Imagine societies that practiced forced sterilization, enacted economic policies that favored the rich, and even carried out a Holocaust all because of a social doctrine. Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist and philosopher, created the philosophy of Social Darwinism in the nineteenth century. Many, including English, American, and German societies, embraced the doctrine. The doctrine stated those who succeeded deserved their success, and those who failed deserved their failure.
Social Darwinism Definition and Significance
Social Darwinism refers to employing the biological evolution theory of Charles Darwin to social aspects of living (economy, society, politics). Those who believed in Social Darwinism wanted laissez-faire capitalism and believed in survival of the fittest. The theory embraced a socio-economic version of survival of the fittest and thought that the poverty-stricken should not be helped as it was nature's way of weeding out the weak. Throughout the Gilded Era (1870-1900), the theory was embraced and used as evidence for the wealth accumulated by Captains of Industry and Robber Barons.
Survival of the Fittest:
A term coined by Herbert Spencer that reasoned the people who failed or were considered weak would be weeded out, and the fittest–generally the wealthy and successful–would better society.
Herbert Spencer
Fig. 1- Herbert Spencer
Herbert Spencer, an English sociologist and philosopher, created the doctrine of Social Darwinism and is best known for coining the phrase "survival of the fittest." He applied his philosophy of Social Darwinism to humans and their social classes. His theory came to justify laissez-faire capitalism that pushed for minimal government interference within a nation's economy.
Laissez-faire capitalism:
Economic belief in free-market capitalism with minimal to no government interference
Social Darwinism Theory
Fig. 2- Survival of the Fittest by Puck, March 14, 1900
One of the main ideas behind Social Darwinism is survival of the fittest, a term coined by Herbert Spencer. He believed that the "fittest" members of society should be allowed to dominate without interference from the weak. Genetic inheritance, a core principle of Social Darwinism, stated that the fittest could inherit the ability to accumulate wealth and counterproductive stupidity and laziness. As a result, the belief that specific genetics were inherited proliferated throughout the nineteenth century.
Spencer also believed that his native England and other nations should not interfere and offer support to the weak. Instead, he thought that governments should leave everything to the strongest of society. England's Parliament came under criticism from Spencer as they passed legislation that benefitted the working class and the poor.
Did you know?
Herbert Spencer went as far as to state that there should be no public schools! He believed that the taxpayers should not be forced to pay for the education of others.
Fig. 3- Man vs the State by Herbert Spencer, 1884
Social Darwinism Primary Source
Herbert Spencer was a prolific writer, often publishing books and journals. Throughout these works, he discusses everything from sociological theory to psychology. The following table shows the main works of Spencer.
Date Published: | Work | Date Published: | Work |
1835 | Three Essays: Laws, and the Order of their Discovery | 1865 | Social Statics |
1843 | The Proper Sphere of Government | 1866 | The Principles of Biology, Volume 1 |
1851 | State Education Self-Defeating. A Chapter from "Social Statics" | 1867 | The Principles of Biology, Volume 2 |
1852 | A theory of population deduced from the general law of animal fertility | 1870 | The right to the use of the earth |
1855 | Railway morals and railway policy | 1872 | The Principles of Psychology: Special Analysis |
1860 | Education Intellectual, Moral and Physical | 1873 | A System of Synthetic Philosophy: The Principles of Biology |
1862 | First Principles of a New System of Philosophy | 1874 | Sins of Trade and Business, a Sermon |
1863 | First Principles... Second thousand | 1876 | The Principles of Sociology |
1864 | Illustrations of universal progress | 1878-1879 | Essays: Scientific, Political, and Speculative (1878) & The Principles of Sociology, part 4 (1879) |
Social Darwinism Gilded Age
Fig. 4- Biltmore Estate
The ideals of Social Darwinism infiltrated every aspect of Gilded Age society, from capitalism to immigration and imperialism. Herbert Spencer was a strong proponent of laissez-faire capitalism which allowed business owners to operate without very few or no government regulations. Many industrialists and other business owners ran with Spencer's laissez-faire and "survival of the fittest" mentality. Without restrictions and government interference, monopolies dominated the economic landscape of America, eliminating almost all competition.
