Race & Membership Paragraph Annotations for Ch.3 Readings 2 & 4: Please write one paragraph of analysis for Reading 2 and one paragraph analysis for Reading 4.

10/25/2013

Sarah Olson

10/25/2013 07:47:48 am

Reading 2: The Industrial Revolution led not only to new developments in ways of production, but to new ideas of thinking. One was Eugenics, a science studying the hereditary qualities of people. The belief, developed by mathematician Francis Galton, was that he could better the human race by breeding people for "character, disposition, energy, intellect, or physical power". He claimed that the only way to enforce eugenics was to teach and accept it without question. But when he tried to test his theory, he found that those considered ill-bred, or the lesser of humanity, scored just as well on intelligence tests than the superior specimens. When his tests failed, he denied the faultiness of his "race improvement" theory and instead blamed the tests. It's shocking how indifferent and uncaring Galton is towards other races, which he deems to be lesser people.

Reading 4: While studying at Harvard in the early 1900's, biologist Charles Davenport was greatly influenced by the writings of Francis Galton. He established the Eugenics Record of Office, where he and other researchers advanced the theory of Eugenics and race improvement. His purpose was to educate the public about eugenics and his perspective of how it can better society. He published a popular textbook about the subject, which reads, "Man is an organism - an animal; and the laws of improvement of corn and race horses hold true for him also. Unless people accept this simple truth and let it influence marriage selection, human progress will cease...". What is so terrifying about Davenport's writings is their sheer ruthlessness towards a darwin-like new selection process for breeding humans. He neglects to factor in love, hope, faith, and all the immeasurable - and likely not hereditary - qualities of human beings.

Chris Bargman

10/25/2013 09:43:18 am

Reading #2: English mathematician named Francis Galton, who believed in eugenics and that races can be bred amongst each other and make a genetically superior human. He believed this was important because the theory of Darwinism didn’t apply to humans in civilised society as opposed to animals in the wild because of other humans preventing it. Eugenics was the belief that if you combine two people with great traits (including personality) that they can yield offspring superior to all. His theory was disproved when two people scored the same on a test

Reading #4 Another article about eugenics and the belief of a “superior human being”. This time about a man named Charles Davenport whom had stumbled upon Francis Galton's writings on eugenics. Charles integrated the ideas of Francis and Eugenics with the idea of Darwin’s Natural selection.

Ashley Limon link

10/25/2013 11:18:59 am

Reading 2:
The industrial revolution was about how goods were made in the US and Europe. There were African Immigrants from S and E Europe, also Native Americans. A mathematician, named Francis Galton, who thought he could make the human race better by breeding, " character, disposition, energy, intellectual, or physical power" He said this would not work in human society as it would in nature. Galton, in 1883, defined eugenic of a "race betterment". Which means "good birth" or "noble in heredity". He believed that the upper classmen were very intelligent and accomplished people. He also found out that the poor had higher birth rates.
Reading 4:
In the 1900s scientist were trying to combine Galton's Theory and Mendel's Theory of "improvement of races" so they could address society biggest problems. They said that Eugene could reduce diseases, crimes and even boost human intelligent. In 1915 eugenics had many supporters in the US. The theory attracted people from different countries, England, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Canada, and Brazil. One of the most influential person in the US was Charles Davenport. He had a PH.D in biology at Harvard University. He came across Galton's theory. He was so interesting in Galton's theory, so he flew to England to met him. He was really determine to incorporate eugenic in his own research. In 1910 Davenport established the eugenic record office at Cold springs harbor. There he had researchers study how social traits such as pauperism, criminality, and prostitution are inherited. Davenport wants to ERO to educate the public about how to solve social problems.

Grady Gumner

10/25/2013 12:45:06 pm

Reading 2: To me, Francis Galton sounded like a racist person who linked certain characteristics to different races. The similarities between his ideals and Adolph Hitler's ideals were eerily similar. While Galton didn't believe in some of the extreme measures Hitler did, his idea of the perfect race mirrored Hitler's Aryan race. What was even more irritating was his denial in the test results. Even after his predictions had been proved to be false, he continued with his arrogant belief that intelligence was linked to social class.

Reading 4: Charles Davenport, a man with a Ph.D. in biology from Harvard, became interested in the field of eugenics and began his research. In an excerpt from his textbook "Heredity in Relation to Eugenics", Davenport makes the absurd, racist claim "unless conditions change of themselves or are radically changed, the population of the United States will... rapidly become darker in pigmentation, smaller in stature, more mercurial, more attached to music and art, more given to crimes of larceny, kidnapping, assault, murder, rape..." His assumptions seemed to have absolutely no scientific backing and sounded like personal beliefs. Overall, the whole study of eugenics sounded like a racist, ethnocentric scam.

Meilani

10/25/2013 06:34:19 pm

Reading 2: Francis Galton proposed a solution to the 'threat they posed' by trying to implement eugenics, or 'breeding the best with the best'. By taking the best each class has, he presumed they would have intelligent children, and he seems callous as he theorizes, as though he were talking of cattle. Without data this idea would not be backed, though his fervent commitment to his ideas left him undeterred by evidence that debunked his theory. It would also have to be received well publicly, and though the poor may accept this more readily because their children would have a better chance with someone of a higher class, the higher classes may not agree with their children being tied to such poor people.

Reading 4: Scientist continue research of eugenics, amazed by his ideas and eager to solve society's problems. Davenport pushed to research how social traits are hereditary and therefore, curable or manageable. Their relentless research makes me think that they are not driven to find a way traits are hereditary to better humanity, but to have something to blame for society's problems. They think all bad things are obtained through parentage but never consider that the environment breeds such traits. To admit that the environment is the people's poison would destroy the system.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:04:57 pm

It is the poor people who would be against it because they are the ones who will ultimately sterilized, the rich and well born will be able to continue breeding. Does that make sense?

Oh and I love your comment about the environment's impact on traits that was completely neglected in their research.

Rilind

10/26/2013 04:01:36 am

reading 2: In the late 1800s a man named Francis Galton wanted to create a "perfect race". This really reminds me of Hitler, but this guy wasn't actually killing people. He was incredibly racist and was ashamed of blacks, native Americans, and other races that were in America during the industrial revolution. He demanded more upperclassman (because he thought you had to be very rich to be smart) and superior offspring.

reading4: In the early 1900s many people sparked intrest in Gregor Mendels research, and Galton's perfect race theory. In current time, we view their ideas as cruel, racist and just plain wrong-but back then they thought these ideas would improve scientific advances, boost human intelligence, lower crime rates, and open the door for "life choices previously unimagined". A biologist named Charles Davenport hopped into the bandwagon and wanted to go further by founding a Eugenics Record office. They tried to prove that their theories were the best with the ERO-but luckily they didn't succeed too much.

Mali M.

10/26/2013 05:20:33 am

Reading 2: In the late 1800's a scientist named Francis Galton, guided racist ides rather than scientific evidence, promoted the study of eugenics. Eugenics is a belief that humankind can be made more perfect through breeding the "best" people with each other only. I found it appalling he stated "we must leave morals as far possible out of the discussion." The very idea of eugenics brings up moral implications because humans are moral creatures. The quality of ourselves depends not just on intelligence. We are made up of our morals, characteristics, choices, actions, and a million other things. Finally, all these traits can't be compared. Every human has something important or special these should share with the world. There is no way to find out who is the "best" human because the best human doesn't exist.

