Analysis Of Francis Galton’s Eugenics Theories And Views On Marriage

In “Essays in Eugenics”, by Sir Francis Galton, he provides a whole new way of thinking for the common man. Galton a famous geographer and statistician, he also was the father of eugenics in 1883. Eugenics, defined as the science of fortifying racial sureness, was developed from a new heredity theory, conceived by Galton himself, and from the evolution theory of Charles Darwin. Galton's theory was program to artificially produce a better human race through regulating marriage and thus procreation. Galton put particular emphasis on "positive eugenics", aimed at encouraging the physically and mentally superior members of the population to choose partners with similar traits. He expresses that stupid arrogant ones should be cut off on procreating for they will create an era of stupidness while on the other hand, the more intellectual and beautiful ones should carry on the job to procreate for mankind. Galton provided logical evidence that unacceptable human beings shouldn’t be able to procreate and are a menace to society, while beautiful ones should be the ones to continue offspring for mankind, but is his reasoning persuasive enough to the common people in his era?

Marriage is an holy attribute to many from across the world, but what if stupid married stupid, produced offspring and their offspring produced stupid?, what will be the outcome to society as an whole and the role it will play. Galton in his view of marriage he states, ” Eugenics shall be well understood, how far have marriage restrictions proved effective, when sanctified by the religion of the time, by custom, and by law”. Galton provides various parts of marriage concerning the different outcomes of monogamy, endogamy, and exogamy. He goes and talks about how mankind itself has been labeled by on general term and that is “animals”, we as distinctive human beings take into consideration of marrying, but in different parts if the world many marry one or more wives to have and produce offspring. In monogamy it is seen widely in the America were two individuals will marry each other at a time. In endogamy many marry within the limits of its local community, clan, or tribe.

Galton talks about the chief status and the religious aspect of endogamy and how it plays an important role in eugenics. Death too played an important role for depending on who individuals are going to marry. For example, Galton stated, “It was a penal for a Greek to marry a barbarian, a Roman patrician to marry a plebeian, and a Hindu of one caste to marry one of another caste”. It is seen as even today that many still do follow the traditions of marrying and following endogamy, but as time keeps more forward into the future Exogamy is being more spread across communities, tribes, and clans from the old. Exogamy many are free to marry those that are outside of their religion, clan, community, and tribe. For example, ‘a Greek would be able to marry a barbarian’ and so on like that.

Throughout the many aspects of marrying those under the practice of Exogamy, Endogamy, or Monogamy Galton expresses that it all falls under eugenics, that it all goes down to that of how everyone across the world will be affected by their later offspring. There are many prohibited degrees also in a marriage, where foolish barbarian kind are not allowed to continue to procreate except one exception can be ok. If two barbarians produce three offspring the offspring can interact sexual relationships with one another that is also called incest. Sadly Galton realizes that in Prohibited Degrees in marriage is that, ”through latter motive alone, so far as I can judge, that we acquired our apparently instinctive horror of marrying within near degrees”. In his conclusion of researching the restrictions in marriage Galton asserted seven subjects he showed how powerful these have on marriage selection and how they have been sought out by the religion part. It seen that a form of it has been found throughout the world and is responsible for the future of the hopes and fears for all individuals.

Eugenic plays all sorts of roles as time started, but the religious factor of Eugenics is important to those of religious background. Galton uses logical data to describe ‘Eugenics as a factor in religion’ he uses the Illustrations of the Herbert Spencer Lecture 1907, which shows the orderly arrangement of what type of factors play in religion. He uses figures and time tables and graphs which can help people have a better understanding of what he's trying to say. Galton said, “Eugenic belief extends the function of philanthropy to future generations. He asserts his readers that he is right. He also shows that eugenics plays an important role and ‘strongly encourages and increases interest in family and race’. Galton also noted that ‘negative eugenics, as developed in the United States and Germany, played on fears’ of “race degeneration. ” At a time when the working-class poor were reproducing at a greater rate than successful middle- and upper-class members of society, these ideas garnered considerable interest. An example would be one of the most found proponents in the United States was President Theodore Roosevelt, who warned that the failure of couples of Anglo-Saxon heritage to produce large families would lead to “race suicide. ” Also Galton stated, “he presented his ideas in front of a huge audience of physicians and scientists in London. Galton was widely publicized lecture served as the starting point for the development of eugenics groups in Europe and the United States during the first half of the 20th century”.