Darwinism

Luke Spence Radical Thoughts The most radical believer in Darwinism was Charles Darwin himself. His ideas were based on his observations during his five year journey on the HMS Beagle (Charles). From the very beginning of his research Darwin knew that his findings would be very controversial. This was because his ideas of natural selection and evolution went against many of the Christian teachings of the Church of England (creationism). To make his research as convincing as possible Darwin studied his findings for many years and eventually wrote //The Origins of Species// (Charles). Very quickly Darwin's studies were put under great scrutiny with some dismissing him and others supporting Darwin (Charles). The most controversially and topic was the idea that humans came from apes (creationism). It would take many years before Darwin's ideas were accepted because of future discoveries.

Works CIted

"Charles Darwin." //BBC News//. BBC, n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2013.

"creationism v. evolution." // American Government //. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 9 Jan. 2013.

Daniel Taylor Emerging Theories After Darwin published his book in 1859, there was a lot of debate as to the credibility of his theories. It wasn't until after 1900 that the ideas of natural selection began to really take hold in the minds of the people. At the beginning of this new era of scientific thought, there were very few people who bought into the ideas of natural selection. The biggest supporters of early Darwinism were the elites of the Victorian Society. The men of this elite group served as a conduit to quickly spread the ideas of Darwinism and eventually the ideas of Natural Selection became common thought throughout the world.

Flannery, Michael. "How Was Darwin's Theory Accepted? The Curious History of a Secular Creation Myth, or, Darwin's Cultural Armor, pt. 2 - Evolution News & Views." Evolution News & Views . N.p., 24 July 2011. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.        Popular Attitude – Darwinism Samantha Pederson In the 19th century a philosopher by the name of Charles Darwin came out with ideas of the Origin of Life. In 1859 Darwin published a book called The Origin of Species by Natural Selection. Immediately “opposition stemmed from the direct challenge of natural selection to the truth of the creation story and miracles. People were frightened that evolution removed the need for a ‘greater purpose’ in life, and for morality” (Charles Darwin & Evolution). Even with the changing of thinking, Darwin’s idea of evolution and natural selection still frightened people. Darwin faced mocking and disagreements to his ideas. Regular people were frightened and thought of Darwinism as complete nonsense. However, among other philosophers Darwin’s idea was accepted. Darwinism also got rid of the idea of free will. "Darwinism destroyed the traditional reliance of orthodox religion on the works of nature as evidence of the hand of God. It destroyed, just as surely, the transcendentalists' conduit of divinity. For the benevolent, spirit-impregnated nature of the transcendental vision it substituted an iron maiden presiding over endless panoramas of anguish and extinction. The serene cosmic pattern was replaced by the blind movement of mindless forces eternally sifting and shaping all living things, men as well as the lowliest mollusk, toward ends unperceived and perhaps nonexistent. Assaulting the optimistic democratic faith in the worth of the individual, Darwinism disclosed a slaughter of the innocents sanctioned, as it seemed, by a nature concerned with the preservation not of the individual but of the type" (Ancil). This type of thinking scared the average person. These ideas completely opposed what many people grew up knowing to be true. People choose to disregard these ideas for it scared them.

Work Cited "Charles Darwin & Evolution." Christ's College - University of Cambridge. Christ's College, Cambridge, Web. 8 Jan. 2013. Ancil, Ralph. "Attitudes About Nature and Society:." www.creationism.org. Web. 8 Jan. 2013.   Current Belief of Darwinism: Alyssa Kruszewski

Darwinism spread to the United States in the 19th century as the theory began to expand. It became very popular and accepted by Americans in the United States towards the end of the 19th century. During this time, the United States was very successful in events like the Revolutionary War and the Indian Wars. Americans who held the theory of Social Darwinism believed the United States’ victories were a result of racial superiority. The American society was believed by Darwinists to be naturally and racially superior to those they were conquering. The Darwinism influence did not last long in the United States after the 19th century. This was a result of the United States not involving themselves in foreign affairs, meaning that they were not conquering others. As time moved on, a conflict between the theory of creationism and Darwin’s theory of evolution arose. There was a lot of outrage between scientists who supported Darwinism and religious people who believed in creationism. This dispute is still continuing today as people still argue whether or not evolution and religion should be taught in public schools.

Works Cited:  Lange, S.J. "social Darwinism." //American Government//. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2013. <span style="background-color: #ffffff; color: #4d4d4d; display: block; font-family: Verdana,Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 11px; text-align: left;"> "creationism v. evolution." //American Government//. ABC-CLIO, 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2013.