Reading 4: The sons and daughters of the poor most likely grew up to poor as well, not because pauperism is inherited but because they didn't have any other options or opportunities. This is just common sense. It is shocking that some people could be so easily swayed to believe in eugenics to the point where it became an academic pursuit. There was no scientific evidence for it, in fact there was scientific evidence against the theory. I think the idea caught on with the middle class Americans because they wanted scientific proof they were better than the poorer class. They didn't want to deal with the social guilt of the terrible working class conditions.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:26:56 pm

Now this is what I call analysis! Well done Malia!

Lance Shuler

10/26/2013 06:31:45 am

Reading 2: I find it interesting how Francis Galton tries to make the "perfect human." Though I do find his argument a bit racist, it is a bit of an interesting theory. It doesn't seem like he believes in the phrase "everyone is equal", so he tries to find a way to make everyone equal, and thus, make the perfect human race.This is done by controlling breeding to increase a "better" population. I do find this a bit of an odd suggestion to improve our race, but it could work. The only problem was finding out how, and if we are truly born unequal. The pea plant experiment, for example, shows that some are born great, some good, some bad, and some awful, and may theorize that humans are just like that. But is everyone born different, can we control breeding to produce the perfect race? Or is it truly impossible. That's what I find interesting about eugenics, is it's idea that it can solve this issue, and could possiby help us evolve to a better race

Lance Shuler

10/26/2013 06:41:34 am

Reading 4: It seems that more and more scientists are becoming more and more aware of Eugenics. Though it's a good thing, I feel like they are taking it too far. Stating that unless we control every marriage, every breeding, human race will never evolve or improve. And if we were to do this, crime rate will drop. I can see how a lot of people could be offended by this, as we it theorizes to control everyones lives. This can also offend those who may or maynot have a sibling who has a disorder, since this could theorize that it could have been stopped if we did the "propper breeding". I do find this to be a very touchy subject, but I belive that it could possibly work, we would just have to find a way for it to not offend other races or familes, and do it slowly as tests, before we take full action on it.

Michelle

10/28/2013 01:55:08 pm

Can you explain a little more about why you think Eugenics was a "good thing"? It is what Hitler believed in whole heartedly, though he got the idea from the American Eugenics movement, he took it to the next level. Now Eugenics is regarded as a pseudoscience, meaning "sham" science because it has not real scientific basis.

Jackson Walker

10/26/2013 07:14:59 am

Reading One:

In the late 1800's, Francis Galton founded the basis ideas for eugenics. Eugenics is, in a few words, the genetic engineering of contemporary society. In Galton's case, it was focused on raising the "miserably low standards of the human race". Obviously these ideas are hugely controversial, and shouldn't be taken lightly. However, there are two ways of looking at this topic: from the mortal stand point, and the scientific perspective. In the mortal stand point, eugenics is hugely inappropriate; for it suggest unethically delineating between which race is better, and then subjecting the race or qualities deemed inferior to undeserving restrictions. Through the scientific perspective, it seems to prove as a more complicated idea. Eugenics is used all the time, just not with humans. Most of the things we eat were designed using eugenics- of course we don't call it that when were talking about food. This is just one example. Eugenics with humans- forgetting all humanitarian ideals, exclusively focusing on utilitarianism, might not even work. Just because we "get rid" of the "worse race(s)", doesn't mean that society would still work or function without it. When you picture intelligence in a group or society, it forms a bell curve. If you were to shear off the population of the lower quartile- by means of which are virtually impossible- the curve would not suspend itself in the same formation, as people would not remain above the quartile. Because of societies knack for dynamic convection of intelligence, eugenics seems to be impossible to achieve without natures course and hundreds of thousands of years.

Reading 2:

It is personally appalling to me how in Davenports writings he directly notes a race and describes it's "inferiority" (3rd paragraph, page 75). I suspect the ideas of eugenics are what sparked the theories behind the holocaust, because Nazism believes in the formation of the aryan race. At this time, there was a lot of antisemitism in the air. Davenport also wrote about how human progress will stop if we do not use selective marriage. I do think that now days, the way that we live and apply health care, "evolution" of our genetics has yielded. However, to make a noticeable dent in the progress of humans total evolution, it will take much much longer- at least fifty thousand years as a rough estimate. And, that is to say that "human progress" is based on genetic acquired human intellect, which there is no evidence for. In this time, these ideas are what were in fashion. It seems that Davenport possessed ambitious betterment intentions, simply with unethical basis, and insane methods to acquire success.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:31:37 pm

Wonderful analysis and word choice!

Justin Walker

10/26/2013 11:05:08 am

Reading #2: The Industrial Revolution resulted in a thorough overhaul of how goods, services, and careers were formed. Larger quantities of individuals were fleeing the countryside and farm work in favor of industrial careers. During these times, an English Mathematician named Galton proposed a theory that those in the lower class were inferior human beings to the wealthy and higher class.His idea and method of thinking was referred to as "eugenics". He began to run tests and propose theories but to his dismay found that the poor were often as intelligent as the rich. Additionally, a recurring trend of wealthy people giving birth to less intelligent children was constantly recurring, along with there being little methodology towards breeding a hyper-intelligent subspecies of humans. It would seem that Galton's greater plot was to improve society as a whole, but his approach was far off-course. To truly rid society's woes and ills, one must not try to change humans but the system they perform under. It was not mankind which needed revision, but society!

Paragraph #4: In the early 1900s, more scientists and intellectuals were modifying Galton's proposition towards eugenics with Mendel's ideology towards race improvement, stating that their results would improve societal function and increase global intelligence. As support for eugenics increased worldwide, 1904 ushered in Charles Davenport's center for eugenics study and its expansion, the Eugenics Record Office, in 1910. To garner increased public knowledge behind eugenics, he published a textbook in 1911 for use in high schools, stating that "the hordes of Jews that are not coming to us from Russia and the extreme southeast of Europe, with their intense individualism... represent the opposite extreme from early English,". This book and the idea of eugenics proved to be shockingly similar to the Nazi party's later ideas towards Semitic genocide, along with giving rise to antisemitism in the early 20th century. The ideas of eugenics and the refining of living things towards higher potential are recurring trends in dystopian literature, but are not a far cry from truth. The common eggplant used to be the size of an egg, but with selective breeding swelled up to its modern size. Human affiliation with canines could easily show this as well; humans simply bred the friendliest dogs together to create a dog which loved mankind. It would seem to be a logical step to move into eugenics, but the idea of simply restricting people based off race seems a crude approach to this greater idea.

Tess Herzog

10/26/2013 12:29:53 pm

Reading 2: Francis Galton believed that a superior race could and should be created through the study of eugenics. He believed that one’s parents could determine how the child would turn out. Despite some of his tests showing that those in lower classes and upper classes have the same score on intelligence tests, he refused to believe that his theory was wrong. In his mind, only upper class people could be intelligent. This man was crazy in his thinking because facts disproved his theory, and he would have to get the general public on board with his ideas. It would be very hard to argue a point to a crowd if your tests do not all back up what you are supporting. However, in the past, unthinkable racist attacks have happened by one crazy person simply making the public think that it is “okay”. Somehow, the public can disregard all reason if this person can convince them that there is “rationality” behind the situation (making them feel that a certain race, religion or group of people is inferior).

