Alfred Russel Wallace’s Racist Inquiry:

Alfred Russel Wallace, an English naturalist who independently developed a theory similar to Darwin’s theory of evolution, attempted to answer the question:
“Are humans one race or many?” His answer to that question demonstrates clearly the racist values of the late 1800s.

His answer follows as such:

- Those who believe in the unity of mankind as a single race use the wide variation of traits within each individual “race” and the overlap of those traits between races as evidence in support of their views. The fact that others cannot agree on how many independent races exist also bolsters the argument that mankind is a single race.


- Those who see mankind as fundamentally split into different races say that there is no evidence that the races are related at all. Since each race has maintained its distinctive characteristics over long periods of time, they must be inherently different.


- Wallace himself believes that all of the modern races originated from an original homogenous race, which later split into various distinctive groups. He hypothesizes that the reason there has been no obvious change in the characteristics of the races is that natural selection stopped acting on them. Because human beings cooperate and help one another when they are vulnerable, the law of “survival of the fittest” no longer applies.


- Once natural selection stopped changing the physical characteristics of each race, (because of human cooperation) the only remaining factor which determined the victor in the “struggle for life” was intellect. Therefore, the most advanced races, (i.e. European races) would of course prevail over less developed races. Thus, the “superior” races were not always inherently dominant. They simply developed faster and more thoroughly, leaving them “more fit” for survival than their “savage” counterparts.


Francis Galton, one of Charles Darwin’s cousins created a system for comparing the intellects of various races. (See the footnote on page 225 for details.)

- Galton argued that intelligence is as much an advantage to an animal as physical strength or any other natural gift. Because Europeans were intellectually superior, and civilization is the fruit of intelligence, European civilization would naturally spread across the globe.


- Galton’s system for comparing the intellectual capabilities of the races was based on the number of people of that race who attained “eminence” relative to their total number. Of course, Galton determined what constituted “eminence.”


- Galton asserted that the “negro race” had produced very few capable people such as Toussaint l’Ouverture and would not even if they were the social equals of whites. Because of the inherent difference in the races’ intellects, Galton theorized that even a negro genius would not come close to the measure of an European genius. Interestingly, Galton placed the “Australian race” below the “negro race” in intellect. Galton saw the ancient Greeks as the most capable race because of their contributions to knowledge in relation to their small numbers.


- Finally, Galton stated that races went extinct when they were not able to compete with the “superior” incoming races. Galton saw the Native Americans in North America as a prime example of this phenomenon. Galton finished his essay with a plea to his fellow Englishmen to find a way to raise the average intelligence of his nation.