AMERICAN STUDIES
RANKING HUMANKIND
How did Europeans and Americans regard differences in the 1700's and early 1800's?
Many of the beliefs that Americans hold today about race and democracy developed during those
years. It was a time when hundreds of thousands of Africans were brought to the Americas in
chains. Their enslavement had a profound effect on American attitudes and values then and
now.
The 1700's and early 1800's were also a time when some Europeans and Americans participated
in an intellectual movement known as the Enlightenment. Natural scientists desired to find the
underlying principles that organized plant and animal life. A few thinkers tried to apply the
ideas and methods of science to humans and human societies.
The Enlightenment
Although the great thinkers of the Enlightenment stressed the equality of humankind, the notion
that humanity is divided into separate but unequal races developed during those same years. It
was an idea supported by scientists who exaggerated the differences between “us” and “them” to
justify prejudice, discrimination, and slavery.
Petrus Camper (1722-1789)
Petrus Camper, like many of his intellectual contemporaries, was preoccupied with notions of
natural beauty and order in the world. Camper was among those who believed that there was
such an order and it could be scientifically explained and visually demonstrated. Trained as an
artist before turning to science, Camper was a professor of anatomy and the University of
Groningen in the Netherlands. His interest in art and anatomy came together in an illustration
which appeared in a medical textbook first published in 1791, two years after his death. It
illustrates the contradictory views of human potential that characterized the sciences in the Age
of Enlightenment. The book was widely read by medical students and by scholars in the
emerging field of anthropology.
Underline information on Camper’s background above.
Camper lived at a time when the Dutch were deeply involved in the international slave trade.
Although Camper was personally opposed to slavery, he was fascinated by the stories and the
artifacts brought home by sailors and merchants involved in the trade. He saw the skeletal
remains of animals and humans from distant lands as pieces of a puzzle--each piece was a clue to
a better understanding of the order of nature.
Hierarchy within human terms!!
Beginning of associating beauty and skin color!!
What makes the drawings seem scientific?
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What about his work was “Bad Science”?
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How do you think Camper might have influenced people of the time? To what extent
might the mystique of science keep the average person from questioning their ideas?
Although Camper opposed slavery, his ideas were supported by scientists who exaggerated
the differences between “us” and “them” to justify prejudice, discrimination, and slavery.
AMERICAN STUDIES
WHO IS EQUAL?
Through the centuries of the slave trade, the word race was rarely if ever used. The notion that
Europeans are ‘white’ can be traced to the growth of slavery in the British Colonies. By the late
1700's, however, the word was widely used in public documents and private papers. It was also
becoming entwined with the idea of citizenship. Increasingly, states viewed a citizen as a man
who could help his neighbors put down slave rebellions or fight a war against the Indians. A bill
submitted to Congress in 1790 states:
All free white persons who, have, or shall, migrate into the United
States,...and shall take an oath of allegiance...shall be entitled to the
rights of citizenship.
Thomas Jefferson observed, “It will probably be asked, Why not retain and incorporate the blacks
into the state?” In response to that question, he advanced “as a suspicion only, that the blacks,
whether originally a distinct race, or made distinct by time and circumstances are inferior to
whites in the endowments both of body and mind.” 1785
“Besides those of colour, figure, and hair, there are other physical distinctions
proving a difference [between whites and blacks. Blacks] have less hair on the face
and body. They secrete less by the kidnies, and more by the glands of the skin,
which gives them a very strong and disagreeable odour... They seem to require less
sleep. A black, after hard labour through the day, will be induced by the slightest
amusement to sit up till midnight, or later, though knowing he must be out with the
first dawn of the morning. They are at least as brave, and more adventuresome [as
whites]. But this may proceed from a want of forethought, which prevents their
seeing a danger till it be present... In memory they are equal to whites; in tracing and
comprehending [geometry.]... Never yet could I find that a black had uttered a
thought above the level of plain narration; never seen even an elementary trait of
painting and sculpture.”
1. Review Jefferson’s description of the physical and intellectual differences between blacks and whites.
How would you refute or explain each of the differences he mentions?
Secrete less by the kidnies….