Reading 4: Mendel heard about Galton’s theories and thought that “race improvement” could get rid of some of society’s problems, such as reducing crime, ending some diseases and boosting intelligence. He talks about limiting who comes into the country to try to breed a “better race”. I thought it was crazy how he thought that certain problems in society could be eliminated through breeding. They studied the science and tried to prove how eugenics made a difference in how smart people are and how their personality was, however they did not study the psychological aspect and realize that people can make their own choices. They took a completely illogical stance on the issue, trying to blame society’s issues on a race other than their own. Oftentimes people want a reason as to why something is happening, and feel the need for someone to blame. This is a perfect example of pushing the blame, and the scariest part is that society believed what was being said.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:38:19 pm

Thank you for your honest and insightful analysis!

Brianna Barboza

10/27/2013 08:08:39 am

Reading #2: Because of the Industrial Revolution, many careers and opportunities were available and offered. However, many people ran away from the country side in order start new, well paying jobs to support their families. But there was a scientist by the named of Galton. He had a rather interesting theory that lower classes were humans inferior to those who had wealth, no matter how hard they worked. The ideas he had consisted of "eugenics". The man ran tests and through his studies, he came up with many theories about the upper and lower classes. But most of his theories didn't seem to match the fact poor citizens could be just as smart and educated as those who were rich. Not to mention the rich were actually breeding children that only became less and less intelligent. I believe Galton's goal was improve the society of human beings by attempting to change them, but instead was misinterpreting everything. If someone wants to change society, attempting to change humans and their behavior won't do anything but frustrate people and himself.

Reading #4: There was a man named Mendel who had heard of the theories Galton came up with. He seemed to have understood what Galton was trying to get at so he came up with "methods" of his own. First off, he had the ideas of "race improvement", which he thought could help and change the society Galton so desperately wanted to change. His ideas were about breeding the "perfect" race to end the troubles of society. Mendel completely disregarded the fact that people can make their own choices, He was so caught up in his theory about breeding, that in his mind, it was almost as if the people around him weren't even humans. He was thinking he was doing something good for society, but like Galton, he took the wrong approach.

Ryan

10/27/2013 09:17:51 am

Chapter 2: Galton's ideas of eugenics are obviously inhuman and immoral but when really looking at what he was trying to do, it seems almost like human nature. The urge to be the best and better oneself lie purely in our nature and Galton's efforts to better mankind was the same. Obviously, the way he proposed going about bettering the race was flawed though. One cant help but draw parallels to Hitler's Nazi Germany or even the subjugation of racial superiority. As a whole, Galton's ideas are supremely flawed as changing humans isn't the problem, more of changing the system that we function inside of. He himself proved this through his pea plant experiments. If those pea plants hadn't had the right sustenance, it is without a doubt that they would not have been as great as their parent plants.

Chapter 4: The continuation of eugenics that was then paired with Gregor Mendel's studies on heredity and Charles Darwin's natural selection resulted in the near integration of eugenics into our modern day lives. The ideas of these eugenicists were flawed as a whole. By saying that eugenics could limit crime and increase the overall intelligence of the population was saying that people are born with an innate intelligence, tendency towards crime, among other things. This alone I disagree with one hundred percent. I believe people are who they are through their surrounding, not through their genes. Sure some disease is hereditary and I completely fine with the altering of genes to remove disease, but things such as crime and intelligence are not. So by integrating the eugenic ideas into textbooks, is a crime.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:29:07 pm

Very clear analysis! Thank you!

Karen

10/27/2013 11:35:15 am

Reading 2:
I thought Galton's opinion on different human societies was interesting. When we mentioned the fittest don't always survive, it got me thinking about the reasons behind that statement. There were several controversial statements throughout this reading that could go against the readers thoughts as well as Galton's. When he addressees that intelligence is something that's inherited, he's also saying upper class people are smarter rather than people who aren't born into a high class and get a good education. His theory on acceptance of eugenics was different, as well as interesting to see. Although he wants to improve 'race"

Reading 4:
Gregor Mendel's approach to research on Galtons theory of 'race improvement' to touch on some of societies greatest problems was fascinating. The fact that when people's lives were getting tough and they look towards scientific knowledge is uncomprehending. I highly disagree that people should base their lives and feelings on what scientists categorize you as. Reading 4 touches on a lot of the things eugenics could do, in which I also highly disagree on because eugenics may be reachable, but theres a fine line between actions and eugenics.

Gage Gamboa

10/27/2013 12:06:04 pm

Chapter 2: Francis Galton’s ideas of a necessary improving of the human race were influenced by the blame of certain racial groups for many of society’s problems, as was mentioned in the beginning of the chapter. Galton (as many thinkers before him) became so passionate and enveloped in his ideas that striking evidence, that spoke to the falseness of his theory, failed to affect his confidence in said theory. The system that was creating the “lesser” racial groups that Galton wished to breed out of existence, was also creating delusional “intellectuals” that thought they had found the “key” to perfecting the human race, such as Galton.

Chapter 4: Similar to the societal conditions that garnered support for Galton’s original ideas, Charles Davenport’s beliefs in the field of eugenics’ ability to purify the human race were found attractive by the American middle class due to eugenics’ promise to eradicate the undesirable traits of society. Davenport used his support to further his vain research. I think that both of the stories described speak to the quote at the beginning of Chapter 2 that stated, “In such a society, it is all too easy to blame someone else for all that is new and disturbing in life,”. Throughout history, select individuals have taken advantage of society’s propensity to blame their problems on others that differ in some way.

Jordan Garcia

10/27/2013 02:58:00 pm

2- African Americans & Natives Americans began to move away from the countryside in search for jobs in a large urban center society. Some thought of them as ones who were responsible for society's ills, someone to blame for the disturbing things in life. Galton believes that he can improve the human race based on traits they were born with such as intelligence, character, disposition, etc. He believed that intellect was a trait that was inherited which in his theory, meant the rich and wealthy

4- When the 1900's came around, people began to try and combine Mendel and Galton's theory of race improvement. They believed that it was capable of things such as crime reduction, diseases and boosting human intelligence. Basically many experiments of combining different theories to find solutions to different problems. I think that it is creative to merge theories to look at problems at different perspectives. It could be a very successful idea.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:09:26 pm

Jordan, I think you need to go back and read it a little more closely. He was saying that if you were poor, or if someone in your family was an alcoholic, or committed a crime, then those people didn't deserve to reproduce because he thought it meant that their children would automatically be those things. He thought only the wealthy and intelligent should be aloud to breed.

John

10/27/2013 03:32:28 pm

Chapter 2: In this chapter it is about an english mathematician Francis Galton who proposes an idea. His idea is making a perfect race for the world by breeding with the superior races. His idea was based around that people are born with characteristics like character, disposition, energy, intellect, and physical power. In his findings he concludes that intelligence is the superior of the traits.

Chapter 4: In this chapter it is about an american man, Charles Davenport, who supports eugenics. He supported eugenics so much he traveled to england to see Francis Galton himself. When he came back he wanted to make sure the United States knew what eugenics was. He started established the eugenics recored office where he studied human hereditary and demonstrated how criminality are inherited. This a analysis of chapter 4.

Carly

10/28/2013 02:42:29 am

2:There was an English mathematician who named Francis Galton who proposed the idea of "eugenics" to better society. He believed that the upper class was the most intelligent, therefore should have the highest birth rate to breed a perfect race. Through research, he found that it was not the case that the upper class was most intelligent, and that his methods did not work in pea plants, nonetheless he still insisted on his "science"

4: The American biologist Charles Davenport started experimenting with eugenics and established the Eugenics Record Office. He believed that in order to create a better race, we could limit the influx of immigrants, and have thorough screenings and background checks to see if they have any immoral traits. He believed that these traits are passed down genetically, and therefore by not allowing them to be spread genetically, we could prevent them altogether.

