Eugenics Movement

The eugenics movement advocated the selective breeding of positive traits in society, including the use of sterilization in individuals who were disabled and the promotion of marriages of individuals with traits such as high intelligence. The movement arose as the science of genetics was developing, but it was ultimately disgraced as a result of co-opting science for a dangerous social agenda and because of its association with the atrocities that occurred in Nazi Germany. This entry discusses the development of the eugenics movement, with a focus on the United States and Germany.

The eugenics movement spread from the United Kingdom to the United States and to Germany, where it culminated in the Holocaust from 1933 to 1945. It is important to note that eugenics is not ...