Require less sleep…..
More adventuresome….
No thoughts above narration….
No painting and sculpture…
Jefferson voiced his suspicions at a time when a growing number of Americans were urging that
slavery be abolished. Their opposition was based in part on the ideas that Jefferson himself
expressed in the Declaration of Independence. Abolitionist charged, “You have degraded the
blacks from the rank which God hath given them in the scale of being! You have advanced the
strongest argument for their state of slavery! You have insulted human nature!”
Some abolitionists offered Jefferson proof that people of African descent are equal to whites
by citing the achievements of individuals like Benjamin Banneker, a free black from
Maryland. The Georgetown Weekly Ledger described him in 1791 as “an Ethiopian whose
abilities as surveyor and astronomer already prove that Mr. Jefferson’s concluding that that race
of men were void of mental endowment was without foundation.”
Between 1791 and 1796, Banneker produced a series of almanacs--calendars containing weather
forecasts, astronomical information, and other useful facts. In the introduction, a prominent
statesman offered readers the following.
“I consider this Negro as fresh proof that the powers of the mind are disconnected with the color
of the skin, or in other words, a striking contradiction to the doctrine that ‘the Negroes are
naturally inferior to the whites and unsusceptible of attainments in arts and sciences.’”
Shortly before publication, Banneker sent a hand-written copy of his almanac to Jefferson with a
letter (below) offering the book as evidence of what an individual of African descent could
accomplish.
***Read Banneker’s letter to Jefferson, and summarize what he is saying below paragraph.
SIR,
I AM fully sensible of the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion; a
liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified
station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in
the world against those of my complexion.
How does Banneker view Jefferson?
How are people like Banneker viewed?
What freedom is Banneker speaking of?
Sir, I freely and cheerfully acknowledge, that I am of the African race, and in that color which is natural
to them of the deepest dye; and it is under a sense of the most profound gratitude to the Supreme
Ruler of the Universe, that I now confess to you, that I am not under that state of tyrannical thralldom,
and inhuman captivity, to which too many of my brethren are doomed, but that I have abundantly tasted
of the fruition of those blessings, which proceed from that free and unequalled liberty with which you
are favored; and which, I hope, you will willingly allow you have mercifully received, from the immediate
hand of that Being, from whom proceedeth every good and perfect Gift.
Banneker is stating that he and Jefferson have something in common. What is it?
What reason did Banneker give for this?
Sir, suffer me to recall to your mind that time, in which the arms and tyranny of the British crown were
exerted, with every powerful effort, in order to reduce you to a state of servitude : look back, I entreat
you, on the variety of dangers to which you were exposed; reflect on that time, in which every human
aid appeared unavailable, and in which even hope and fortitude wore the aspect of inability to the
conflict, and you cannot but be led to a serious and grateful sense of your miraculous and providential
preservation; you cannot but acknowledge, that the present freedom and tranquility which you enjoy
you have mercifully received, and that it is the peculiar blessing of Heaven.
What “time” is Banneker telling Jefferson to remember?
How does he compare Jefferson’s experience then with slaves now?
What reason did Banneker give Jefferson for the outcome of that time?
This, Sir, was a time when you clearly saw into the injustice of a state of slavery, and in which you had
just apprehensions of the horrors of its condition. It was now that your abhorrence thereof was so
excited, that you publicly held forth this true and invaluable doctrine, which is worthy to be recorded
and remembered in all succeeding ages : ``We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are
created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among
these are, life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.''
Why does Banneker say Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence?
I suppose that your knowledge of the situation of my brethren, is too extensive to need a recital here;
neither shall I presume to prescribe methods by which they may be relieved, otherwise than by
recommending to you and all others, to wean yourselves from those narrow prejudices which you have
imbibed with respect to them, and as Job proposed to his friends, ``put your soul in their souls' stead;''
thus shall your hearts be enlarged with kindness and benevolence towards them; and thus shall you need
neither the direction of myself or others, in what manner to proceed herein.
What does Banneker suggest Jefferson do to end slavery?
What does he suggest Jefferson look to for inspiration?