Crystal Delgado

10/28/2013 03:47:08 am

Reading #2: Francis Galton was an English mathematician who brought about "Eugenics" that was meant to better the human population. Eugenics was meant to raise the standrards of the human race and breed the best with the best. Galton beilieved that intelligence was an inherited trait and that the upper classes were more intelligent and accomplished because they were born with it. He tested the classes and it frustrated him when the results came back and showed the poor tested just as well on the test than the upper classes.

Reading #4: In the early 1900s, scientists tried combining the research of Gregor Mendel and Francis Galton on "race improvement." They also believed that eugenics would eventually reduce crime, end some diseases, and even raise intelligence. Charles Davenport was one of the most influentital people in the American Eugenics movement. The researchers he worked with researcheed pauperism, criminality, prostitution, and how it could be inherited.They wanted eugenics to be the science that improved mankind.

Andrew Ledezma

10/28/2013 03:56:47 am

Reading 2: Francis Galton, cousin to Charles Darwin, claimed that he had a solution to the “miserably low standard of human life”. This was called eugenics, and it involved breeding “the best with the best” people for a better civic worth. Eugenics’ main goal was “race betterment” and sought to silently “improve the race”. Galton believed that intellegence was hereditary and the genius society was declining. He made two important discoveries that scientists would use to turn away from eugenics such as the parenthood of pea plants and the standardized intellegence test. Both of these refuted eugenics, but that didn’t stop Galton. Francis Galton died in 1911, and his theory was never realized.

Reading 4: In the early 1900’s, people tried to combine Galtons eugenics with Gregor Mendel’s research. One of the biggest supporters was a Harvard graduate, Charles Davenport. He loved the idea and convinced the Carnegie Institute of Washington to help fund and research his beloved theory. He set out to prove that prostitution and pauperism were inherited traits.

Katie Cooke

10/28/2013 04:50:39 am

Reading 2: The first reading covers the birth of eugenics. how it was thought of what it was based on, who created it. A man named francis Galton a cousin to Charles Darwin believed that he could breed a better more intelligent people from the richer stock. Of course his theory was proved mostly wrong when the poor showed almost the same results in an intelligence test as the rich. His theory was different and of course it was accepted by high society. But he soon discovered that the children of grey parents could turn out just as intelligent of much less, it was a gamble and his theory was harder to prove.

Reading 4: A man by the name of Charles Davenport, a Harvard graduate, picked up Galton's research and added on Mendel's. Using the two theories he wrote a textbook that was used in high schools and colleges across the country. He took his idea to the Carnegie Institute of Washington and was eventually able to garner funding for the further investigation into his theory.

Anthony Williams

10/28/2013 05:04:20 am

Reading 2: In this section, it talks about a man by the name of Francis Galton. He was cousin to Charles Darwin. He believed that natural selection does not work within societies the same way it does as in nature, and that the fittest do not always survive within societies. He believed in a theory, that could be regarded as selective breeding, called eugenics. He had believed that “inferior” races should not breed with “higher” races, and that talent was passed through genetics, rather than from individual experience. He had discovered two things that would normally be evidence enough to abandon eugenics, one of them being an intelligence test, which proved that the “lower” races scored the same as the “higher” races. His second discovery was through the use of pea plants, which he had discovered that no matter how high quality the parent peas were, the children were never better, only on par with the parents or lower. Regardless of these two discoveries, Francis Galton believed in eugenics until the day that he died in 1911

Reading 4: In this section, it talks of Charles Davenport and his research into eugenics. Like Francis Galton, Charles believed that races have inborn qualities, which are passed down from parent to child, as opposed to the belief that individuals and their environment shape their qualities. He believed that if eugenics wasn't a widely accepted thing across the country, and if selective breeding wasn't put into place, that the citizens of the United States were to become more savage and more like a combination of all of the stereotypes of all immigrants.

Jessica Boensch

10/28/2013 06:19:05 am

Reading Two: During the Industrial Revolution poor workers flocked to Urban Cities to find jobs. With an incredibly high population it is easy to blame others for what is wrong with the conditions in which the majority is living. In the case of the Industrial Revolution, this outlet for blame was the African Americans, Immigrants, and Indians. Francis Galton decided the best way to deal with the problem of these 'inferior' races screwing up society was to breed only the best men and women together. He uses the word "eugenics" to describe his strive towards a better race. Galton was particularly focused on the lack of intelligence and education at the time because he believed it was a trait of the wealthy. He did experiments on pea plants and found that no matter how perfect the mother and father were, the child was still somewhat inferior. This finding did not stop him however and he worked on his theory until death.
Reading Four: A man named Mendel heard about Galton’s ideas and picked up on it because he thought that breeding two perfect people could reduce all of the terrible things which were plaguing society. He also makes a point of limiting who can come into the country because he believes one of the reasons the problems are occurring is that America is letting inferior races into their country. Both of these readings are about men who are ethnocentric and believe that, through eugenics, America could be safe in the future, inbred with perfect people to save the Nation.

Rachel Maristela

10/28/2013 06:22:05 am

Reading 2: Francis Galton was a English mathematician and also the cousin of Charles Darwin, who comes up with a solution to fix a mixed society with a low life, a "threat." He came up with a word that can "improve the race" called eugenics. Galton believed that intelligence is a inherited trait, but realizes that the wealthy had more intelligence than the poor. To be equal, he explained that eugenics can be used by representing each class by each race and contribute to the next generation. Galton still wasn't sure how changes would work with eugenics and how intelligence will be inherited to future generations.

Reading 4: In the early 1900s, scientists were trying to combine Gregor Mendel's research along with Francis Galton's theory of "race improvement" to solve some of society's greatest problems. They looked backed at eugenics and claimed that it can reduce crime, some diseases, and boost human intelligence. With many people deeply troubled in their lives, eugenics had many supporters in the U.S in 1915, as well as some countries around the world. Charles Davenport, one of the most influential people of the eugenic movement, wanted to put eugenics principles into his research and he was able to educate the public of the importance of eugenic research and how our nation will be in the future.

Trevin Kraus

10/28/2013 06:29:23 am

Reading 2: Since the beginning of time man has strived to make/improve the lives of those around us. In the late 1800 a mathematician by the name of Francis Galton believed he had discovered a way to breed healthier, richer and smarter children using a process called "Eugenics." The belief is that by having two healthy, rich, smart parents that the child will share the same characteristics. However, after completing many tests Galton instead of realizing that his race improvement theory was wrong he instead blamed the tests themselves for being faulty.

Reading 4: In the early 1900's a man by the name of Charles Davenport began his own separate journey into "eugenics." However, during Davenports time at Harvard university where he was earning his Ph.D. in Biology he stumbled upon the writings of Francis Galton. So astonished by his work Davenport traveled to England where he met Galton and incorporated Galton's work with his own. Years later in 1904 Davenport persuaded the Carnegie Institute of Washington to provide funding for experiments. Davenport hoped to combine the theories of Charles Darwin and George Mendel. In 1911 Davenport took his results and wrote a text book that was used in high school and college biology classes. Finally, Davenport believed that without a change in immigration or human breeding that the human race would become "darker in pigmentation, smaller in statue, more mercurial, more attached to music and art, more given to crime of larceny, kid-napping, assault, murder, rape, and sex-immorality."

