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War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race​ Analysis

Meghan Wadsworth

History 2710

Spring 2018

Mr. Jensen

March 18, 2018

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Black, E. (2003). ​War Against the Weak: Eugenics and Americas Campaign to Create a Master
Race​. Washington, DC: Dialog Press.
Abstract
Edwin Black is a writer who publishes books that expose the truth. In ​War Against the

Weak: Eugenics and America’s Campaign to Create a Master Race, ​his purpose was to bring life

and give a voice to those who never existed. He focuses on the evil men and women who

decided whether or not someone was “unfit.” Black is a very accomplished writer and is great at

getting the facts. He has a team of analysts who help him compile information which what fills

his books. His sources range from letters, books, and pamphlets to interviews and medical

records. Black tells his readers excellent and accurate history, however, he sometimes does stray

off of the main path. Overall, this book is very successful in terms of being an accurate source of

information, as well as it being enjoyable. This gives readers new information that they generally

wouldn’t get in their education.

Introduction/Thesis Statement/Author’s Purpose

War Against the Weak​ is a compelling book that exploits America’s actions during the

time when the eugenics movement was sweeping the nation. It pulls the backstories of many

powerful eugenicists and their actions to the surface. The book discusses all the different things

people could be reprimanded for and retells the true stories of unknowing victims. It also shows

readers the business side of things.​ ​The main point of Black’s book was to show readers all

around the globe what America has done in the past.​ War Against the Weak​ focuses mostly on

the leaders of this movement and their backgrounds which leads to their story of paving a

pathway of destruction in order to create a master race.​ ​Edwin Black uses this book to paint

images of what really happened in the early 1900s. He says that, “Voices haunt the pages of

every book. This particular book, however, speaks for the never-born, for those whose questions
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have never been heard-for those who never existed.” (Intro.) His purpose was to speak for those

who were affected by the vile and corrupt system put into place by the eugenicists.

Author’s Background and Biography/Characters/Plot

Edwin Black is the son of Jews who were survivors of the Holocaust. Black grew up in

Chicago and was raised in Jewish neighborhoods. Black became a professional journalist during

high school and later went to university to enhance his skills. In 1978, his interest about the

hidden history of relations between Adolf Hitler and the government was thriving. Black’s books

have usually used mass networks and teams.​ War Against the Weak s​ pecifically had a team that

consisted of more than 50 researchers, translators, and assistants. They worked to discover and

analyze primary source documents written in German, French, and Polish. In total, there were

more than 50,000 documents from 100 different libraries, museums, archives, and other

collections that were assembled and analyzed in the writings of all of his book. (Ack.)

Black compiled documentation that clearly show the century of eugenic crusading that

was done by America’s best universities, trusted professionals and charitable organizations,

respected corporate foundations, and renowned scientists. ​War Against the Weak ​also shows how

the Department of Agriculture was involved in the attempt to breed a new race of Nordic

humans. The names “define power and prestige in America: the Carnegie Institution, the

Rockefeller Foundation,...Harvard University,...Yale University, Stanford University,...Margaret

Sanger,...Woodrow Wilson, [and] the American Genetic Association.” (Intro.) All of these

distinguished people use their reputation to their advantage. They were able to get away with

these terrible deeds because people would listen and be duped by their embellished words. They

all joined forces to create the Eugenics Record Office (ERO) where they documented everything

that was based on this pseudoscience. They all believed that they could apply “the same

principles used to breed cattle and corn” (Intro.) to breed the new Nordic race.
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The book begins by saying that the Brush Mountain people “sang, played mountain

instruments...[but] most of all, they hoped for better-better health, better jobs, better schooling, a

better life for their children. But hopes for betterment often became irrelevant because these

people inhabited a realm, outside the margins of America’s dream.” (Ch. 1) The people weren’t

given the opportunity to become “normal,” which led to the typical day in the 1930s consisting

of the sheriff driving up unannounced to begin one of the many raids against the hill families that

were deemed “unfit.” The book continues to discuss the ideas and the science behind it all.

During the 1850s, Herbert Spencer published a book “asserting that man and society, in truth,

followed the laws of cold science, not the will of a caring, almighty God. Spencer popularized a

powerful new term: ‘survival of the fittest.’” (Ch. 2) This term was carried throughout the

eugenics period. This phrase soon became a big factor in the developing pseudoscience. The

scientists took Mendel’s theory of heredity, which regarded pea plants, and used it’s ideas and

principles in human breeding. Next came the hunting of the unfit. There were many supporters

including Alexander Graham Bell who researched deafness and was concocting a plan to breed

deafness out. However, legitimizing the raceology wasn’t easy. They needed mountains of

research and proof in order to gain new supporters to help fund the ultimate mission. The rich

and powerful used their networking and money to convince states to legalize the first step:

sterilization. “Indiana...became the first ...in the world to legislate forced sterilization.” (Ch. 5)

However, “It didn’t matter that the majority of the American people opposed sterilization.” (Ch.

6) The people opposed it, but it didn’t matter. Only the eminent could decide the fate of America.

