USA HISTORY

WESTWARD EXPANSION INDUSTRIALIZATION URBANIZATION 1870 1900

SECOND INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Question [CLICK ON ANY CHOICE TO KNOW THE RIGHT ANSWER]
Social Darwinists thought that Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” theory decided which human beings would succeed in business and in life in general.
A
True
B
False
C
Either A or B
D
None of the above
Explanation: 

Detailed explanation-1: -Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”-the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

Detailed explanation-2: -Darwin passionately opposed social injustice and oppression. He would have been dismayed to see the events of generations to come: his name attached to opposing ideologies from Marxism to unbridled capitalism, and to policies from ethnic cleansing to forced sterilization.

Detailed explanation-3: -In the first four editions of On the Origin of Species, Darwin had used the phrase “natural selection". In Chapter 4 of the 5th edition of The Origin published in 1869, Darwin implies again the synonym: “Natural Selection, or the Survival of the Fittest".

Detailed explanation-4: -Natural selection is sometimes summed up as “survival of the fittest” because the “fittest” organisms-those most suited to their environment-are the ones that reproduce most successfully, and are most likely to pass on their traits to the next generation.

Detailed explanation-5: -Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) was an English philosopher who initiated a philosophy called ‘Social Darwinism’. He coined the term ‘survival of the fittest’ seven years before Darwin’s publication of his theory of natural history, The Origin of the Species in 1859.

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