Eugenics is a much-criticized “science” that attempts to explore the genetic factors at work within human beings in order to isolate and reproduce them. It was an integral part of the Nazi agenda, as they sought to create their “Master Race” through the elimination of those they saw as genetically inferior stock. The roots of this practice go back much further than Nazi Germany, however. In fact, most of what the Nazi’s knew of eugenics, including the technologies and methodologies they used in their extermination of the Jewish people, was learned from the United States.
The first theories of eugenics came about during the late 1800s in England. They believed that human beings could be manipulated much like plants and that cross-breeding the “right” sort of genetic stock would produce superior humans. This movement quickly spread to the United States, where it gained widespread popularity.