Meranda Knowles

10/28/2013 08:38:50 am

Reading #2: Francis Galton believed in breeding to get the best race. He didn't think other races were as good as the white race in America. He made the word, eugenics, to describe his plan of making the race better. You could relate it to Harry Potter, and how purebloods would only breed with each other to keep their magical blood pure. Galton wanted only the upper class to create children because he thought they were the most intelligent. But he was alarmed that the poor had a higher birth rate. He thought that he could solve this problem with eugenics, the science that improves a race.

Reading #4: Eugenics was still being looked into during the early 1900s. Charles Davenport was impressed with Galton's work with Eugenics and started doing his own research on it in New York. He oversaw the research that looked into the genetic inheritance in both plants and animals. He studied human heredity but also looked into how traits could be passed down through genetics.

Paris Gramann

10/28/2013 08:43:43 am

2: Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, had an interesting and frightening idea called eugenics. He believed that the wealthy white humans were the "better" race and that they should be the main providers for the future generations. He believed that survival of the fittest could not happen with humans because we tampered with the process. But instead of tampering with it, we should encourage and purposefully create it. He had it well thought out in that you would first have to convince the world that this was the right way and incorporate it as a religion. This would definitely make things stick in a more effective way. However, he even found faults in his theory with testing. Galton disregarded all of these findings though and continued on in his work until hies death in 1911. This section sounded very similar to the beginning of Mein Kampf. Scary!

4: A Harvard man, Charles Davenport, was very fond of the sciences and incorporated Galton's ideas (in eugenics) as well as Gregor Mendel's ideas (with testing.) He compared humans to farming by saying that agriculturalists believe in using the best crop to spread the seeds. " ...permanent advance is to be made only by securing the best "blood'". Davenport talked about all of the immigrants coming into America and tainting what the original colonists had worked to create. His "solution" was to test and analyze the immigrants before they got to America or were "let in" in order to secure that no diseased (mentally or physically) person would come into America. Galton provided the idea of eugenics, and Davenport provided an plan of action.

Trey Lewis

10/28/2013 09:09:57 am

Reading #2: During the late 1800's disease and poverty were quite common in America. Because people were coming from all over the world, one they didn't have any money to start a life, and two they brought disease and things that were different to the American environment. People didn't know who or what to believe in. Scientists, Francis Galton being the first, thought of an idea that would revolutionize America. Some would say this was for the good, others would say for the bad. Galton's idea would be to find out which race is superior to the others and from there create more of that specific race. He thought this would increase the chance of human survival.

Reading #4: This reading revolves around the early 1900's. During this time the idea of building off the strongest race has spread. More and more scientists are hearing about this, to them, an amazing theory. Charles Davenport who was getting his Ph.D in biology at the time heard about this idea and is fascinated by the thought. Davenport persuaded the Carnegie Institution of Washington to give him the funding in order to have the Experimental Evolution at Cold Spring. This is where he did his research.

Tyler Felix

10/28/2013 10:30:11 am

Reading 2: Industrial Revolution changed how goods were manufactured, and the location of where they were made. Francis Galton's theories were based off of how individuals are born with a "define endowment". Galton was concerned with the decline of geniuses in society. He believed that the upper class had more intelligence than others, so when he discovered that the poor had a higher birth rate. Eugenics is the science that deals with all influences that improve and develop the inborn qualities of a race. Galton spent years studying heredity up to when he passed away in 1911. In his researched he made two discoveries that would spark an interest by other scientists. His first discovery was when he got the result of a test, where the poor did just as good as the rich. The second discovery resulted from trying to find successive generations of pea plants. No matter how high the quality of the parent peas, the new ones were all different.

Reading 4: Scientists were trying to combine Gregor Mendel's research with Francis Galton's research of "race improvement". They claimed that eugenics would prevent crime, end disease, and boost human intelligence. By 1915, eugenics had tons of supporters in America, and other countries. Davenport began "ERO" Eugenics Record Office. Researchers studied how human heredity are inherited. He wanted ERO to educate society on Eugenics and solving social problems.

Ysabella Dawson

10/28/2013 11:10:35 am

Reading 2:
I thought this reading was rather interesting, although not in a very good way. Actually my first thought when I started reading this was that it reminded me of Mein Kampf by Hitler, which I absolutely despised (and tore up my only copy and threw it away in the trash because it didnt deserve to be recycled back into the world). I don't agree with the idea that intelligence is hereditary, or that there is a superior paradigm of each race in our species. I do think that to some extent certain traits are influenced by hereditary and environmental factors, such as inclination to athleticism or creativity, but even if you are not born with a strength in a certain trait you can still overcome that obstacle, it'll just require more work. I didn't agree with the idea that the offspring of society's upper class would be better or more intelligent, because I think that intelligence is acquired through environmental factors. For example, if the child of a pair of wealthy socialites was lost and raised in a small rural farming village, the child would possess the same intellectual levels of those around him, and the same goes for the other way around.

Reading 4:
I think that it is to be marveled that people were coming up with this kind of technology and ideals at such an early point in our history, but I dont necessarily agree with eugenics. I thought it was... interesting when they said that because there are more foreign children born in hospitals the levels of insane individuals would spike. But who qualifies as natives? The white people who migrated to the United States many years before would not be considered natives, but it doesn't mention the native Americans at all. So this subject is all relative. I also think it wrong that they had the idea that people should marry those who have specific traits to 'better the races', because that is the equivalent of arranged marriage. What happens if someone doesn't like the person they are forced to marry? Does making the people that make up society unhappy better it in any way? These are the questions that came into my head while I was reading this.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:34:50 pm

Very insightful commentary and questions!

Sabrina

10/28/2013 11:40:09 am

Reading 2:

It amazes me that people actually thought about trying to breed a new society of people, to try to make a race better fit a set definition. Then for Galton to compare these people to animals by saying that Natural Selection does not work as well with humans as it would with animals. This idea of "survival of the fittest" really motivated his thoughts into changing other people. It is disgusting really to see how horrible some of the ideas were that may have shaped our country into what it is today.

Reading 4:

The theory of eugenics really began to spread around the world, and after reading these paragraphs made me see some connections with the current state of some countries. For example the idea of imperialism entails nationalism, ecocentrism, and racisim. These are all traits of eugenics and communisitic societies like in the Soviet Union. Perhaps this idea of eugenics was a precursor to some of the more troubling ideals behind country leaders today.

Alex Demos

10/28/2013 11:59:33 am

Reading #2: During the late 1800's, Francis Galton, Charles Darwin's cousin, developed the term eugenics. Galton believed that intelligence is an inherited trait and that those of a higher class scale consist of the dominance of intelligent and accomplished people. He then defines eugenics as a solution to deal with all influences that improve and develop race inequality. Within his statement he concludes that there are three different stages that needed to be worked through in order for eugenics to be widely practiced. He found out, however, that two of his discoveries within testing had proven his eugenics plan wrong, the first through an intelligence testing, and the second through his results of tracking successive generations of pea plants. Even through these multiple proofs that went against his beliefs, he continued to insist that intelligence was based off of social hierarchy.

Reading 4: Toward the early 1900's, more scientists were taking Galton's theory of eugenics more seriously, believing that it could eliminate some of society's greatest problems, along with reducing crime, ending diseases and boost human intelligence. The spread of eugenics took place around the world, but was focused mainly within the United States, leading with the most eugenic research. Charles Davenport learned about this idea of eugenics and decided to invest more time into the subject. He wrote a textbook called "Heredity in Relation to Eugenics," which consisted of his thoughts on the subject at hand. Reading #2 introduced the ideas of Eugenics, while Reading #4 provides the solutions to the problem and the actions that needed to take place for the spread of the topic as a whole.

