The Rise of The Eugenics Movement

Rise of The Eugenics Movement
 
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At the turn of the twentieth century, the U.S. became a global superpower as a result of the industrial revolution, but this development wreaked chaos on many people. Individuals from all around the globe flocked to the fledgling country, transforming many fields into industries. These changes resulted in a rise in rates of crime, prostitution, and alcoholism. This led to many Americans fighting to rebuild a healthy and safe society while immigrants continued to move in. In turn, progressivism was born, a reform movement that fought for government activism. This movement was supported by the wealthy, who believed eradicating certain people groups would bring safety and prosperity.
Due to the general advancement of emerging technologies and industrial development, new products and enterprises emerged around this era.  Owing to the rise of industrial manufacturing, several city employees were enabled to obtain jobs but several continued to struggle with this new manner of doing things.  When they moved to the U.S.A living standard were less than desirable, and several refugees were compelled to reside in slum areas. As a result, there was a strong social division, which led to even more challenges, prompting the idea of using eugenics to fix the country ‘s troubles
Eugenics was a genetic scientific ideology that ultimately led to further social regulation. The aim was to reduce the percentage of biologically unfit individuals, which would help to alleviate the problems that the developing nation was experiencing. The unfit included refugees, Jewish people, the physically and mentally impaired, the sick, and also the “ethically deficient.” Those who advocated for eugenics, people such as white Protestants and the wealthy, argued that all ethnicities were unbalanced and that a better world could be built by filtering out the “weaker” races (Miller, 1917). Many that were considered undesirable were placed in a special institution and neutered in an attempt to exclude them from humanity (Laughlin, 1930). Those in power chose to find a way to eradicate the lower class, rather than find a way to support and work with their fellow Americans.
To contribute to the confusion, Robert Rentoul, a participant in the Pennsylvania House of Reps, wrote a pamphlet in 1903 claiming that he advocated the eugenics movement and saw no problem in the sterilization of these people. He said that while lowlifes already have the right to get married, they do not possess the freedom to get a corrupted child (Rentoul, 1903). According to research, after the publication of this publication, the populace began to decline, and the overwhelming acceptance for eugenics ensured that this trend would persist for generations to follow. Since almost all levels of politics supported this system so openly, thousands of people were devoted to a cause that was torturing their neighbours. Those in power were practically brainwashing a whole nation, convincing them that getting rid of these unfit people groups would solve all the nation’s problems (Pastors for Eugenics, 1913).
Eugenics was also supported by churches and doctors all over the country. Again, people with highly respected positions claiming this method was the perfect problem solver. G. Stanley Hall, a well-known psychiatrist at the time, believed that the procedure would result in the formation of a superhuman empire. Even though this quote was later used to motivate Hitler into creating the Holocaust, many people in the United States still felt it was the best thing to do. Since low-class Americans had such limited resources, they were forced to put their trust in their leaders, who were looking to benefit their class and not the country as a whole.
Now, there were determinations to stop the development of eugenics by a limited group of intellectuals and authorities. Pennsylvania governor, Samuel W. Pennypacker, was one of the philosophers who advocated against eugenics being implemented in his state; his objective was to safeguard his people, and this legislation would be doing the absolute reverse. Although good people were fighting to halt the extermination of certain people, they were simply outnumbered and it took years to finally bring about change. Luckily, their hard work did save many Americans from the sterilization procedure. The battle against eugenics made it all the way to the High Court in Buck v. Bell, quite amazingly the court agreed with eugenics and ruled that sterilizing Virginia inhabitant Carrie Buck, a feeble minded Caucasian female, was legal. Unfortunately, this ruling is what allowed eugenics to proceed in years to come, and made it easier for states to create even more laws against underprivileged people groups (Sanger, 1929).
Eugenics was founded in the 19th century to tackle poverty and crime in the U.S.A during the era of industrialization.  Progressivism claimed that ridding the country of these undesirables would result in a better and healthier environment, but it only resulted in suffering and turmoil for the next 50 years. According to scholar Thomas C. Leonard, humans have this belief that persists some kind of optimism that we can architect our path to an improved future if we just have the technology right, perhaps if the correct individuals are placed in control.  This hypothesis has now been debunked, and attempting to scientifically modify an entire country is both inaccurate and extremely difficult due to the strong impact of societal and regional influences on human beings (Hall, 1911).
Eugenics was used for decades until it was considered unfair, at this point an upward of seventy thousand Americans had been sterilized throughout that period. Thinking back as a country, it’s important to note that an individual’s actions and values are influenced by thousands of variables, so removing all who have contrary opinions or beliefs is hardly the right response. The United States was founded on the principles of pulling individuals together seeking equality and inclusion, and it is tragic to see how much we have deviated from those principles. We may have the ability to alter the past mistakes, but we should gain knowledge from it and try to avoid repeating the same errors in the future.
 
 
References
“PASTORS FOR EUGENICS”. (1913). NEW YORK TIMES.
Hall, G. S. (1911). ITS IDEALS AND WHAT IT IS GOING TO DO. Religious Education, 6(2), 152-159.
Laughlin, H. H. (1930). The legal status of eugenical sterilization: History and analysis of litigation under the Virginia Sterilization Statute, which led to a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States upholding the statute. Fred J. Ringley Company.
Miller, K. (1917). Eugenics of the Negro Race. The Scientific Monthly, 5(1), 57-59.
Rentoul, R. R. (1903). Proposed sterilization of certain mental and physical degenerates: An appeal to asylum managers and others. W. Scott.
Sanger, M. (1929). The civilizing force of birth control. Sex in civilization, 525-537.
 

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