SOCA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 10: Social Inequality, Race Matters, Black Canadians
Document Summary
Dr. samuel george morton - most distinguished scientist in north america a 150 yrs ago. Morton collected skulls and set out to prove that those with bigger skulls were smarter being than those with smaller skull. Found that races ranking highest in the social hierarchy had the biggest brains while those ranking lowest had the smallest brains. People with the biggest brains were whites of european origins, next were asians, then came native north americans. People at the bottom of the social hierarchy - and with the smallest brains were - blacks. Morton claimed to show that social inequality throughout the world had natural biological roots. Morton argued those who were rich vs. poor, educated vs. illiterate, powerful vs. powerless it was due to brain size and mental capacity. Since morton"s work showed that native north american and blacks naturally rested at the bottom of the social hierarchy. Morton"s ideas were used to justify colonization and slavery.