The book concludes itself with speaking about the birth control attempts by Margaret Sanger, the

attempts to prevent blindness, and the compiled statistics on “the defective, dependent, and

delinquent.” (Ch. 9)

Author's Arguments, Themes, and Biases

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Black’s main argument is that the eugenics age was greatly misunderstood. He wants to

show people the truth. The truth that America did these horrible things decades​ ​before Hitler

​ is goal was to show the world of readers that America isn’t as great as it
wrote ​Mein Kampf. H

seems. He argues that people “were forcibly sterilized, wrongly committed to mental institutions

where they died in great numbers, prohibited from marrying, and sometimes even unmarried by

state bureaucrats.” (Intro.) He also argues that “In America, the battle to wipe out whole ethnic

groups was fought not by armies with guns, [but] by esteemed professors, elite universities,

wealthy industrialists and government officials.” (Intro.) Black’s argument also included that

many people were deemed unfairly. “Often the so-called feebleminded were just shy, too

good-natured to be taken seriously, or simply spoke the wrong language or were the wrong

color.” (Intro.) The central theme of this gripping book was clearly stated in the first sentence of

chapter two. “Mankind's quest for perfection has always turned dark.” He gives examples from

all the way in the 1800s with the concept of survival of the fittest to Hitler’s announcement

nearly a century later that he was going to exterminate the jews. Due to Black’s parents and their

experience in the holocaust, the book shows evident bias against eugenics. His parents were

targeted just for being Jewish, just as the people here were targeted because they weren’t ideal

His bias shows through his word choices, he often uses negative connotation when speaking

about the topic. In the introduction he says that “Eugenics contaminated many otherwise worthy

social, medical and education causes…” (Intro.) Black’s bias is also affected by his knowledge

of what happened to his parents. He brings up the Holocaust a lot throughout the book. “Within

these pages you will discover the sad truth of how the scientific rationales that drove killer

doctors at Auschwitz were first concocted on Long Island at the Carnegie Institution’s eugenic

enterprise.” (Intro.)

Strengths & Weaknesses

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The book has two main strengths: the accuracy, and the eloquence. Edwin Black prides

himself on accuracy. “The information needed for ​War Against the Weak​ resided in many

out-of-the-way archives as well as major repositories, the challenge was to locate the right

person in the right place at the right time…​War Against the Weak​ could never have been

completed without the exceptional cooperation of literally scores of archivists and librarians.”

(Ack.) The eloquence of this book proves important in getting his argument across. “The

movement was called eugenics. It was conceived at the onset of the twentieth century and

implemented by America’s wealthiest, most powerful and most learned men against the nation’s

most vulnerable and helpless.” (Ch. 1) These words impact the reader which leads them to his

purpose, to exploit America. It shows the reader how harsh this movement was just by the

connotation of his words and the way he composes his paragraphs.​ ​War Against the Weak,​

however, does have two weaknesses. The first being the unnecessary background knowledge that

takes up pages upon pages. For example, in chapter three we spend about three pages talking

about Charles Davenport’s past. “Rigorous and often punishing Gospel studies intruded into

every aspect of young Davenport's upbringing, morning and night.” (Ch. 3) Black then continues

to ramble about one of Davenport’s journal entries. “Using personal shorthand and misspelling

as a boy would, young Davenport scribbled, “stuiding S.S. lesson from 8:30 A.M. to 9:30 P.M.

All day!” It is difficult to keep a reader entertained when the author goes off subject. Another

weakness is the lengthy amounts about other countries. It is good to have some relations,

however, this book’s title misleads the reader. When reading the title, and even the introduction,

one would assume it would be exclusively about America. Chapters 10-21 focus on eugenics in

Europe, with slight referencing to America. “Overcrowded slums and dismal poorhouses caused

England to reform its poor laws and poverty policies several times…” (Ch.2) Most readers
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would probably prefer to briefly know about the relationship America had with other countries,

rather than learning every single detail about said country.

Successful Argument?/Recommendations to Author/Recommendations to Readers

I believe that Edwin Black successfully showed the reading world what America was

really like. He strengthened his argument through hundreds of citations that included medical

records, letters, and personal stories. His implications were powerful as he showed how many

people would never get to exist just because of this movement. He also implied greatly that it

isn’t only the armies that can cause harm to the world, but the men in suits and lab coats. I would

recommend to the author to not get so caught up in the back stories. We don’t need everything to

be explained unless it is directly involved with the topic. It bores the reader which leads to

skimming of the book which leads to the reader not grasping the implications. If someone came

to me wanting to learn more about Eugenics, I would definitely recommend this book because it

is full of great knowledge. However, I would warn them that they need to dedicate some serious

time to get through this book.​ ​In conclusion, ​War Against the Weak i​ s a powerful book that

discusses the Eugenics movement in America. It exploits all the things that the American men in

lab coats did to unsuspecting victims. It is a powerful book that leaves the reader thinking. “Am I

really being taught ​everything i​ n history? Or just the glorified ‘truth’?”