Preview

How Did The American Revolution Influence Social Darwinism

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
869 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did The American Revolution Influence Social Darwinism
Metternich’s main goal of the Concert of Europe was to restore the old order and keep Europe as it was, thrones would be restored back to the kings and some states would be reformed. “Count Metternich and his counterparts at the Congress of Vienna hoped to return to the old system, with its hereditary monarchy, established church, and privileged landowning aristocracy. However, the day of the Old Order had passed; the American and French revolutions had created profound changes in political thought that are still extant. They were radical changes from the established order, which the new thinkers rejected.” European individuals during the nineteenth century were in favor of the ideas of personal freedom, freedom of speech, religion, freedom to vote, press, assembly, and market, which are combined together known as classical liberalism. Two types of liberalism sprung …show more content…
Darwinism was a concept created by Charles Darwin, who found how plant, animal, and human species developed. This concept then developed another idea, Social Darwinism, “The false application of Darwin’s theory of biological evolution to the political, social, and economic realms, often used to justify the superior dominant countries, groups, or races.” Herbert Spencer, an English professor, thought this idea to be very influential and grew on him. Although Darwin had come up with the theory, Spencer phrased social Darwinism as “survival of the fittest,” where only those who were the strongest and most fit and efficient would survive. Darwin even impacted Marx’s Marxist Theory with his book The Origin of Species. Darwin’s idea of natural selection and survival of the fittest has shown in being one of the most effective strategies of evolution based on previous finding. Individuals all over the world are continuing to positively adapt to their environment and is continuing to influence the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    One of the major ideas brought about in the late nineteenth century was Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism explains the “why” in how some people are wealthy and some are “sloth.” Hebert Spencer idol of Social Darwinism, virtually described it as a natural process in which all people deserved their dismal fates. It was encouraged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to justify imperialism to discourage intervention.…

    • 444 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    What is Darwinism? According to Scott, Eugenie C. Branch, Glenn (16 January 2009), “the body of theory dealing with evolution, and in particular, with evolution by natural selection.” An English naturalist Charles Darwin (1809-1882), is identified as being the person that developed the theory. Social Darwinism is where we find the emergent of the theory of Natural selection. It is a key process of evolution, the change…

    • 206 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, European nations were colonizing lesser known areas of the world such as Tasmania, Namibia, Australia and the west coast of America. White Europeans encountered people they had never seen before; their way of life was ‘primitive’ and ‘savage’ in the eyes of the Europeans; who at the time were experiencing the industrial revolution. They saw these people as lesser than themselves as they did not have the technology the Europeans did, as a result this led to them being discriminated against. Herbert Spencer’s adaptation of Darwinism for humans (Social Darwinism) placed the Africans at the bottom of the scale proving their ‘inferiority’ to the white race. This led to the mistreatment of non-white races and in some cases, genocide.…

    • 691 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Though often portrayed as a moderate effort to remove British control, the American Revolution was radical in the ideals established throughout the revolution. The American Revolution had significant effects on American society as a whole radically changing certain aspects including its social, political, economic, and religious contexts. Also, the status of women, slaves, and Loyalists were radically changed through this endeavor. However, the American Revolution occurred over 3,500 miles away from Britain, the economy was still heavily reliant on Britain, and the acceptance and of Loyalists back into American society and the refrain from their execution are all contributing factors to the case that the American Revolution was moderate.…

    • 688 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Nationalism is having so much pride and devotion to one's country where a nation believes that they are superior to every other. Throughout history, there has been a rise and fall of nationalism throughout many countries and people. The overwhelming impact it has had on our world cannot be overlooked. Nationalism can debatably be used for good; however, if a culture has a demented idea of what they think this extreme patriotism is or should be, dangerous ideas can arise. In the case of Napoleon, he used nationalistic ideas to create an army that could’ve potentially taken over the world.…

    • 602 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Ninety nine percent of Americans lived and worked in hell, while the elite one percent lived in heaven as money became a god to society! Something had to change! The Gilded Age is a term coined by writer Mark Twain in The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today (1873), which satirized an era of serious social problems (Doc 2). The Gilded Age was an era of rapid economic growth. Cities grew as people moved from rural areas and immigrants arrived from other countries in search of a better life. Instead they found a hard life in the urban hells called cities. Life in the cities was full of troubles from overcrowding in tenement houses, to high crime, outbreaks of disease, and low wages. On the other hand, industrial…

