African in the world, historical perspectives (HSY1511)
Institution
University Of South Africa (Unisa)
1. Discuss how European explorers and Enlightenment thinkers used false scientific theories to justify slavery and racism with reference to the story of Sarah Baartman. 5 Essays FOR THIS QUESNTION The history of slavery and racism is a complex and painful one, with numerous factors contributing to...
African in the world, historical perspectives (HSY1511)
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Module Name: Africa in the World;
Historical Perspectives
HSY1511 Assessment 4 2024: Semester 1
FOUR ASSIGNMENTS QUESTION S ASNWERED FOR YOU , YOU WILL CHOOSE ONE OF YOR
CHOICE
UNIQUE NO:689283
DUE DATE:30 APRL 2024 08:00 AM
4/30/2024
,Essay questions 40
1. Discuss how European explorers and Enlightenment
thinkers used false scientific theories to justify
slavery and racism with reference to the story of
Sarah Baartman.
5 Essays FOR THIS QUESNTION
The history of slavery and racism is a complex and painful one, with numerous
factors contributing to its rise, perpetuation, and eventual abolition. One of the
most insidious factors that contributed to the acceptance and justification of
slavery and racism in Europe was the use of false scientific theories by explorers
and Enlightenment thinkers. These theories sought to classify human beings into
separate races, with some deemed inferior and others superior, based on
superficial physical characteristics such as skin color and facial features. In this
essay, we will discuss how these false scientific theories were used to justify
slavery and racism, with reference to the story of Sarah Baartman, a South African
woman who was exhibited in Europe as a "freak show" attraction in the early
19th century.
The European explorers who traveled the world in search of new lands and
resources brought with them a belief in the superiority of their own culture and
race. This belief was fueled by the Enlightenment, a period of intense intellectual
, activity in Europe during the 17th and 18th centuries, which emphasized reason,
progress, and the ability of humans to improve themselves and their society.
Enlightenment thinkers such as Immanuel Kant, Carolus Linnaeus, and Johann
Blumenbach used new scientific methods to classify human beings according to
physical characteristics such as skin color, hair texture, and facial features. They
believed that these characteristics reflected innate differences in intelligence,
temperament, and moral character between different races.
One of the most notorious examples of how these false scientific theories were
used to justify slavery and racism is the story of Sarah Baartman. Baartman was a
Khoikhoi woman from South Africa who was taken to Europe in 1810 and
exhibited as a "freak show" attraction due to her physical features, which were
deemed exotic and aberrant by European audiences. Baartman's large buttocks,
wide hips, and elongated labia were seen as evidence of her supposed inferiority
and savagery, and she was often subjected to degrading treatment and sexual
abuse by the Europeans who exhibited her.
The scientific theories used to justify Baartman's treatment were based on the
idea that different races had innate physical and psychological characteristics that
made them either superior or inferior. Linnaeus, for example, classified human
beings into four distinct races based on their skin color and other physical
attributes, with whites being the most superior and blacks the most inferior.
Blumenbach later modified this classification, adding a fifth "Hottentot" race that
included Baartman and other Khoikhoi people. He argued that this race was
characterized by a "degraded" physical and psychological state, which made them
less advanced than other races.
These false scientific theories were used by Europeans to justify their conquest
and colonization of Africa and other parts of the world. They claimed that they
were bringing civilization and progress to "inferior" peoples, who were deemed
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