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Charles Darwin

Christian Foster Mr. Gleason World History 3

2 May 2010 Many events led up to Charles Darwin developing the theory of evolution, which went against the church and peoples beliefs. Charles Robert Darwin was born in

Shrewsbury, Shropshire, England on February 12, 1809. He was one of six children of a wealthy doctor and financier, Robert Darwin, and Susannah Darwin. As a child, his interest in natural history was developed very early. He had always been particularly interested in all of the different varieties of plants, especially in the gardens that his father had at their house. He loved collecting things as a boy, such as insects, coins, stamps, minerals, and other small things. This was most likely because of the death of his mother on July 15, 1817, when Charles was only eight years old. Through a series of significant events, Chares Darwin developed an evolutionary view of the world that challenged contemporary beliefs about Divine Province and the fixity of species. Charles Darwin was never a good student, and was easily bored in class. Right before his mothers death, in the spring of 1817, he joined a day school run by his preacher. He later joined his elder brother Erasmus attending the nearby Anglican

Shrewsbury School in September 1818. In 1825, he spent the summer as an apprentice doctor, helping his father treat the poor of Shropshire. In October 1825, he went with his brother to the University of Edinburgh Medical School. Darwin was bored by the lectures, so he neglected his studies. This annoyed his father, who then proceeded to send him to Christs College, Cambridge to become a priest. While at Cambridge, he met the botany professor John Stevens Henslow along with many of the other naturalists who viewed science to be religious natural theology. Charles had to stay at Cambridge until June, during which he studied many books about

3 natural theology. He then joined the geology course led by Adam Sedgwick, and went with him to Wales to study rock layers. On returning home from a week spent with his friends from school at Barmouth, he found a letter awaiting him from his good friend and professor Henslow. In this letter, Henslow invited Darwin aboard the H.M.S. Beagle as a naturalist. It was to be a two-year trip to chart and observe the continent of South America, with departure in four weeks. He gratefully accepted the offer, yet his father objected. He believed that his son was not going to be a success in the future, and that this voyage would only add to the aimlessness of the young mans career life. However, Robert Darwins brother-in-law persuaded the man that it would be a great learning experience for Charles. On the 27th of December 1831, Charles Darwin embarked on his trip around the world, traveling around the coast of South America and up to the Galapagos Islands. Upon reaching the Galapagos, he made a great discovery, which happened to challenge the current beliefs of how different species were created. He found that

animals on the Galapagos Islands had changed to adapt to their environment better. He came across the existence of the marine iguana and the Galapagos finches. Both of these specimens have adapted to better fit their surroundings. Marine iguanas are a type of iguana found only on the Galapagos Islands. Unlike all other iguanas, this kind has the ability stay underwater and can look for food for up to half an hour with a single dive. Through the process of natural selection, the iguana had changed to make swimming easier, while decreasing its agility on land. The tail has become flattened, spiked dorsal fins have grown, and its claws have sharpened and enlarged to allow the iguana to hold onto objects while underwater. Over time, the color

4 of this type of iguana has turned black to help it blend in with the black volcanic rock, commonly found on these islands. The Galapagos finch was appreciable evidence to prove the theory of evolution by natural selection. Males are dimorphic in song type: songs A and B are quite distinct. Also, males with song A have shorter bills than B males. This is also a clear difference. With these beaks males are able to feed differently on their favorite cactus, the prickly pear Opuntia. Those with long beaks are able to punch holes in the cactus fruit and eat the fleshy aril pulp which surrounds the seeds, whereas those with shorter beaks tear apart the cactus base and eat the pulp and any insect larvae and pupae (both groups eat flowers and buds). This dimorphism clearly maximizes their feeding opportunities during the non-breeding season when food is scarce. (Luongo 37) All of these changes occur because of evolution as a result of natural selection, in which Animals that are well adapted to their environment have a better chance of surviving. Animals that are not adapted to their environment are less likely to survive. (Luongo 24) The common beliefs at the time were that God had placed different species in different parts of the world, and species did not evolve from their original state. Darwins findings challenged this by showing that there were striking similarities between the wild animals found on the Galapagos Islands and the ones living on the nearby South American mainland. Furthermore, the differences of the Galapagos species all helped the animals be comfortable in their surroundings. This makes it obvious that their bodies had adapted to life in the new environment. The theory of evolution was a completely new concept, and one that received a great deal of skepticism. No one believed Darwins theory at first. This theory is that all

