The passing of the great race; or, The racial basis of European historyGrant, Madison
History
The passing of the great race; or, The racial basis of European history
Grant, Madison
Ethnology -- Europe
A race may be thoroughly adjusted to a certain country at one stage of
its development and be at a disadvantage when an economic change occurs,
such as was experienced in England a century ago when the nation changed
from an agricultural to a manufacturing community. The type of man that
flourishes in the fields is not the type of man that thrives in the
factory, just as the type of man required for the crew of a sailing ship
is not the type useful as stokers on a modern steamer.
THE HABITAT OF THE ALPINES AND MEDITERRANEANS
The environment of the Alpine race seems to have always been the
mountainous country of central and eastern Europe, as well as western
Asia, but they are now spreading into the plains, notably in Poland and
Russia. This type has never flourished in the deserts of Arabia or the
Sahara, nor has it succeeded well in maintaining its early colonies in
the northwest of Europe within the domain of the Nordic long heads. It
is, however, a sturdy and persistent stock and, while much of it may not
be overrefined or cultured, undoubtedly possesses great potentialities
for future development.
The Alpines in the west of Europe, especially in Switzerland and the
districts immediately surrounding, have been so thoroughly Nordicized
and so saturated with the culture of the adjoining nations that they
stand in sharp contrast to backward Alpines of Slavic speech in the
Balkans and east of Europe.
The Mediterranean race, on the other hand, is clearly a southern type
with eastern affinities. It is a type that did not endure in the north
of Europe under former agricultural conditions nor is it suitable to the
farming districts and frontiers of America and Canada. It is adjusted to
subtropical and tropical countries better than any other European type
and will flourish in our Southern States and around the coasts of the
Spanish Main. In France it is well known that members of the
Mediterranean race are better adapted for colonization in Algeria than
are French Alpines or Nordics. This subspecies of man is notoriously
intolerant of extreme cold, owing to its susceptibility to diseases of
the lungs and it shrinks from the blasts of the northern winter in which
the Nordics revel.
The brunet Mediterranean element in the native American seems to be
increasing at the expense of the blond Nordic element generally
throughout the Southern States and probably also in the large cities.
This type of man, however, is scarce on our frontiers. In the Northwest
and in Alaska in the days of the gold rush it was in the mining camps a
matter of comment if a man turned up with dark eyes, so universal were
blue and gray eyes among the American pioneers.
IV
THE COMPETITION OF RACES
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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