Eugenics in the United States was one of the controversial subjects, which did not get as much attention as it should have. Individuals like Laughlin were among the active proponents of eugenics-based sterilization programs, which advocated for making mentally impaired and ill sterile. There was a strong belief that intelligence is solely determined by genetics, which meant that such actions were justifiable in order to advance national interests.
One of the highly interesting subjects is eugenics and the age of sterilization in the United States. It is stated that in 1909, sterilization programs were integrated in California (Spring, 2013). There was strong advocacy for using the “feebleminded” for undesirable work (Weisleder, 2020). In addition, the main target group of the programs in 1907’s Indiana laws was comprised of mentally disabled women (Reilly, 2015). Officially recorded estimates of sterilizations are equal to 60000, which is a substantial portion of the twentieth century’s population (Stern, 2016). Therefore, it is clear that eugenics was a basis for major regulatory actions oppressing women and other minorities. In addition, there was a clear connection to Nazi Germany’s practices of “clean” race and population, which were fueled by racism and fascism. The sheer scale of the given methods shows how eugenics was influential in American society.
In conclusion, eugenics was one of the central topics of the previous century’s America, where harsh and radical measures were undertaken without a proper scientific basis. Sterilization was among these actions that targeted people with mental disabilities, and the focus was mostly on women. It is evident that genetic issues cannot be eliminated through eugenics, but its popularity in the twentieth century led a large scale forced sterilization-based activities.
References
Reilly, P. R. (2015). Eugenics and involuntary sterilization: 1907-2015. Annual Review of Genomics and Human Genetics, 16(1), 351-368. Web.
Spring, J. (2013). The American school, a global context: From the puritans to the Obama administration. McGraw-Hill Education.
Stern, A. M. (2016). Eugenics, sterilization, and historical memory in the United States. História, Ciências, Saúde-Manguinhos, 23(1), 195-212. Web.
Weisleder, P. (2020). The American Neurological Association’s book “eugenical sterilization: a reorientation of the problem” through the lens of contemporaneous book reviews. Pediatric Neurology, 111, 73-77. Web.