And now, Sir, although my sympathy and affection for my brethren hath caused my enlargement thus far,
I ardently hope, that your candor and generosity will plead with you in my behalf, when I make known
to you, that it was not originally my design; but having taken up my pen in order to direct to you, as a
present, a copy of an Almanac, which I have calculated for the succeeding year, I was unexpectedly and
unavoidably led thereto.
Banneker originally intended to write what in this letter?
Why didn’t he?
In reply, Jefferson wrote, “Nobody wishes more that I do to see proofs as you exhibit, that the
appearance of a want of [our black brethren] is owing merely to the degraded condition of their
existence, both in Africa and America.”
Although Jefferson expressed admiration for Banneker’s achievements, he continued to believe
that blacks were inferior to whites. By the early 1800's, even white Americans opposed to
slavery increasingly regarded Africans as members of a separate and inferior race.
How do you account for Jefferson’s refusal to accept Banneker’s accomplishments as proof
of the abilities of African Americans?
As an Enlightenment thinker, what would Jefferson need as proof?
Thomas Jefferson considered slavery immoral. Yet he was a slaveholder who saw Africans as a threat to
“white racial purity.” Despite such beliefs, Jefferson inspired generations of African Americans. A civil
rights activist tried to explain that for Martin Luther King, Jefferson’s most famous words (We hold these
truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal and endowed by their creator with certain
unalienable rights, that amongst them are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness) were the “true
measure of the man.”
Is this true, or should Jefferson be judged by his deeds?
Why?
SCIENCE AND PREJUDICE
Samuel Morton
Petrus Camper (“The Progression of Skulls....) suspected that there were intellectual and moral
differences among the races as well as physical ones.
In the mid-19th century, an American anthropologist, Samuel Morton, extended Camper’s work.
Morton was a professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and served as president of the
Academy of Natural Sciences. Like many scientists of his day, Morton believed that intelligence was
linked to brain size. He therefore tried to rank the races according to skull size. After measuring a vast
number of skulls from around the world, Morton concluded that whites have larger skulls than other
races and are therefore “superior.”
Samuel Morton
Hypotheses:
1.
2.
Data:
Native Americans
Europeans
Africans
Asians
What makes this work seem so scientific?
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What about his work is “Bad Science”?
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The following quotations are from Morton’s Crania Americana, published in 1839. They suggest how
physical differences can become markers that predict a group’s intelligence, personality traits, even
morality.
Europeans
The Caucasian Race is characterized by a naturally fair skin, susceptible of every
tint; hair fine, long and curling, and of various colors. The skull is large and oval, and its
anterior portion full and elevated. The face is small in proportion to the head, of an
oval form, with well proportioned features. . . . This race is distinguished for the facility
with which it attains the highest intellectual endowments. . . .
The spontaneous fertility of [the Caucasus] has rendered it the hive of many
nations, which extending their migrations in every direction, have peopled the finest
portions of the earth, and given birth to its fairest inhabitants. .
Asians
This great division of the human species is characterized by a sallow olive colored
skin, which appears to be drawn tight over the bones of the face; long black straight
hair, and thin beard. The nose is broad, and short; the eyes are small, black, and
obliquely placed, and the eye-brows are arched and linear; the lips are turned, the
cheek bones broad and flat. . . . In their intellectual character the Mongolians are
ingenious, imitative, and highly susceptible of cultivation [i.e. learning].
So versatile are their feelings and actions, that they have been compared to the
monkey race, whose attention is perpetually changing from one object to another. . . .
Native Americans
The American Race is marked by a brown complexion; long, black, lank hair; and
deficient beard. The eyes are black and deep set, the brow low, the cheek-bones high,
the nose large and aquiline, the mouth large, and the lips tumid [swollen] and
compressed. . . . In their mental character the Americans are averse to cultivation, and
slow in acquiring knowledge; restless, revengeful, and fond of war, and wholly destitute
of maritime adventure.
They are crafty, sensual, ungrateful, obstinate and unfeeling, and much of their
affection for their children may be traced to purely selfish motives. They devour the
most disgusting [foods] uncooked and uncleaned, and seem to have no idea beyond
providing for the present moment. . . . Their mental faculties, from infancy to old age,
present a continued childhood. . . . [Indians] are not only averse to the restraints of
education, but for the most part are incapable of a continued process of reasoning on
abstract subjects. .