Sophia C.

10/28/2013 12:21:53 pm

Reading Two: This reading talked about a scientist named Galton who was actually Darwin's cousin. Galton came up with a theory he called eugenics which said that the upper class was better in every way, intelligence, beauty, "socialness", than the poor. He believed that these things had to do with your genetics and lineage. He eventually wanted to "breed" the best with the best to create a perfect society. I find his entire theory horrific and a bit disgusting. That he was so convinced he was better than the poor and ignored certain findings because of this steadfast belief is repulsive. I know this is a horrible thing to say, but I'm glad he died before he really went and ruined things forever.

Reading Four: This reading was sort of a continuation of the second one. It talked about a man, Davenport, who worked on combing the theories of Darwin, Galton, and Mendel. He believed in eugenics and even wrote a few textbooks teaching it for high school and college bio classes. Davenport had actually met Galton after discovering his work during his time at Harvard. He agreed with Galton and also wanted to prove the theory. I feel the two of them were just racist and attempting to come up with a scientific theory explaining and justifying their racism. I know it was a popular theory at the time and I'm very grateful it was never fully accepted or at least didn't stick around.

Michelle

10/28/2013 02:06:46 pm

I agree with your disgust and I too, wish it has ended with Galton's death but it continued even after his death and led the sterilization of thousands of people. Not to mention the ideas that it gave Hitler.

Rachel Deaton

10/28/2013 01:29:13 pm

Reading #2: Francis Galton to me was very arrogant with his beliefs. Eugenics He believed in reproducing to create the perfect race. He thought that the higher class should have more children because they are superior. He connected certain traits to certain races. Which I found was basically the definition of racism itself. He thinks that intelligence was connected to the place people were in. But his research shows that the higher class was not the most intelligent. Yet he still believed in his idea with tests and science.

Reading #4: Charles Davenport, a biologist from Harvard, set up the Eugenics Record Office. He thought that to make the perfect breed they would have to regulate the flood of immigrants. Also, they would have to examine them for any bad traits. He thought he could stop the bad genetics from being passed down from generation to generation. This was a wrong thing to think because there is no such thing as a perfect race in this world. His so called facts sounded like his own opinion of the races and how people should be bred. Both of these readings are based on men with racist opinions of races.

Erik Salazar

10/28/2013 01:36:46 pm

Reading 2:
Galton tried to convince society that the rich were actually more intelligent and sophisticated than poor immigrants. This is an ignorant statement no matter which perspective it is seen through. He tried to use science to prove how the upper class was further "evolved" than the lower class. Although he himself knew his research and claims were false he continued to try and convince others that social hierarchy dictated intelligence. I believe he did to try and find a reason to separate the poor from the "normal" Americans. Making immigrants seen as less than human.

Reading 4:
Charles Davenport did research in eugenics, the study of genetic improvement. He tried to convince the world that people can be improved if not for the "hordes" of immigrants coming into the US. He clearly held prejudices on immigrants being greedy, stupid people. He was able to gain the credibility of numerous countries and reputable sources. He believed that society needed a cleansing of its filth.

Preston Royal

10/28/2013 01:37:14 pm

Reading 2: A man known by the name of Francis Galton, an English mathematician and cousin of Charles Darwin, came up with the rather perposterous ice, of what he calls, eugenics. "Eugenics is the science which deals with all influences that improve and develop the inborn qualities of a race", according to Francis Galton. This was an idea of one race and class being more intelligent and better than another. This was really a terrible thing because it mace it seem like if you were born into a non-intelligent family and class, that you could never change that and you would always be the same. For someone to say that the fittest parents make the best children in absolutely ridiculous.

Reading 4: Another Man by the name of Charles Davenport came across the idea of eugenics. I was so interested in it that he decided to use it in his work at Harvard while obtaining his Ph.D. He became so wrapped up in the topic that he persuaded many people to help him with the idea of eugenics. He established a ERO (Eugenics Record Office). He wrote a book on eugenics called Hereditary in Relations to Eugenics. One part stated, "rapidly becoming darker in pigmentation, smaller in statue, more mercurial, more attached to music and art, more given to crime of larceny, kid-napping, assault, murder, rape, and sex-immorality." This idea that Galton had started is absolutely preposterous and was an extremely racist and absurd way of thinking in the late 1800s to early 1900s.

Salina

10/28/2013 01:42:48 pm

Reading 1: Francis Galton was an English mathematician and cousin to Charles Darwin, Galton brought about the topic of "Eugenics" which was meant to better the human race/population. Eugenics was meant for the population to only breed the best of the best. Galton believed that intelligence and talent was inherit acted by trait and that the upper classes were born with more intelligence and skills. Galton created an intelligence test, to his dismay however it proved his theory wrong when the lower class did just as well as the upper class.

Reading 2: During the early 1900's, scientist combined the studies of Gregor Mendel and Francis Galton, they believed through Eugenics that could better the lives of everyone. One of the leaders and most influential people in America Eugenics was Charles Davenport. Davenport and other scientist researched on how man kind could be improved and why people did the things they did. In America and some European countries the idea of Eugenics became quite popular and supported by many, some high school biology books on Eugenics were even given and taught to the kids.

Quentin Jackson

10/28/2013 02:19:06 pm

Reading 1:
It is interesting, how this kind of philosophy Is exactly adolph hitler and nazi Ideology, when it comes to making the world a better place by getting rid of undesirables and keeping only the "superior" people. It also frustrates me how so many people at this time completely refuse to look at how much they need the others. Within it, they always believe the upper class on their own would survive and be the greatest, even though they blatantly need lower class and things to keep themselves going. were the upper class to be on their own, with no lower class, they would be unable to get the resources they need without lower class obtaining them, be unable to create luxury items without the middle class manufacturing them, and overall, be kind of useless without anyone to boss around. In general, the upper class on their own is unsustainable, and they need people to do more than sit around managing people and businesses.

Reading 4: It seems odd to me, this idea of putting logic to old ideas of hierarchys and stuff at that time and age. around that time, democracy was well celebrated and nationalism was high, which would of course later turn poorly with WWII. why do they keep treating it as if these previous ideas are so much better, yet continue to go through democracy?

Shannon Carlson

10/28/2013 02:25:53 pm

Reading 2:
In the 1800's a man named Galton tried to per sway society that the rich were more intelligent than the less fortunate immigrants. He created a name for this called eugenics. Galton then created an intelligence test, but it proved his theory was wrong when the lower class equally did the same.

Reading 4:
In the 1900's, a man named Charles Davenport believed that through Eugenics that could better the lives of everyone. In America and some European countries the idea of Eugenics became known to all and was supported

Vivian Mason

10/28/2013 02:26:41 pm

Reading 2: Set in the 1800's, this reading focuses on Francis Galton's theoretical ideas of "Eugenics". "Eugenics" is described by Galton as "(human)race betterment". He attempts to do this by breeding what he believes are the leading humans of his era with one another. These leaders in the human race were usually upperclass, smart, well spoken, and athletic. Galton believed that if he breed these people together there good traits would continue down to there offspring, then that offsprings - offspring, until he had produced the perfect race. To do so he created a sort of test that he believed would prove that the upper class were the best. To Galton's dismay, his test failed, because the lower class and african americans did just as well as the upper class.

