This article titled "Why do we measure mankind?" was written by Francis Galton and published in 1890 in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, a British publication. The article discusses the benefits of being scientifically measured to determine how the person "ranks" in terms of mental and/or physical abilities in comparison to others of the "same sex, age, and social position" (236). Over time, a person's rank can be monitored in terms of what career they pursue or where they end up in general in British society. Overall, the article aims to convince the reader that measuring body parts is an effective method to determine someone's aptitude.
Measuring people's craniums was already used as a method to distinguish Anglo-Saxans, who represented the idealized human form, from those British society deemed less than human, in particular blacks. This concept of scientific racism legitimized treating people in colonized countries as essentially slave labor with "proof" that they couldn't become civilized without British intervention. Although this article doesn't explicitly mention anything about measuring people of different races, it is written at a time where this procedure was utilized for the purpose of creating a racial hierarchy. Since Lippincott's was a magazine consumed by the general British public, this article works as subliminal propaganda for justifying imperialism in the minds of people in combination with supposedly scientific sketches of African people's skulls resembling those of monkeys. After seeing those images and reading this article that claims taking body measurements is a legitimate representation of someone's natural facility in life, people will buy into the idea that black people as a group are lesser than white superiority. It doesn't have to mean they condone outright slavery, but their behavior towards "the others" will be noticeably condescending. Amasa Delano, although against the institution of slavery, often comments on the simple-mindedness and obvious stupidity and passiveness of the blacks (though he is clearly wrong in these thoughts).
Additionally, once people become convinced of this notion, atrocities such as those committed in Heart of Darkness and the Congo during this time period become warranted and necessary. Articles of this kind that are touted as scientific research are powerful tools in controlling the mind of the general public, since most people are quick to believe those who seem to have authority.
The link to the article is here: http://galton.org/essays/1890-1899/galton-1890-why-measure.pdf
-Anna Korotina
I feel like the general audience that was reading this type of material back then had no other choice to do so since this was the only type of "evidence" involving race at the time, and of course, this "evidence" is going to be so downright wrong that it is acceptable propaganda in american eyes. People at the time didn't realize how to speak for themselves so this kind of stuff made sense to them and became a common thing to write about in colonial literature. Texts such as Sherlock Holmes use this type of cranial measuring so serve as a type of authority and certainty to the white persons observations which is affirming racism at the least. This is showed again and again in texts because it can be looked at as a hypocritical symbol where the white man thinks his tools are right, when they are so painfully wrong.
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