors in our text book, American Earth: Environmental Writing Since Thoreau, that also followed this program of eugenics masked by a conservationist agenda.
Gifford Pinchot was appointed to the National Forest Commission and developed a plan managing our nation’s Western forest reserves. He also established the Society of American Foresters, but went on to become a member of the American Eugenics Society. Another is Garrett Hardin who was an ecologist and avid writer being published many times within scientific journals. He was not only a member of the eugenics …show more content…
Galton said “the first objects of eugenics is to check the birth rate of the unfit instead of allowing them to come into being…the second object is the improvement of the race by furthering the productivity of the fit by early marriages and the healthful rearing of children.” He is also quoted as saying “…average Negroes posses too little intellect, self-reliance, and self-control to make it possible for them to sustain the burden of any respectable form of civilization without a large measure of external guidance and