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Eugenics in America

  • On The Origin of Species Published

    Sir Francis Galton's cousin, Charles Darwin, publishes his book which gives Galton the inspiration to pursue eugenics in humans
  • Francis Galton Coined Term "Eugenics"

    Galton wrote his book "Inquiries into Human Faculty and Its Development" which encouraged positive eugenics- exclusive breeding of the higher class
  • First Compulsory Sterilization Law in U.S.

    Indiana becomes first state to pass a compulsory sterilization law, mainly aimed at the mentally ill or "intellectually disabled"
  • First International Eugenics Congress

  • Fitter Family Contests

    Starting in Kansas at a state fair and influenced by "Better Baby" contests, these contests promoted attractiveness and overall health of a family, and mainly their ability to produce healthy offspring.
  • Second Internation Eugenics Congress

  • Buck v. Bell

    The Supreme Court upheld a Virginia law that allowed compulsory sterilization
  • Third International Eugenics Congress

  • Period: to

    WWII

    Nazis adopted Eugenics Ideology
  • Skinner v Oklahoma

    Deemed forced sterilization unconstitutional when not a consistent punishment for the same crime