Eugenics is a scheme for improving the human race by controlling reproduction. The practice of eugenics reached its height in the period between the latenineteenth century and World War II, when German Nazis carried eugenic principles to the extremes of mass sterilization and genocide. Different forms of eugenics have been practiced around the world and are currently in effect in the People's Republic of China, where reproduction is strictly limited. With the advent of medical research such as the Human Genome Project, society is still trying to resolve the ethical issues raised by eugenic theories.

The general concept of eugenics is first mentioned in Greek records dating back to 368 BC. Plato and Aristotle both refer to the city state's need for healthy citizens to form an elite ruling class and army. In this earliest blueprint for eugenics, men and women were encouraged to reproduce when they were at the peak of their physical and mental powers, in order to conceive the healthiest and most intelligent children. This underlying principle of striving for an ideal society through selective breeding is one that has motivated eugenicists throughout history.

The term eugenics, which from its Greek roots means "good in birth," was coined by Francis Galton in 1883. A wealthy cousin of Charles Darwin, Galton believed society's sympathy for the weak prevented proper evolution. The Industrial Revolution of the late nineteenth century brought with it a fascination with measurement and statistics. In this climate, Darwin proposed his theory ofthe survival of the fittest, and Galton advocated a form of selection that restricted undesirable people from reproducing. Eugenicists and Social Darwinists believed in the idea of superiority of one "race" over another. Invariably, proponents of eugenics saw their own class and race as most deserving of propagation.

The theory of eugenics was very popular with intellectuals and academics suchas H.G. Wells, the young Winston Churchill, George Bernard Shaw, Alexander Graham Bell, John Maynard Keynes, Theodore Roosevelt and Calvin Coolidge.

Galton believed intelligence and other admired traits were inherited apart from environmental influence. With a determination to maximize brilliance and prevent "feeblemindedness," Galton encouraged "good" marriages that would produce highly intelligent males and ultimately assure the stock of the next generation.

Galton's presentation of eugenics came on the heels of Charles Darwin's 1859book, The Origin of Species. Evolutionary theory took precedence as the human race was divided into the "fit" and "unfit," and eugenics became thescientific community's calling as it promoted ways in which, according to Galton, "social control may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations whether physically or mentally." Darwin quoted Galton repeatedly inhis next book, The Descent of Man. Galton and Darwin agreed that intelligence, courage, and good and bad moods were influenced by family upbringing, while features such as mental illness tended to be inherited.

Social Darwinists saw medical care as giving the "weak" an increased abilityto survive, instead of allowing nature to take its course and eliminate defective people. In Germany, there was a growing fear that medical intervention and welfare policies were enabling weak and impoverished citizens to survive and sap the country's resources. German Social Darwinist Alfred Ploetz introduced the term "racial hygiene" and criticized those who helped the weak survive. Ploetz popularized the argument that racial hygiene benefited all people.

Support for eugenics and racial hygiene increased with the encouragement of Margaret Sanger in the United States. As a leader in the movement for global birth control, Sanger declared, "More children from the fit, less from the unfit-that is the chief issue of birth control," a theory that was readily accepted by the community during this period. Eugenicists began to influence public concern that society was afflicted by the "unfit," and they demanded government action. By 1912, 34 states had passed laws that denied the insane the right to marry, nine states restricted marriage of epileptics, and 15 banned mentally retarded people from marrying one other. Legislatures continued to bemotivated by economic and social considerations and argued that "feebleminded" citizens should not be given the chance to pass undesirable traits on to their children.

Sterilization laws were most popular in the Atlantic region, the Midwest, andCalifornia, with California carrying out, by 1933, more eugenic sterilizations than the rest of the United States combined. In Canada, sterilization efforts were most popular in British Columbia and Alberta. The North American laws focused on the inmates of state institutions for the mentally handicapped and mentally ill. Since wealthier families could afford private care for theirrelatives with mental handicaps and mental illness, the laws tended to discriminate against the poor. Figures gathered from California records show thatbased on their representation in the state's population, African Americans and foreign immigrants were subjected to sterilization at double the rate of other Californians. However, most states did not enforce sterilization laws, and more than a third of American states never passed such laws.

Despite the popularity of eugenic theories, there were opponents, including another of Darwin's cousins, Josiah Wedgewood, who fought to prevent eugenicslaws from being passed before the first world war. Great Britain passed the Mental Deficiency Act in 1913, which authorized eugenic sterilization, over the objections of civil libertarians. Roman Catholics opposed sterilization onreligious grounds, and in North America, Catholics had political grounds as well, as many immigrants were Catholic.

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