What words and phrased did Morton use to justify the removal of Native Americans to remote
areas?
Africans
Characterized by a black complexion, and black, woolly hair; the eyes are large and
prominent, the nose broad and flat, the lips thick, and the mouth wide; the head is long and
narrow, the forehead low, the cheek-bones prominent, the jaws protruding, and the chin
small.
In disposition the Negro is joyous, flexible, and indolent; while the many nations which
compose this race present a singular diversity of intellectual character, of which the far
extreme is the lowest grade of humanity. . . .
The moral and intellectual character of the Africans is widely different in different
nations. . . . The Negroes are proverbially fond of their amusements, in which they engage
with great exuberance of spirit; and a day of toil is with them no bar to a night of revelry.
Like most other barbarous nations their institutions are not infrequently
characterized by superstition and cruelty. They appear to be fond of warlike enterprises, and
are not deficient in personal courage; but, once overcome, they yield to their destiny, and
accommodate themselves with amazing facility to every change of circumstance.
The Negroes have little invention, but strong powers of imitation, so that they readily
acquire mechanic arts. They have a great talent for music, and all their external senses are
remarkably acute.
What words did Morton use that would influence debates over slavery?
Frederick Douglass: Voice of Dissension
After reading Samuel Morton’s Crania Americana, Frederick Douglass, a leader in the
fight against slavery and himself a former slave, strongly disagreed.
[Morton is]...“reasoning from prejudice rather than from facts. Science
can sacrifice what is true to what is popular. Fashion is not confined to dress — and it is
fashionable now, in our land, to exaggerate the differences between the Negro and the
European.”
What does Douglass mean?
Morton’s ranking of the “races” had very real consequences. Virtually all the prominent U.S.
professors of natural history during the second half of the nineteenth century were trained using
Morton’s rankings.
Morton’s rankings also shaped the way many politicians, journalists, and ministers viewed two of the
most pressing social and political issues of the day: the expulsion of Native Americans from their
ancestral lands and the expansion of slavery. Between 1816 and 1850, over 100,000 Indians from 28
tribes were forced from their homes east of the Mississippi to western lands that white Americans
considered useless.
At the same time, about 3.5 million African Americans were held in bondage. Morton’s writings
influenced debates over Indian removal and slavery, promoting the idea that the Constitution did not
apply to Native Americans or Africans, because they are not the sort of people for whom the document
was written.
By the middle of the 1800s, the idea that some “races” are superior to others had become the
“conventional wisdom.” Respected scientists like Samuel Morton gave racism legitimacy. As a result,
racist ideas were taught in universities, preached from pulpits, and reinforced in books, magazines, and
newspapers.
AMERICAN STUDIES
SCIENCE AND PREJUDICE: INDIAN “REMOVAL”
______________________________________________________________________________
PETRUS CAMPER
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SAMUEL MORTON
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Europeans
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Asians
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Native Americans
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Africans
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Frederick Douglass
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BLANKETS FOR THE DEAD
TRAIL OF TEARS
1.
What had the Cherokees done to adopt white civilization in Georgia?
2.
Why did they have to move West?
3. Why was Indian Territory established in the early 1830s?
4. How many Native Americans were relocated?
5. Despite their adaptations, why were the Cherokees eventually removed?
6. What was the result of the Trail of Tears?
Making Room
In 1930, President Andrew Jackson outlined for
Congress his reasons for supporting Indian removal.
1.
How does Jackson view Americans that want to
protect Indian lands?
“Philanthropy could not wish to see this continent
restored to the condition in which it was found by our
forefathers. What good man would prefer a country
covered with forests and ranged by a few thousand
savages to our extensive Republic, studded with cities,
towns, and prosperous farms, …occupied by more than
12,000,000 happy people, and filled with all the
blessings of liberty, civilization, and religion?
2.
According to Jackson, what has happened to the
Indians in the Eastern States? What does he
mean?
3.
