On February 12th 1809, two great emancipators were born. One would become a republican president who freed the slaves: the other freed the world from mythical creation stories and the haunting question of how we got here. The former was named Abraham Lincoln, and the latter is Charles Darwin. My blog post today is about the latter.
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The young Charles Darwin was not a motivated student. He found lectures to be a bore and did not finish his studies in medicine, natural history, or the arts. It wan not until he took a five year long journey on the HMS Beagle to map the coast of South America that the young intellectual rose to prominence.
On this voyage he meticulously collected many different species of animals and began to see patterns in their origins and similarities. Another thing that struck him as odd was how certain fossils would be visible in places they did not belong, such as the bizarre find of seashells high in the Andes mountains.
The Beagle made its long voyage around the world, and when it returned to England, Darwin had all the building blocks he needed to publish his famous book On the Origin of Species. This book proposed a theory of evolution based on natural selection. Though it was not almost unanimously recognized as correct by the scientific community for quite some time, it was the only theory that did not buckle under decades of skepticism.
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| Did I mention he had an awesome beard? |
Darwin’s theory attracted the interest of many religious institutions alongside scientific ones. Even though he was careful to downplay the role of natural selection in the creation of humans, simply stating; “Light will be thrown on the origin of man and his history.” He still got mixed responses to his theory. Some liberal men of faith defended it as the assurance that god is creating omnipotent laws to govern our world, while others would claim that his ideas were blasphemy. Even in our world, some religious people doubt that truth of Darwin’s theory.
The theory of evolution opened many doors in science, and poked many holes in faith. Lincoln may have freed the slaves, but Darwin freed the minds of the people. I have nothing but respect for this man, and his theory that undoubtedly changed the world.
I find it interesting that you chose to compare Darwin to Lincoln, seeing as they are two very different individuals who worked in two very different fields. I think you're right though in saying that they are both emancipators. It's probably one of the last connections I would have ever made between two people, so it stopped and made me think. Thanks!
ReplyDeleteAs much as I'm a firm believer of evolution, this post makes me disagree a teeny tiny bit with your thesis.
ReplyDeleteHere's why:
Although Darwin was a total baddass and definitely too futuristic for his time, "The Origin of Species" definitely should not have come out in the 1800s. His "survival of the fittest" provoked colonialism. Europe totally took his words out of context and proceeded to making Africa a glorified poker game. Indigenous Africans were irrelevant to the Europeans, and the cruelty of conformity, in my opinion, completely hindered the African society. Darwin in a way sparked slaves, while Lincoln fought for them. I'm sure Darwin felt like a total a-hole when "social darwinism" became the hype new thing. I definitely think that his work opened the minds of people TODAY, just not those of his time.
Well I've got to disagree with you on a few things, although I see the point you are trying to make. Yes, social darwinism was a terrible idea, and yes, natural selection was used as a justification for colonialism. But one look at history would clearly show that slavery did not begin in 1859 (Biblical times had slaves, ancient greeks and romans had slaves), so to call the origin of species a spark of slavery would be blatantly wrong. Even if it were used as justification, Great Britain passed a law abolishing slavery in 1833.
DeleteAnd also, to say that i provoked colonialism would be to imply that there was no serious colonies of foreign lands before the publication of his book. Africa began to be colonized in the 17th century, and long before that, the vikings were establishing settlements in iceland, greenland, and north america.
With regards to African slaves brought over to america (I think that's what you are referring to), the U.S. civil war began in 1861 (2 years after Darwin) and by that time, slavery was already a massive institution in the south.
All in all though, I agree with a lot of the injustices you pointed out. Just not the cause you implied.
Darwin, not i
DeleteMy bad
Hahaha I like your passion.
DeleteI was referring to colonialism rather than the actual slavery. I suppose I worded it wrong, but I meant in Africa the people were basically slaves. Social Darwinism made white people think it was their obligation to govern the Africans because "they are primitive people who cannot do it themselves."
I like the arguments you create, I shall enjoy debating with you.
Game on.
Very cool connection at the end, it's something I'd actually love to learn more about, as much as history is a passion of mine... I've been slacking and reading up on these two through your lens could be just the thing to get me back into it.
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