AP US History in 1 Minute Daily: Social Darwinism (Day 189/309)

Hey APUSHers, let’s chat about Social Darwinism as part of my series- APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!

Bosses of the Senate, United States Senate

In the late 19th century, powerful monopolists resisted calls for increased federal regulation of business with justifications for laissez-faire capitalism.

On the Origins of Species, Wikimedia Commons

To legitimize their business practices, economic conservatives used a belief system known as Social Darwinism which drew inspiration from Charles Darwin's theory of evolution.

Andrew Carnegie Quotation, AZ Quotes 

It applied evolutionary principles to human society, asserting that competition and natural selection drive societal progress. This ideology suggested that the strongest and most capable individuals or groups would naturally rise to the top of society. 

Herbert Spencer, Wikimedia Commons

Advocates, including Herbert Spencer, justified inequalities, arguing that they were a natural outcome. They claimed that interference in this process by helping the poor would weaken the evolution of the species by preserving the unfit.  

Through Social Darwinism, the idea of “survival of the fittest” was applied to humans and the marketplace and was used to justify ideas of laissez-faire capitalism.

Join me tomorrow as I explain the Gospel of Wealth in the next APUSH in 1 Minute Daily!