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Varieties of Human Species Human Races and Polygenism in Samuel George Morton’S Crania Americana (1839)

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Varieties of Human Species Human Races and Polygenism in Samuel George Morton’S Crania Americana (1839) Varieties of Human Species Human races and polygenism in Samuel George Morton’s Crania Americana (1839) Katja Nummelin Pro gradu -tutkielma Yleinen historia Humanistinen tiedekunta Helsingin yliopisto toukokuu 2019 Tiedekunta/Osasto – Fakultet/Sektion – Faculty Laitos – Institution – Department Humanistinen tiedekunta/Filosofian, historian Filosofian, historian, kulttuurin ja taiteiden tutkimuksen laitos ja taiteiden tutkimuksen osasto Tekijä – Författare – Author Katja Nummelin Työn nimi – Arbetets titel – Title Varieties of Human Species: Human races and polygenism in Samuel George Morton’s Crania Americana (1839) Oppiaine – Läroämne – Subject Yleinen historia Työn laji – Arbetets art – Level Aika – Datum – Month and year Sivumäärä– Sidoantal – Number of pages Pro gradu -tutkielma toukokuu 2019 88s. + liitteet Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Tämä tutkielma tarkastelee ihmisrotujen muodostamista ja kuvauksia sekä polygenesis-teoriaa Amerikkalaisen Samuel George Mortonin varhaista antropologista tutkimusta edustavassa teoksessa Crania Americana (1839). Tutkielman tarkoitus on nostaa esiin Mortonin rotumääritysten ja -kuvausten kulttuurihistoriallista taustaa, joka on aiemmin jäänyt vähälle huomiolle, sillä aiempi tutkimus on keskittynyt Mortonin kallonmittausaineiston analysointiin. Mortonin käsitystä ihmisroduista Crania Americanassa tarkastellaan kolmesta lähtökohdasta: ihmisrotujen muodostaminen, rotujen kuvaukset ja polygenesis-teoria, joka oli 1800-luvun alussa suosittu teoria, jonka mukaan ihmisrodut oli luotu erikseen eri puolille maailmaa. Kaikki nämä teemat liittyvät läheisesti tieteelliseen rasismiin, joka oli syntynyt kolonialismin ja orjuuden synnyttämästä tarpeesta luoda hierarkkisia eroja ihmisryhmien välille. Tämä kehitys muodostaa laajemman viitekehyksen tutkielmalle. Kutakin tutkielman päälähtökohtaa tarkastellaan erilaisilla metodeilla. Ihmisrotujen muodostamista tarkastellaan temaattisista näkökulmista, kuten rotujen muodostamisen historia, rotuhierarkiat, kallonmittausten ja frenologian vaikutus sekä matkakirjallisuus. Mortonin rotujen kuvauksia tarkastellaan puolestaan käymällä yksityiskohtaisesti läpi kunkin rodun kuvauksia ja poimimalla niistä keskeisiä kulttuurihistoriallisia teemoja. Lisäksi tarkastellaan Mortonin rotukuvauksissa käyttämiä lähteitä, ja luodaan alustava kuva niiden kirjoittajien kulttuurisista ja sosioekonomisista taustoista, joiden voi ajatella vaikuttaneen heidän kuvauksiinsa vieraista kansoista. Polygenesis- teorian ilmenemistä Crania Americanassa tarkastellaan aiemman tutkimuksen valossa. Tutkielmassa pyritään osoittamaan, että toisin kuin aiemmassa tutkimuksessa on esitetty, Morton ei alkanut kannattaa polygenesistä yhtäkkiä pian Crania Americanan julkaisemisen jälkeen. Tutkielmassa nousee esiin, että Mortonin käsitykset ihmisroduista olivat kaikilta osin vahvasti sidoksissa aikansa kulttuurihistorialliseen kontekstiin, sekä luonnontieteilijöiden ja matkakirjailijoiden teksteihin. Mortonin rotujako pohjautui ennen kaikkea saksalaisen professori Blumenbachin 1795 esittämään rotujakoon, ja oli, kuten kaikki muutkin rotujaot, lähtökohtaisesti hierarkkinen. Mortonin rotukuvaukset sisälsivät lukuisia arvottavia stereotypioita, joista monet olivat johdettavissa eurooppalaisten kolonialistien tarpeeseen osoittaa omaa ylemmyyttään ja perustella muiden kansojen alistamista. Tähän liittyen, Mortonin lähteiden kirjoittajat olivat enimmäkseen hänen omia aikalaisiaan, ja brittiläistaustaisia tai ainakin eurooppalaisia, ylemmän tai keskiluokan miehiä. Polygenesis-teoriaa tarkasteltaessa nousi esiin, että Morton ei ollut Crania Americanan kirjoittamisen aikaan perehtynyt aiheeseen syvällisesti. Toisaalta monet polygenesis-teorian kannalta keskeiset ajatukset, kuten ihmisrotujen erillisyys hyvin varhaisista ajoista ja tämän todistaminen historiallisten lähteiden avulla, olivat esillä jo Crania Americanassa. Avainsanat – Nyckelord – Keywords Samuel George Morton, Crania Americana, biologinen antropologia, rasismi, rotuteoriat, rodut, tieteenhistoria, Yhdysvallat, matkakertomukset, kraniologia Säilytyspaikka – Förvaringställe – Where deposited Helsingin yliopiston kirjasto, Keskustakampuksen kirjasto Muita tietoja – Övriga uppgifter – Additional information Table of Contents 1. Introduction ..................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1. Research questions ................................................................................................................... 2 1.2. Crania Americana as a source and previous scholarship on Morton .......................................... 