5 life has descended from ancestors. This means that all complex organisms evolved from more simple ancestors over a great time span, and these organisms evolved from even more simple organisms, and so on. So if one traced the roots of an organism back far enough, they would find that it stemmed from the same beginning organism as every living thing on the planet. This means that the organisms born with better skills are the ones who survive to have more offspring, which, in turn, are more likely to have inherited these traits. Darwins theory of evolution was such a strange idea that had never been heard of before, and people were so accustomed to the previous view of the Bible that it was tremendously hard for them to switch their views. Furthermore, no one had ever seen the process of natural selection or evolutions actually take place, so that left his theory up for skepticism. The Church of England reacted against Darwins book, On the Origin of Species, which explained his theories of natural selection, and did not agree with it. However, liberal Anglicans gave a significant amount of support to Darwins natural selection, thinking of it as a guideline that God uses with all animals. Many people were outraged by the fact that a man would write about evolution, but these people wouldnt even listen to the logic and reasoning that Darwin incorporated into the explanation of his theory. They reacted harshly to it by writing reviews of his books in which they criticized his thoughts on nature, drawing cartoons that made fun of him, and saying bad things about his beliefs. Here is a political cartoon of Darwin that is an accurate depiction of the thoughts that the people of that time period had on Darwin and his theory.

(http://www.chatham-nj.org 5/5/10)

This drawing followed the publication of Darwins new book, The Descent of Man, and someone who strongly opposed the beliefs that Charles Darwin demonstrated in his book undoubtedly drew it. They showed how they believed that he was very ignorant and stupid, and that he was as smart as an ape. He was obviously not stupid because he was able to come up with the theory and provide good support for it, yet he was still heavily criticized. People did not react well to Darwins discovery. It conflicted with the churchs beliefs, and the church immediately condemned his ideas in fear of the people of the church leaving and taking up the beliefs of Darwin. In response to this, Darwin came out with five new editions of his book, trying to please the church and other critics. It was not enough, and his work remained to be denounced.

7 Charles Darwins findings thoroughly went against the belief of the church. The church believed that God created the earth, all of the animals that inhabit it, and humans. They were furious at Darwin for challenging their beliefs. In Genesis, the week of creation was the common belief of how the earth and everything on it was created. This is what the church believed, and since the church had such great influence on the way that people thought, everyone believed that animals have always been this way. In Genesis, God creates everything in the accepted universe of the time within seven days. This is highly different from what Charles Darwin found out, and the two theories clash, resulting in a conflict that separates him from the church and restricts more people from accepting his findings. The church was scared that people will start leaving them and instead start following the beliefs of Darwin. Charles Darwin believed that humans evolved from animals, particularly apes. He believed that animals all evolved over a long period of time to get to what they are like now, whereas the church believed that everything that we see today was created within a week. Darwin had a great deal of evidence to support and prove his theory, whereas the church had little to none. All that the church had was the peoples faith, which was at risk of diminishing due to Charles Darwin. The events of Darwins life eventually led up to what is known of now as one of the greatest discoveries made by mankind. He backed it up with great amounts of reasoning and proof, yet that wasnt enough for the church, who was nervous of people leaving the church because of Darwins findings. The clergy was entirely against him, and because so many people followed the church, they all turned against his discoveries as well.

8 It is now a well-known fact that humans have descended from apes because of the amount of technology in the world. And within the Hominoidea we are grouped with the great apes in the family Homindae, sharing unique features like flattened fingernails, thirty two teeth, and prolonged parental care. (Coyne 195) Molecular data derived from DNA confirms these relationships, and also tells us roughly that we diverged from our relatives. (Coyne 195). Now, a lot of religious sects have accepted evolution with the belief that it is all under Gods control. Darwin challenged the current beliefs of people at the time by saying that we evolved from apes. People at first rejected the theory, but he had such good proof that eventually, people accepted it. The way that we now look upon ourselves as the human race has astronomically changed thanks to this one man, Charles Darwin.