
Contents
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Science for the People Science for the People
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High Brow, Low Brow High Brow, Low Brow
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“The Heads of the Lawmakers” “The Heads of the Lawmakers”
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Scientific Racism Scientific Racism
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“Difference Between the Sexes” “Difference Between the Sexes”
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“This Land of Political Equality” “This Land of Political Equality”
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Cite
Abstract
The second chapter focuses on the antebellum decades, a time when Americans engaged in contentious debates over questions of race, gender, and political inclusion. It is organized around a central question: What was it about popular sciences that intrigued marginalized Americans while also captivating society’s most powerful individuals? On one level, physiognomy and phrenology were rooted in the idea that the body could be scientifically scrutinized for signs of internal character. This made these disciplines appealing to middling and elite white men. But the working classes, women, and people of color also embraced them. Why? As this chapter reveals, physiognomy and phrenology were complex sciences with murky rules and flexible conceptions of human nature. Despite their deterministic qualities, they seemed to provide empirical support for the notion that all individuals could improve their brains, bodies, and futures—so long as they worked hard enough. This helped people believe that they could be anyone, do anything, and go anywhere. By interrogating the ideological inconsistencies of physiognomy and phrenology, this chapter explains why marginalized Americans found it so easy to reformulate popular sciences for their own aims.
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