What words does Jackson use to describe Indians
that are similar to Samuel Morton’s?
4.
How do these words justify Indian removal?
The present policy of the Government is but a
continuation of the same progressive change by a
milder process. The tribes which occupied the
countries now constituting the Eastern States were
annihilated or have melted away to make room for the
whites.”
Three years later, President Andrew Jackson made his
point even plainer:
“That those tribes cannot exist surrounded by our
settlements and in continual contact with our citizens is
certain. They have neither the intelligence, the
industry, the moral habits, not the desire of
improvement which are essential to any favorable
change in their condition.”
SAVAGES
In 1828 – the same year the Cherokee Phoenix began publication – Noah Webster issued his American
Dictionary of the English Language. This was the first new dictionary produced in the United States, and in it
we fine the following definition:
SAVAGE, n. A human being in his native state of rudeness; one who is untaught, uncivilized or without
cultivation of mind or manners. The savages of America, when uncorrupted by the vices of civilized men, are
remarkable for their hospitality to strangers, and for their truth, fidelity and gratitude to their friends, but
implacably cruel and revengeful towards their enemies.
1. What is ironic in Webster’s definition?
2. Compare Webster’s definition of SAVAGE with Morton’s description of Native Americans.
How are they….
ALIKE
Webster:
Morton:
DIFFERENT
Webster:
Morton:
Behind the irony of Webster’s example lurk the mixed feelings that many white Americans held
toward the Indians. On the one hand, the idea of the “noble savage” had been around since the ancient
Greeks. It became especially popular in Europe during the 18th and 19th centuries, when science began
to challenge many religious assumptions.
According to this view, American Indians, like the native inhabitants of Africa and the Pacific Islands,
represented humanity in its original state. Rather than blind souls lost in darkness, noble savages were
seen as being good by nature (hospitable, truthful, faithful and grateful, in the words of Webster)
because civilization had not yet taught them to be otherwise.
3. Why is Webster’s definition more positive than Morton’s?
In sharp contrast to this romantic image, however, was the “cruel and revengeful” strain that many
whites saw in the Indian character. The possibility that the policies or actions of white settlers were in
any way to blame for the hostility they encountered among the natives was too disturbing for most to
admit. It was much more convenient to regard Indians as fundamentally different from – and inferior
to – whites.
4. Why won’t whites acknowledge that it is their actions that cause Indian hostility?
AMERICAN STUDIES
LETTER FROM A CHOCTAW CHIEF
This letter, printed widely in American newspapers, was written by George W. Harkins, chief of
the Choctaw tribe, in response to the brutal Indian removals to new homes in the West.
George W. Harkins to the American People, February 25, 1832
To the American People:
It is with considerable diffidence that I attempt to address the American people, knowing and feeling sensibly
my incompetency; and believing that your highly and well improved minds would not be well entertained by
the address of a Choctaw. But having determined to emigrate west of the Mississippi river this fall, I have
thought proper in bidding you farewell to make a few remarks expressive of my views, and the feelings that
actuate me on the subject of our removal. I feel bound as a Choctaw, to give a distinct expression of my
feelings on that interesting, (and to the Choctaws), all important subject [of the late treaty]. Believing that our
all is at stake and knowing that you readily sympathize with the distressed of every country, I confidently
throw myself upon your indulgence and ask you to listen patiently….
1.
How is this opening similar to that of Benjamin Banneker’s letter?
….It is said that our present movements are our own voluntary acts — such is not the case. We found ourselves
like a benighted stranger, following false guides, until he was surrounded on every side, with fire and water.
The fire was certain destruction, and a feeble hope was left him of escaping by water. A distant view of the
opposite shore encourages the hope; to remain would be inevitable annihilation. Who would hesitate, or who
would say that his plunging into the water was his own voluntary act? Painful in the extreme is the mandate of
our expulsion. We regret that it should proceed from the mouth of our professed friend, for whom our blood
was co-mingled with that of his bravest warriors, on the field of danger and death.
2.
What does Choctaw Chief Harkins say the government is lying about?
