Eugenics

Sir Francis Galton

Coined the word “eugenics” in 1883 (book: Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development)

What is eugenics?

The idea of improving the human species by selectively mating people with specific desirable heriditary traits

Eugenics theory: Impact

Encouraged secregration of races and no “cross breeding”

Promoted the idea that white anglo-saxon origin was superior

What was The Eugenics Record Office (2)

Forced sterilisation of “mentally-handicapped”

Around 20,000 sterilised between 1909-1979

Johnson-Reed Act

`1924

Banned immigration from Japapn

Set immigration quotas at 2% based on the 1890 census

Johnson-Reed Act: Impact (2)

Effecitvely banned immigrants from undesirable countries that had only recently begun migrating to USA (eg Italy)

Restrictions didn’t apply to Mexicans who were used as cheap labour eg. farmers and fruit growers

Congress 1929 (2)

Said that only 120,000 immigrants per year could enter the USA

President Coolidge signed a law that detailed that “America must be kept American”

Impact of Congress 1929 (2)

The many restrictions confirmed that America saw white-anglo saxon protestants as the top of the sociopolitical hierachy

Theory of eugenics was widely supported and even influenced policy