The Theory of the Three Races

[Protesilaus]

I couldn’t find anything about this from searching either here or at Google. I know that at one point, scientists believed that all humans could be broken down into three races - Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid. My question is, who came up with these classifications, and when did they do it?

[Gilligan]

Joseph-Arthur de Gobineau was the first that I know of that proposed dividing people into three races, (black, white, and yellow), in his “Essay on the Inequality of Races”, 1855.

[Protesilaus]

Thanks, Gilligan.

[bibliophage]

About 1800, Georges Cuvier believed there were 3 races: Caucasian, Mongolian, and Negro.

Earlier, others divided humanity into divisions other than 3
[li]Bernier in the late 1600s believed ther were 4 divisions: Europeans, East Asians, Blacks, and Lapps[/li][li]Buffon in 1749 believed there were 6 divisions: European, South Asian, Malay, Ethiopian, Mongolian, and Lapp[/li][li]Linnaeus in 1758 believed there were 4 divisions: European, Asian, African, and American[/li]Blumenbach about 1780 believed there were 5 divisions: Caucasian, Mongolian, Ethiopian, American, and Malay

[tomndebb]

Linnaeus got his dibs in there, as well (from “Scientific Racism” in Enlightened Europe:

Though he did not believe all the concepts concerning the Great Chain of Being, Charles Linnaeus still did believe in a set hierarchy of organisms. In General System of Nature, published in 1735, he placed man in the order of primates along with the other mammals. However, he did believe that the one characteristic that distinguished men from the apes was the former being’s ability to use the facility of reason. But distinctions in that order did not cease to be merely with that classification. He stated that variations within the Genus Homo sapiens existed as a result of varying cultures and climates (2). The four main categories of the Genus that he proposed were the following:

1. Americanus. Native American males were supposedly red; had black hair and sparse beards; were stubborn; prone to anger; “free”; and governed by traditions (3). Thus, this form of Homo sapiens was definitely inferior and uncivilized.

2. Asiaticus. The male Asian was said to be “yellowish, melancholy, endowed with black hair and brown eyes…severe, conceited, and stingy. He puts on loose clothing. He is governed by opinion.” Thus, like the aforementioned type of Homo sapiens, the Asiaticus could only be a mediocre prototype (2).

3. Africanus. The male of this subset, according to Linnaeus, could be recognized by his skin tone, face structure, and curly hair (2). This kind was apparently cunning, passive, and inattentive, and ruled by impulse. The female of this kind was also apparently shameless, because “they lactate profusely.” (3)

4. Europeaus. The males of this subset were supposedly “changeable, clever, and inventive. He puts on tight clothing. He is governed by laws.” (2)

In addition to these categories, Linnaeus also suggested there were some more miscellaneous ones that occurred: “‘wild men,’ dwarfs, troglodytes [cave dwellers], and ‘lazy Patagonians’ [South American hunter-gatherers].” (4) Therefore, being the most civilized of the Homo sapiens, the Europeaus was obviously the most superior type in Charles Linnaeus’s view (2).

Before Linnaeus proposed the ideas mentioned above, “race” had been used to distinguish between different nationalities. But after he proposed the system above, Europeans began to identify themselves with a larger group: “white” people. Now the ideal physical standards were those of classical Greece. The further one’s physical traits were from that notion of perfection, the less Caucasian one was. Numerous authors began to publish books to prove that Europeans were at the top of the racial hierarchy they believed in, alluding to some evolutionary theory or the other. And then, the British Empire selected one of its naturalists to study different species around the world (1).