Racism In The 19th Century Essay

Racism has been a huge problem over the centuries. Despite slavery being abolished in the nineteenth century, the general consensus of inferiority has been within the human race for all this time. However, not everyone had obtained this particular mindset. Towards the middle and later eighteenth century, there were in fact liberal thinkers that felt that the mindset that almost everyone contained in that time was a crime against humanity itself. In fact, there were even paintings made to represent that what everyone was thinking was not the right thing to think at all. As time moved on, there began to be even more believers of this idea, such as prime ministers who believed that the idea of liberalism should be spread across Europe. But during
this advancement in thinking, some chose to stay stuck in the past, such as painters and craft makers. But it seemed to be that the better part of humanity is what eventually stayed, such as physicians and rulers of other countries. From early liberal believers to full on scholars in the studies of inferiority, humanity has gone through a journey from the 1760’s to the 1910’s that has defined who we are today. First-hand experience is usually what alters the minds of many. William Smith, a British soldier in 1764 was one to see how the minds of these “inferior” people operated. During his expedition in Ohio country, he got to see really how these these so-called “savages” really acted. They held up White prisoners, but eventually they let them go as they “bore an important part in heightening this scene.” Smith also said that these tribes also brought them “corn, skins, horses, and other matters .” Another man who shared the same thought was Josiah Wedgwood, an early British Industrialist. He created a ceramic medallion titled Am I not a man and a Brother? In it, he depicts a slave holding up chains and begging on his knees. Wedgwood titled the medallion like he did because he felt that he needed to show that any race is equal to the White man. While both of these men had different occupations, they shared the same viewpoints of liberalism and sought to spread the message across Europe and the rest of the world. Towards the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century, the viewpoints of many started to display a dividing line. One man, Jules Ferry, the French Prime minister at the time of July, 1885, believed that humans have to move on from this idea of Social Darwinism that still stuck in the minds of many. Using his power, he tried to manipulate the others to change their beliefs by saying that France “cannot afford to be just a free country, she must also be a great country.” He would say little things like “the infamy of slavery,” to further describe how bad inferiority actually is. But in 1902, Paul Gauguin painted Barbaric Tales. Judging from the title, he perfectly displays the other side of the dividing line that is between the mindsets on Europeans. He displays two Polynesian women with a European man behind them. The man has long toenails that appear as claws and is constantly appearing to be chewing his fingernails. This depicts the common behavior of a savage. The reason he displayed this man is to show how that the time spent with the islanders is what made this man a “savage” and that further proves that people during this time period were still stuck with the mindset the inferiority is still among humans. While both these men lived in the same time period, they were the representatives for the dividing line between the people. While many in the early twentieth century were still divided, others sought to study the belief that has haunted many minds of the people today.
Wilhelm Schallmayer, a German physician wrote in his essay “Heredity and Selection in the Life History of Nations” in 1903 that further explained this theory. Consequently, he said that the main source of the problem was “competition.” Therefore, it makes “some nations and races powerful and brings other, backward nations and races into decline.” On the whole, he explained that the Europeans were basically the poison that destroys the villages of tribes just because they felt the need to display their superiority. Another man, Evelyn Baring, the British ruler of Egypt from 1883 to 1907 further explained these ideas. Because he lived in a region with a backward society, he was able to experience firsthand the behavior of the White man and the inferior race. He explained that the Egyptian was “a skillfully constructed automaton [who] may do a great deal of work.” In this one line alone, he displays the idea that the inferior nation isn’t supposed to be depicted to be how they are and instead they are faithful and loyal to those who treat them with respect. These two men were what the world needed at the time, as they further helped to change the minds who were still stuck in the earlier time
periods. On the whole, as time progressed, the viewpoints of society did as well. Between the 1760’s and the 1910’s, the minds of many were refined and the view of a backward race was as well. Because of this, many events, such as the Civil War took place. Without this war, the United States of America would maybe still be in the horrid place that it was in before the war. Many people thought that to show the superiority of their nation was the right thing to do. However, firsthand experience compelled the minds of many that this idea was in fact wrong. Others were just born with the idea that liberalism did in fact have to be spread out to other nations, albeit powerful or not. On the other hand, there were those who chose not to embark on this progression of time and to instead stay back in the 1760’s and more. With thanks to these events that happened throughout time, the world is in a better place when it comes to racism and inferiority.