In this section we will explore how ideas and policies that originated in the 18th and 19th centuries helped lay the foundation for the eugenics movement in the United States. From 1900 through the 1930s, the eugenics movement in the U.S. flourished. Eugenic advocates saw their movement as a progressive reform campaign aimed at eliminating alleged racial and hereditary impurities from U.S. society.

This section of the module focuses on an analysis of eugenic beliefs, their effects on public policies and human lives, and those who resisted the movement. Readings and activities explore such topics as immigration, sterilization, anti-miscegenation laws, and education, allowing us to rethink how the eugenics movement had a major impact on the course of early 20th century U.S. history, and how its legacies influence our lives today.