John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie accumulated vast power and wealth throughout the Gilded Age by creating monopolies in steel and oil. The Vanderbilt family, the wealthiest family in America at the time, was a model for the social Darwinism doctrine.
Fig. 5- Jacob Riis, "Lodgers in a Crowded Bayard Street Tenement--'Five Cents a Spot'"
While the wealthy embraced the ideals behind Social Darwinism, the poor and working classes strongly opposed the theory as it directly threatened the way they lived. The wealthy monopolists continued to amass greater fortunes, but the working class decided to unify against the disproportionate wealth gap in America. Groups of workers unified together into labor unions to fight for decent working conditions and wages. The severe social disruption caused by Social Darwinism led to anti-trust legislation that aimed to end monopolies. For example, the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, passed in 1890, sought to give power to the federal government to end monopolies and create competitive economic conditions.
Social Darwinism Examples
The most specific example of Social Darwinism is seen through America's Gilded Era. American historian, Richard Hofstadter, argued that Herbert Spencer's ideology in Social Darwinism spurred industrialist Andrew Carnegie and Yale Sociologist William Graham Sumner's "visions of unbridled and unrepentant capitalism."1 Andrew Carnegie, along with other capitalists/industrialists of the Gilded Era, used Social Darwinism as evidentiary support for ruthless economic competition that often crushed the working social class. However, the doctrine of Social Darwinism dominated American thought up until WWII.
Fig. 6- The "Pens" at Ellis Island 1902-1913
Immigration into America
The theory of Social Darwinism strongly influenced American opinion towards immigration throughout the second industrial revolution (1870-1914). Due to Social Darwinism's take on inferior races, many white Americans believed that new immigrants (from Southern and Eastern Europe) were inferior. Though Anglo-Saxon Americans themselves were descendants of immigrants, the "new immigrants" were deemed inferior because of their language and ethnicity. Social Darwinism plagued American thinking until WWII when Nazi Germany regularly used the theory in their rhetoric and propaganda.
Fig. 7 - Adolph Hitler, 1937
Hitler's Nazi Germany
Adolph Hitler, leader of Germany's Third Reich, used Social Darwinism as a key element in his political and social ideologies. For example, the clearest application of Social Darwinism can be seen in Hitler's Holocaust of the Jewish people during WWII. Hitler believed that weeding out the weak Jews was tantamount to a unified Germany. Another key example was the dominance of the Aryan race perpetuated throughout Germany before and during WWII. The belief in Aryan superiority also led to a eugenics movement that killed the disabled or weak to make way for a purer race of Germans.
Fig. 8 - Pamphlet from the Human Betterment Foundation titled "Human Sterilization Today."
America's Eugenics Movement
Beginning in the early nineteenth century and lasting well into the twentieth century, America's eugenics movement sought to eradicate all unwanted genetic traits through selective breeding. The movement embraced forced sterilization and forbade people with mental disabilities and mixed races from marrying. "As a result, between 1907 and 1939, more than 30,000 people were sterilized unknowingly or against their consent."2 Many of the sterilizations happened in California against women who were believed to be too immoral or harmful mothers.
Did you know?
One of the most notable American Eugenists was John Harvey Kellogg, inventor of Kellog's Corn Flakes! He held strong beliefs against racial mixing, believing that it would hurt the human race.
Social Darwinism - Key takeaways
- Herbert Spencer coined the idea of Social Darwinism which stated that society should be based on survival of the fittest (a term he also coined). This ideology believed that the fittest and strongest of society were the richest and most economically successful and that their progress should not be hindered.
- Spencer also did not believe in government legislation to aid the poor/weak. He believed that the natural evolutionary cycle would take its course.
- Social Darwinism emphasizes the use of laissez-faire economics that hinder government interference in economic competition. An example of this is during the Gilded Age when industrialists and businessmen used laissez-faire and Social Darwinism to their advantage to amass large amounts of wealth while the working class toiled.
- Social Darwinism would go on to impact other nations' societies.
- America: the doctrine increased negative public opinion on immigration, upheld its policies on American imperialism, and excused its eugenics program
- During WWII, Germany used the theory in its propaganda and to uphold eugenics programs.
1. David Weinstein, "Herbert Spencer," 2019.
2. Brooke Carlaw, "Early American Eugenics Movement," 2019.
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