    • 1455 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Darwinism is ‘stated as a social theory which hold to Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection', but this statement can be proven slightly wrong because logically Herbert Spencer, the scientist who is said to have created this theory after reading Darwin's Origin of Species, actually published his book sighting his theories on social darwinism, Progress: Its Law and Cause, two years before Darwin's book was published. The belief of Social Darwinism became popular in the late Victorian era in England, America, France and Germany, the theory states that the strongest and fittest should survive and flourish in society while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die.…

    • 541 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charles Darwin in his novel, on The Origin of Species, educates the world with one of the greatest scientific findings of the late eighteen hundreds being the theory of natural selection. Darwin's, The Origin of Species has influenced society in many ways; creating a new theory in human society in regards to Social Darwinism, implementing controversial topics on religion and becoming the basis and starting point for the field of biology. This idea is Darwin’s attempt at an explanation on how the planet and its' species developed into what society knows them as today. After many studies and findings, Charles describes how through a process of tens of millions of years, through the effects of humanity and the results of nature, species have had multiple ongoing changes based on recognizable successes and failures. The natural world through great trials has developed beneficial inconsistencies that at times seem too intricate to be the work of a higher being.…

    • 1682 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    admitted to the Royal Society. He moved to Downe, Kent in 1842, and was plagued…

    • 1317 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Social Darwinism is the idea that some groups of society are stronger than others or also known as “Survival of the fittest”. For this was a cause of Imperialism. Imperialism is when a stronger nation takes over a weaker nation or region and dominates its economic, political, or cultural life. Other causes of Imperialism were Economic motives, nationalism, balance of powers, and white man’s burden. Therefore they were able to control people who were scrawnier and determine who or what is acceptable in that society. The position I take is that Social Darwinism is true and does exist. This is proven through history and literature.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Darwin, on the other hand, developed the Theory of Evolution. The basis of this theory came from the known fact that no two living things are exactly alike. Furthermore, he theorized that as a result of natural dangers and limitations, more creatures were also born than could survive. Thus, the idea of survival of the fittest, or natural selection, was born unto the mind of Darwin. Darwin rationalized that those with the best characteristics fit to live, were those who lived. Therefore, the living creatures with these characteristics were able to pass them on to the next generation. He believed that nature selected who could survive long enough to reproduce.…

    • 547 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Charles Darwin

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages

    theory was published in 1859, in On the Origin of Species. This book is often…

    • 381 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Darwin’s scientific approach and methods used in his research rocked the foundation of enlightenment thinking by scientifically proving and dismissing many enlightenment philosophies. Through his keen observations and reasoning abilities was able to turn society, religion, and the world upside down, requiring complete re-evaluation of humankind’s past. Even though Darwin personally abhorred human suffering, some of his contemporaries used his research in justifying colonialization and the dominance of stronger nations over weaker nations. They developed a sociological theory dubbed Social Darwinism. This was a combination of Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection. The idea that people and groups compete for success in life just as plants and animals compete to stay alive is a twisting of the spirit of the theory. This idea of “survival of the fittest” being applied to people and society can be seen in John L. O’Sullivan’s “Manifest Destiny.” O’Sullivan believed that the sheer swelling of the Union’s population was a sign of divine providence which gave the new white American population dominion over previously Mexican held…

    • 716 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Darwin believed that evolution was the development of living organisms by natural selection. On a trip to the Galapagos Islands, many naturalists believed that species were created over a long period of time. Charles Darwin had a different approach to this belief. He made the discovery that animals changed and evolved to adapt to their environments. (Adrian J Desmond, Charles Darwin, www.britanica.com) Charles Darwin shared his idea of evolution by publishing his first book named ‘’On the Origin of Species’’. His book was published in 1859 and had a great success. (Natural selection, www.bbc.co.uk) He believed that every living thing is related to one another. This was called Darwinism. Natural selection is the process in which many living organisms change their appearance, size and behavioral traits to better adapt to their environment. This theory that Charles Darwin created is also called…

    • 653 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    the clue

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Charles Darwin is best known for his evolutionary theory because he came up with things which normally people would struggle all their life to do. This theory also explains on the survival of the fittest.…

    • 358 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays