Term Papers on Mrs Smith Sux

Term Paper Title	Mrs Smith Sux
# of Words	1169
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.68

Mrs Smith Sux

Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species.  He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive.  They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics.  This new theory was radical and interesting to the scientific world but its effects reach far beyond this small institution of intellectuals.  People applied Darwinism and its belief in survival of the fittest to all areas of life.  They used it as a “natural law” which supported their actions and beliefs.  Advocates manipulated the scientific doctrine to fulfill their personal needs and to justify religious beliefs, capitalism, and military conquests.
       Darwinism greatly impacted the scientific world purely through its specific doctrine.  The enlightenment had paved the way for rational thinking and observation.  People were willing to accept scientific data as fact and they were able to objectively consider theories that went against the church.  Because of the story of creation, Darwinism would have been immediately rejected only a few centuries earlier.  People used Darwinism as a weapon to strike at the validity of the powerful religious institutions of the period.  It was because of the many drastic changes in the beliefs of the people and the advancement of the logical world that Darwinism was well accepted as a scientific truth.
     Beyond the exact definition of Darwinism, many people found personal applications to the scientific doctrine.  Not only was survival of the fittest an established truth in nature, it was also more than evident in human society.  Many people, after reading the benefits associated with reproduction of the strong, began to place human activity under the scrutiny of science.  Those who found that the principles of Darwinism advocated their personal goals in society took great lengths to spread the word of Social Darwinism.  This was a doctrine that called for free competition among humans and a setting in which the dominating class was the major contributor of offspring.
     The primary supporters of Social Darwinism included the hard-nosed capitalists who fought for laissez faire.  These people wanted an economic market that was free from outside regulation.  They contended that the system itself, like nature, had inherent systems of checks and balances.  Because the stronger and more cunning fox survives, he passes on his positive traits and furthers the entire species genetically.  Similarly, the stronger and more successful businessman weeds out his unskilled competitors.  This allows the entire system to progress and provides positive examples for future generations to follow.  This justification through “scientific law” promoted acceptance because science was held in high regard at the time.  When lectures, publications, and even private conversations tackled the controversial issue of business regulation, people cited the principles of Social Darwinism time and time again.  By providing firm scientific principles that could be used as evidence on popular issues, Social Darwinism consumed discussions and spread wildly.
     In addition to rejecting business regulation, Darwinism could be manipulated to reject the socialist institutions that capitalists opposed.  Socialist programs had sprung up in many areas of the world by this time period, but as R.J. Halliday wrote, “Socialism ran counter to natural law by limiting the scope of selection and competition.”  People such as Marx, strongly rejected systems of social classes and sought their elimination.  However, the people ...

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