On November 24, 1859, Charles Darwin published a new study titled, On the Origin of Species by means of Natural Selection, or the Preservation of Favoured Races in the Struggle of Life.
Evolutionary biology was by no means a new idea in Darwin’s time. Scientists had considered an alternate mechanism to the development of life for decades. However, none of these scientists’ theories were able to gain widespread acceptance. Darwin, with his theory of Natural Selection, provided a common-sense, relatively simple approach to a previously complex theory.
His first publication of On the Origin of Species sold out, selling over 1,000 copies. The second printing, over 3,000 copies, received an equally favorable market. During Darwin’s lifetime, Origin was translated into eleven different languages and had sold over 100,000 copies, an enormous achievement during that time.
At first, his book received much more negative attention than it did positive. Critics adhering to Creationsim were abundant and quick to defend their faith. The idea that man possibly shared a common ancestor with the ape was repugnant to them. Darwin generally accepted criticism and made many revisions to his first edition based on these criticisms. Darwin was also apologetic in his writings. He acknowledged “The Creator” several times, even in his first edition. In the second edition (Jan, 1860), his summary included the sentence, “There is grandeur in this view of life, with its several powers, having been originally breathed by the Creator into a few forms or into one.”
Darwin did not believe his theory was irrefutable. He revised and updated his theories several times as more information and commentary was available. As these further editions were published, more and more scientists became acceptant of its intellectual credibility to say the least. Many Christian theologians praised the study for its originality and theoretical application. Soon, many would accept it as truth. Throughout its history, Darwin’s theory of Natural Selection has remained controversial; however, one cannot deny the effect it has had on subsequent scientific research and on society in general.
WHAT THIS MEANS FOR US:
Besides On the Origin of Species’s scientific contributions and controversies, it catalyzed a new social paradigm that coincided with Western Civilization’s ideas of Imperialism. Throughout the mid-19th century, European nations were quickly conquering and colonizing new territories in a race for global superiority and economic domination. Indochina, Australia-Pacifica, and the Southern Americas had been occupied in an invigorated effort to locate and exploit natural resources. The land-grab rush for African ivory, gold, and diamonds resulted in territories whose boundaries were determined by literally drawing lines on a map.
As European countries encountered indiginous peoples, they were posed with the problem of how to deal with and employ them. Slavery had been abolished in most civilized countries. Darwin’s presumption of racial superiority brought with it a reciprocal connotation of racial inferiority. While Darwin’s use of the term “race” was used to mean variety within a species, it was applied toward the perceived varietal characteristics of humanity as well. The theory of Natural Selection and the “survival of the fittest” mentality had given governments a justification to conquer previously independent peoples. In the United States, Social Darwinism was applied to energize the westward pursuit of land and the Manifest Destiny doctrine, which displaced millions of Indians.
In the 1920s, a subsequent theory emerged as a result of Darwin’s findings. This theory became known as eugenics, or the ethnic cleansing of humanity. The idea that one race was inferior to another meant that inferiorities can and should be eliminated. Adolf Hitler applied this principle in his systematic extermination of Jews, blacks, Gypsies, and homosexuals, as all were seen as inferior to the Aryan race.