Reading 4: Gregor Mendel, Francis Galton and Charles Davenport believed that eugenics was the cure for the world and therefore would better the lives of everyone. Charles Davenports role in the spread of eugenics was critical. He helped spread this idea to other countries and scientists. Once he had captured other countries attention, Davenport was instrumental in the impute of books about eugenics into high schools across the globe. All three of these scientists work helped make eugenics and themselves remembered to this day.

Adrian Schnepp

10/28/2013 02:39:43 pm

Reading 2: Francis Galton preyed on (or was more like a victim of) the popular belief that the Anglo-Saxon race was infinitely superior to all the other uncouth foreign types that were pouring into the country at the time, as was the brains behind the first idea of eugenics, that is, bettering the human race through selective breeding processes. Imagine it like natural selection, except the processes is engineered by and for humans. Galton ran into a major problem though, that being that his testing and research didn't support his original hypothesis. And then, in the spirit of scientific malpractice, he concluded that his tests must be wrong, for how could the wonderful Anglo-Saxon race be on the same footing as those dirty immigrants?

Reading 4: This reading takes the study of eugenics to a whole 'nother level, getting corporate funding for the study and actually setting up real controlled tests and experiments. And while the 'idea' may have started out with only a minor perversion of moral ideals, but the way they keep trying to spin it, not for the benefit of all humans, but for the advancement of rich white people, even when their tests prove that those people are inherently no better than the others around them, really kills any sense of scientific justice they might have been cultivating.

Cole Sargent

10/28/2013 03:08:20 pm

Reading #1: The Industrial Revolution (in the late 1800s) pushed people from rural areas to more urban ones, creating a system where it is easy to blame the minority for all that is “new and disturbing in life.” A man named Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, proposed a new and exciting idea: eugenics, the process of “race betterment” through selective breeding or making it unlawful for certain people to breed. Eugenics is a sickening ideology, and one that goes against everything we know as human beings; it calls for the discrimination and separation of people into groups, and calls for the destruction of love, an act that would surely destroy any nation were they to accept eugenics with open arms--it would stab them in the back.
Reading #2: Charles Davenport took a liking to Galton’s studies on heredity and attempted to combine them with Darwin’s work on natural selection, and created a research station in Long Island, New York. Here, he spread his radical ideas about eugenics, even taking to creating his very own textbook, Heredity in Relation to Eugenics, that was distributed in biology classrooms around the country. His ideology was extremely racist (eugenics was in itself very racist), and in his list of genetic grievances with America, “darker in pigmentation” is very first.

Cole Sargent

10/28/2013 03:08:55 pm

Meant to say readings #2 and #4...

Sophia Kormanik

10/28/2013 03:09:40 pm

Reading 2: It talks about the 1800 Industrial Revolution but what really stood out to me is Galton the “Scientist”. Galton thinks intelligence is an inherited trait and that upper class had the more intelligent and accomplished people, he just judged on his own belief. He was really into eugenics the science which deals with all influences that improve and develop the inborn qualities of a race. Even until he died he didn’t know how traits are passed down from parent to child.
Reading 4: Number of scientists started to look at Galton’s theory of “race improvement” they said eugenics would reduce crime, end some diseases, and even boost human intelligence. By 1910 Davenport researched not only studied human heredity but also tried to demonstrate how social traits are inherited. Davenport defined eugenics “is the science of the improvement of the human race.”

Julz Valencia

10/28/2013 03:32:56 pm

Reading 2: Galton thought that intelligence was genetically inherited. He believed that he could create a superior "race" with only the most intelligent of people. Galton strongly thought that the parents genes combine with the others genes determined how how smart the child would be. Galton thought that the smartest of people were in the upper class and that the lower class of people weren't as intelligent. Even though, when a test was given to both the upper and lower class, the results came back the same and did not show any superiority to the upper class, Galton did not choose to believe his ideas were wrong, essentially he discarded the information provided by the intelligence tests. This was absurd! how can one think and believe something to be so true, yet there is clear evidence against it. This man had no proof in his favor and the only evidence he had went against what he was saying.
Reading 4: Charles Davenport studied Eugenics the theory that Galton had come up with. Davenport believed in eugenics in the sense that there could be a breed of people and they would be superior to others. This man was very racisit when it came to immigrants, he thought that immigrants were merly greedy people and that if they were to be prmitid they needed to be checked per say for all sorts of things and had to be approved to come into the country.

Xochitl Aguinaga

10/28/2013 04:04:39 pm

Reading # 2
By the late 1800’s Francis Galton, mathematician and cousin to Charles Darwin, developed eugenics --the scientific study of race improvement.The premise of this scientific study was to create a people of a higher caliber with the crossbreeding of people with the supposed “best traits”. What I find interesting about Galton’s research was that it was completely based upon his idea that people interfere with natural selection and somehow inferior people survived. It seems that Francis Galton was so absorbed and focused on proving his theory to be right that he ruled out any solutions besides eugenics to “fix” society.

Reading # 4
In the late 1900’s eugenics had increased in popularity throughout the globe. Not only in the scientific world, but amongst everyday people it was seen as a topic of interest. Many believed that the study of eugenics and its application would help aid against the shortcomings of society.
I can see why eugenics appealed to so many, it claims things such as criminality to be attributed to genes and heredity, while wearing a mask of scientific subjectivity. This was an easy way for people to blame society’s issues on groups of people instead of addressing the real problems.

John Laine

10/28/2013 04:34:31 pm

Reading 2: This reading stared off with a very nazi style of thinking for its time were the "best should only breed with the best" type of thinking. Then never really tried to make its self more appealing to the styles of the newly freed people in America. This reading also saying that it was their job to raise the standards of the people. making it better was really not going to make a good splash to most of the newer citizens in America.
Reading 4: This reading to me would have been a great thing to include directly inside the first reading because it can explain to the people with no understanding of the situation why the people were doing this and it could be a great way to help see both sides of this argument.

Jessica Pollock

10/28/2013 04:46:07 pm

Reading 1: The Industrial Revolution was the start of families moving out of the small countryside to the large urban cities looking for jobs. These people coming in to these cities were immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe, Native Americans, and anyone else who looked, spoke, or acted differently than the people already living there. An English mathematician by the name of, Francis Galton, came up with the theory of eugenics. This theory stated a way to make human race better by "breeding the best with the best". He states that by taking the best of the social classes and breeding them with each other then we will have a brighter future with overall better children.

Reading 4: This second reading takes eugenics more into depth. A man by the name of Charles Davenport met other eugenicists while studying in Harvard. Davenport discussed with Galton about eugenics and decided to do some of his own research. He began experiments on plants and animals studying the inheritance of each of these things. He then began to expand and research human heredity and the inheritance of social traits such as criminality, prostitution, etc.

Abby Thompson

10/28/2013 05:11:41 pm

2: People from all over the world, from Africa, Europe, and Asia, were traveling to America in search of jobs, and these people were strangers to the people who had always lived in America and were discriminated against for being different. Francis Galton, an English mathematician, thought that these people were lesser because they were different, and believed that the higher classes were the ones who had the most intelligence and accomplishment and that the "fittest races" were the ones that were superior. Galton created a test to see how intelligent one was but was dismayed to see that the poorer people had the same scores as the wealthier people. "The fittest parents produce superior offspring."

4: Scientists in early 1900's continued to study Galton's race improvement theory so that they could solve some of society's issues. They claimed it would improve lifestyles, increase jobs, and reduce crime. Charles Davenport was a scientist involved in Galton's theory and studied human heredity and tried to figure out what inherited traits such as criminality, prostitution, and pauperism and how to educate the public about it all and went on to write a book about the topic.

