The Conflationof LaissezFairewithRegulation-ImposedEugenics 43casesin whichmen... havedivergedintothe by-waysof injustice.. .” Spencerfinds,
“Theenslavementof the negroesservesfor a goodexample.” Throughandthrough,he
deplores“the reasoningof unscrupulouscolonistson this matter.... Slaverybroughtin
its trainthe multipliedcursesof a diseasedsocialstate;a reignof mutualhatredand
terror.. .”^142
In this samebook,Spencercursesthatit wasonce“universallysupposedthatslavery
wasa naturalandquitelegitimateinstitution.. .; nay,indeed,a greatproportionof
mankindholdthis opinionstill.A highersocialdevelopment,however,has generatedin
us a betterfaith,andwe nowto a considerableextentrecognizethe claimsof human-
ity.”^143 Spencerspeculatesas to howanyonecouldrationalizethe inhumanityof chattel
slavery.“Beliefalwaysbearsthe impressof character—is, in fact,its product.... Men’s
wisheseventuallyget expressedin theirfaiths—theirreal faiths,that is; not theirnominal
ones.Pullto piecesa man’s Theoryof Things,andyouwillfindit baseduponfacts
collectedat the suggestionof his desires.A fierypassionconsumesall evidencesopposed
to its gratification,and fusingtogetherthosethat serveits purpose,caststheminto weap-
ons by whichto achieveits end.” In the end,Spencerconcludesthat“the slave-owner’s
assertionthatnegroesare not humanbeings.. .” are among“the strangestsamplesof
convictionsso formed.”^144 For thesereasons,SocialStaticsapplaudssomeboycottscon-
ductedby 300,000abolitionistsagainstproduceharvestedfromslaveplantations,boy-
cottsperformed“out of sympathyfor the negroes... .”^145 Decadeslater—in 1884—
Spencercontinuedto writebitterlyaboutthe “sinsof responsiblelegislatorsseenin the
longlist of lawsmadein the interestsof dominantclasses—a list comingdownin our
owncountryto thoseunderwhichtherewerelongmaintainedslaveryandthe slave-
trade,torturingnearly40,000negroesannuallyby closepackingduringa tropicalvoyage,
and killinga largepercentageof them.. .”^146
Yes,Spencerwasindeedcapableof holdingsomecondescendingattitudesaboutnon-
whiteraces,andoftenexpressedsuchattitudes.He did believethat,to somedegree,
biologicalinheritancecontributedto someone’s moralcharacter.On somelevel,he did
thinkthatbiologicalhereditycausedsomeethnicitiesto be clevereror lazierthanothers.
Thatneverconvincedhim,though,thatracesshouldbe treatedunequallyunderthe
law.^147 Examinethis statementof his: “If youask me whatpromptsme to denounceour
unjusttreatmentof inferiorraces,I reply thatI am promptedby a feelingwhichis
arousedin me quiteapartfromany senseof duty,quiteapartfromany thoughtof Divine
command,quiteapartfromany thoughtof rewardor punishmenthereor hereafter.In
partthe feelingresultsfromconsciousnessof the sufferinginflicted,whichis a painful
consciousness,andin partfromirritationat the breachof a law of conducton behalfof
whichmy sentimentsare enlisted,andobedienceto whichI regardas needfulfor the
welfareof humanityin general.”^148 Themanis indeedcondescendingin judgingnon-
whitesto beinferiorraces. Nonetheless,this notionaboutinferioritynowherejustifiesto
Spencerany abrogationof the rightsof nonwhites.
UponreadingSpencer’s 1851masterpieceas the U.S.CivilWarragedon, American
philosopherJohnFiske(1842–1901)wroteto his fiancée, “No one can startfrom‘Social
Statics’ andlogicallydeduceconclusionswhichshallbe otherthanunfavorableto the
[Confederate]Southat present.”^149
CarlSchurz(1829– 1906)foughtin that war as a Unionsoldier.As that war wenton, he
spenthis nightsin his tentat the Chattanoogawintercampreadingthatsameworkof
Spencer’s by candlelight.Reminiscingaboutthattimein subsequentdecades,he stated,
“It becameperfectlyclearin my mindthat,if the peopleof the Southhad wellstudiedand
thoroughlydigestedthatbook,”SocialStatics, “thereneverwouldhavebeenany warfor
the preservationof slavery.” HistorianBarryWerth,one of whosebookswasa finalistfor
the NationalBookCriticsCircleAward,getsit right.Werthwritesthat“Schurz,like