3 1.3. Samuel George Morton’s life and scientific work ..................................................................... 9 2. Morton’s division of human races in Crania Americana ................................................................. 13 2.1. Formation of racial worldview and the dawn of scientific racism ............................................ 14 2.2. Morton’s races ....................................................................................................................... 16 2.3. Ranking of races .................................................................................................................... 20 2.4. Skull measuring and the impact of phrenology ....................................................................... 24 2.5. Travel accounts and other literary sources .............................................................................. 29 3. Morton’s descriptions of human races in Crania Americana ........................................................... 33 3.1. The Caucasian race ................................................................................................................ 34 3.2. Ancient Egyptians .................................................................................................................. 43 3.3. The Mongolian race ............................................................................................................... 46 3.4. The Malay race ...................................................................................................................... 52 3.5. The American Race ................................................................................................................ 56 3.6. The Ethiopian race ................................................................................................................. 61 4. Polygenesis in Crania Americana .................................................................................................. 69 4.1. Monogenesis/polygenesis debate in the history of science ...................................................... 69 4.2. Polygenesis in Crania Americana ........................................................................................... 73 4.3. Ussher’s chronology and the historical evidence for polygenesis ............................................ 78 5. Conclusions: Human races and polygenesis in Crania Americana .................................................. 85 6. Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 89 7. Bibliography .................................................................................................................................. 92 1. Introduction In this thesis I explore the racial categories, race descriptions and polygenesis in Samuel George Morton’s (1799–1851) Crania Americana; or, A comparative view of the skulls of various aboriginal nations of North and South America. To which is prefixed an essay on the varieties of the human species (1839). My aim is to show the many ways of how contemporary and historical ideas about race were interwoven in Morton’s descriptions and understanding of race in this book, which was also his first anthropological publication. By doing this, I will be making visible the cultural historical background of Morton’s anthropological work, which has not received as much attention in the earlier research as his cranial measurements. In the larger context, Morton’s work was part of scientification of racism in the beginning of the 19th century, which was based on a combination of global European colonization, transatlantic slave trade and the Enlightenment ideals, which stated that objective natural sciences could explain the world as it was. These phenomena created both the need and the means to set people apart based on race. This need, in turn, was the basis of many new scientific disciplines, like anthropology, ethnology and archaeology. Thus, racist themes and attitudes were built-in in many of the early works of these disciplines. One of these early works of was Crania American, written by Samuel George Morton, physician and skull collector from Philadelphia Pennsylvania. In the canon of the history of race in America Samuel George Morton has been framed as one of the central figures of the early 19th century. He has been named as one of the founders of scientific anthropology in America and as such, his works have shaped how the human races have been seen both by general public and scientific circles.1 Morton was also a supporter of the controversial polygenesis theory, which stated that human races had been created separately and were possibly different species all together. Polygenesis theory was also closely connected with defenders of slavery. Due to his historical
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