3. What metaphor did he use?
But such is the instability of professions. The man who said that he would plant a stake and draw a line around
us, that never should be passed, was the first to say he could not guard the lines, and drew up the stake and
wiped out all traces of the line. I will not conceal from you my fears, that the present grounds may be
removed.
4. What metaphor did he use to explain the government’s broken promise?
I ask you in the name of justice, for repose for myself and for my injured people. Let us alone — we will not
harm you, we want rest. We hope, in the name of justice, that another outrage may never be committed
against us, and that we may for the future be cared for as children, and not driven about as beasts, which are
benefited by a change of pasture.
As east of the Mississippi we have been friends, so west we will cherish the same feelings with additional
fervour; and although we may be removed to the desert, still we shall look with fond regard, upon those who
have promised us their protection. Let that feeling be reciprocated.
5. Does he have faith that the government will keep their promises in the future? Why or why not?
Friends, my attachment to my native land was strong — that cord is now broken; and we must go forth as
wanderers in a strange land! I must go — let me entreat you to regard us with feelings of kindness, and when
the hand of oppression is stretched against us, let me hope that every part of the United States, filling the
mountains and valleys, will echo and say stop, you have no power, we are the sovereign people, and our
friends shall no more be disturbed.
6. If you were chief of a tribe that had been forced from your homeland, do you think you would respond
the way Chief Harkins did? Why or why not?
AMERICAN STUDIES
ORIGINS OF “RACE” – TRAIL OF TEARS
Quest Review
RANKING HUMANKIND – 1791
1. Enlightenment thinkers were interested in ideas of order and progress in the natural and human
world.
What was the Chain of Being?
2. What contradictions in Enlightenment thinking could be found in the Chain of Being? (which of
these things do not belong together and WHY?)
3. What did Petrus Camper’s drawing, “The Progression of Skulls and Facial Expressions…” add to
Enlightenment’s “Chain of Being”?
4. Explain the significance or consequences of this addition?.
5. List two characteristics of Camper’s drawing which kept the average person from questioning his
ideas. (What made it look so scientific?)
6. List two more.
7. List two reasons/examples why Camper’s work was “bad science”?
8. List two more.
SCIENCE AND PREJUDICE – 1839
9. Samuel Morton concluded that whites have larger skulls than other races and are therefore
intellectually superior. List three reasons/examples why Morton’s work was “bad science”.
10. List three more.
11. What kind of adjectives did Morton use to describe Europeans?
12. How did Morton describe the physical characteristics of Asians?
13. How did Morton describe the mental abilities of Asians?
12. Provide two specific examples from Morton’s writing that could be used to justify Indian
Removal (his words).
13. Provide two specific examples from Morton’s writing that could be used to justify slavery (his
words).
14. How did Morton’s experiments connect with his written conclusions?
15. What is Morton’s biased viewpoint called? What does it mean?
16. Frederick Douglass strongly disagreed with Morton’s work. He described the scientist as
reasoning “from prejudice rather than from facts.” He wrote, “Fashion is not confined to dress; but
extends to philosophy as well.” What did he mean?
BLANKETS FOR THE DEAD – TRAIL OF TEARS
17. List three things the Cherokees had done to adapt to white civilization in Georgia.
18. List three more.
19. Despite their adaptations, the Cherokees were moved to Indian Territory. Provide two reasons
why.
20. President Andrew Jackson said, “That those tribes can not exist surrounded by our settlements and
in continual contact with our citizens is certain.” How would you refute that statement?
21. Webster’s dictionary definition of “Savage” was similar to Morton’s description of Native
Americans, with both describing them as what?
22. Webster found positive attributes as well: “hospitable, truthful, fidelity and gratitude to friends.”
According to Webster, what were the reasons for these differences?
23. Why was it easier for whites to regard Indians as fundamentally different (more violent, etc.) and
inferior, rather than examine the real cause for Indian violence?
WHO IS EQUAL? (honors)
24. Thomas Jefferson said he had never seen even an elementary trait of painting and sculpture by
blacks. How would you refute that?
25. Benjamin Banneker was basically calling Jefferson a hypocrite. Explain.
26. As an Enlightenment thinker, what would Jefferson need as proof of the equality of blacks?