Social Darwinism And Eugenics

The science of eugenics and the theory of Social Darwinism arose after Charles Darwin published his book, On the Origin of Species in 1859, which outlined a theory including both evolution and the struggle for survival among species. Eugenics is the notion that the human population can be improved through selective breeding; as the gene pool improves, so will the strength of the population. Social Darwinism went a step further, attempting to explain differences in material wealth through the theory of “survival of the fittest.” In other words, Social Darwinists believed that those people who achieved financial success in society were biologically stronger than those living in poverty. Thus, because the poor represented the weakest population