Chelsea

10/28/2013 05:41:33 pm

Chapter 2: Francis Galton, an english mathematician and cousin of Darwin's believed that certain characteristics defined what a perfect human being should be. He believed that the whites were more superior than others, and that wealthier people were the ones with more intelligence. While the poor had a high birth rate. He thinks that eugenic is a way to improve the race. Although his theory was proven wrong, and learned that the upper people were intelligent, and that his methods didn’t work in pea plants.

Chapter 4: Scientist were trying to combine Gregor Mendel’s research with Galton’s theory. One of the leaders and most influential people in America Eugenics was Charles Davenport, he had a PH.D in biology at Harvard University. He wanted in incorporate eugenic into his research. He wanted to inform the public on eugenic and how this was the way to a better society.

Chris dang

10/28/2013 09:52:58 pm

Chapter 2 - During the industrial revolution, people were leaving the countryside and started living in cities. There was such a large crowd of strangers that if something went wrong,it was very easy to blame "them." "Them referred to anyone who wasn't white at the time. "They" became a problem and the whites didn't know how to solve it. Then a man named Francis Galton came by and said that he could solve the problem! All he had to do was start breeding "superior humans" (more white people actually). But he found that breeding was very hard to do because 1 - He found that most cases, the offspring is a tiny bit worse than the parent. And 2 - "their" (non-white) test score were just about the same as "Our" (white) score.

Chapter 4 - There were many ways to approach euginetics. A man named Charles Davenport saw it as a way to reduce crime, pauperism, and prostitution. He incorporated Galton's theory and Mendel's research into his own research. He decided that the best way to better society was to pick out the "best blood" and make that the top of society.

Halee Robinson

10/29/2013 12:11:15 am

(Reading 1) The industrial revolution, producing new and more efficient production methods, drastically set apart the working class from the middle and upper class. With this separating came different views such as that of Francis Galton, an English mathematician, who believed in 'eugenics.' This is a term he used to describe efforts to improve the human race by "breeding the best with the best," meaning intelligent upper class citizens with other intelligent upper class citizens. He spent his life trying to prove in some way that people in the upper class were naturally more intelligent, or genetically superior in some way.
(Reading 2) Galton was not the only person to believe in eugenics, and by 1915, it had followers all over the world. Charles Davenport, a supporter of eugenics, wanting to conduct his own research, was granted funding for the Station of Experimental Evolution by the Carnegie Institution of Washington. He then established ERO, Eugenics Record Office, in order to prove that traits like criminality, prostitution and pauperism are hereditary. It was popular belief that these undesirable traits are also more common in different races, particularly, any race other than Caucasian.

Lisa Valtierra

10/29/2013 03:02:14 am

Reading 2: The reading was about the late 1800's during the Industrial Revolution. It posed this idea that Francis Galton (who was English mathematician) and his cousin Charles Darwin, thought that they had to raise everyone in the human race to be at the best "breeding" for the future. It posed the idea that was very similar to Hitler, during the Nazi time, because like Hitler, they thought that only the rich, white, and educated people should breed, so that the future could have white children that could lead our future down the positive road. He used the word eugenics to describe efforts for the "race betterment". I thought it was interesting that he thought that he thought that he need to breed to have a future, it was kind of horrible in a way because there had been Nazi's before and it ended horribly and I don't see why these cousins were in favor of this.

Max Klein

10/29/2013 05:00:54 am

Reading 2: Eugenics is the process of creating a superior race by selective breeding. There are many reasons why this is not natural and wrong. One of the reasons being if a "perfect race" is created, eventually people will become so similar, that individuality will become no existent. There will be no diversity in the world and traveling would serve no purpose. Cultural differences are extremely interesting and through eugenics, there would be no differences.
Reading 2: By 1915 Eugenics had a relatively big following, the reason I found this so interesting was because it is dangerously possible for eugenics to work. It would take many generations but eventually the idea of creating a perfect race could be a reality.

Alexus Seymour

10/29/2013 05:54:19 am

READING 2
By the late 1800 the industrial Revolution had not changed not only how goods were made in the united states and much of europe but also where they were made. Since this was happening people moved to countryside to get a better job. These people were African americans, immigrants from southern and eastern europe, native americans.Galton ( an english mathematician) set out to consciously "improve the human race". He believed that intelligence is an inherited trait and that the upper classes contain that most intelligent and accomplished people. Up to the day Galton died he still had no idea how traites were passes from parent to child but he came upon two discoveries. One was the result test he divided to measure intelligence. Seconed was that no matter how high the quality of the parent strain, some offspring were as good as the parent plant.He continued to insist that intelligence is linkes to social class and that "the fittest" parents produce superior offspring.

READING 4
By the early 1900s a number of scientists were trying to combine Gregor Mendel's research with Francis Galton's theory of "race improvement" so that they could tackle some of society's greatest problems. At the same time many people were deeply troubled by the changes in their lives. As a result of their disease, they had ideas that gave scientific meaning to the old rules and the old hierarchies. By 1915 the theory attracted followers in england, germany, sweden, russia, canada,united starts let the world in research in the first two decades of the 20th century. Charles Davenport established the Eugenics Record Office (ERO), there he and other reseachers not only studied human heredity but also tried to demonstrate how social traits such as pauperism, criminality, and prostitution are inherited.

Hayes Sherr

10/29/2013 06:14:04 am

In the 2 reading Francis Galton's theories were based on the idea that individuals are born with a definite endowment of qualities like character, disposition, energy, intellect, or physical power. In his point of view he wanted to change the race by using eugenics. If eugenics were to be done somehow, people would all be the same because he was trying to make only one race. In my opinion this is probably impossible because every human has a different type of life style and race. Galton wanted everyone to be "normal". well what is normal? No one can tell or show what normal is because everyone is different in there own way. When hitler came into play, he wanted everyone to have blonde hair blue eyes and fair skin. If this were to happen most races would get screwed up because everyones hair, eyes, and skin is all different, so this wouldn't be able to work. He thought by making the perfect race, it would also make a better society.

Karye

10/29/2013 01:15:56 pm

Reading 2:
Francis Dalton was a French mathematician who had a theory of “race improvement,” This was based on the ideas of humans being born with a definite endowment with specific qualities and he thought he knew of a way to change it. His theory proposed a way to fix the low standards of the human race by “breeding the best with the best”. He came up with the idea of eugenics to better society in a way that superiors such as the wealthy and intelligent will continue through the generations. The process of eugenics was to first make it familiar, be open for consideration, and ultimately be introduced as a “national conscience” as if it were a new religion. He needed to engrain it into the brains of the nation in order for the theory to work. Therefore, making only superior and intelligent humans breed. As he conducted experiments to test the theories, he was never certain of his conclusions and came to no results which told him that his hypothesis was a fact. In the end though he stuck with his ideas and believed them to be true.

Reading 4:
Charles Davenport was a person who was very influential in the American eugenics movement. He also believed that eugenics would “eventually reduce crime, end some disease, and even boost human intelligence.” In 1910 he established the Eugenics Record Office which scientists there tried to explain and demonstrate how social traits, such as crime, are hereditary. He believed that if people did not just accept the simple truth of eugenics and let it be the influence of marriage selection and breeding, then the human race would cease. His intentions to create perfect humans and a perfect society was disregarding morals and scientific logic.

Race & Membership Paragraph Annotations for Ch.3 Readings 2 & 4: Please write one paragraph of analysis for Reading 2 and one paragraph analysis for Reading 4.

Leave a Reply.

Author

Archives

Categories