Polygenesis is the inaccurate theory that the races were created separately and are biologically distinct. In Stamped from the Beginning, the theory of polygenesis represents both the illogic of racism as well as the idea that racism is not produced by a lack of knowledge, but rather by false knowledge. Throughout much of American history, debate raged over whether people of different races all descended from the same original ancestor (monogenesis) or whether each distinct race was created separately (polygenesis). Importantly, polygenesis had no basis in scientific reality and was entirely produced by racist thinking. The reason why polygenesis never had any real scientific credibility is that it began with a fundamental misunderstanding of race itself. While variations in skin tone and other physical features have always been part of human existence, as Kendi describes in the book, the concept of race was only developed around the 15th century. It is a social invention primarily developed in order to advance colonialism and slavery—not a feature of biological reality. As a result, it is not true that the races were created distinctly, with different origin stories. Despite this, scholars across many centuries advanced the theory of polygenesis, attempting to substantiate it with complex arguments based in racism rather than scientific evidence. Many of these scholars were well respected, with prestigious university roles and widely read books to their name. In this sense, polygenesis reflects how racist thinking has warped human intellectual development, leading people to develop an entirely false set of ideas about the world. Moreover, polygenesis demonstrates how racist practices lead to racist thinking, not the other way around. Those who chose to believe in polygenesis tended to do so in order to justify colonialism, slavery, segregation, and other racist practices. Because of this, the theory survived for many centuries despite having no basis in reality.
Polygenesis Quotes in Stamped from the Beginning
The Stamped from the Beginning quotes below are all either spoken by Polygenesis or refer to Polygenesis. For each quote, you can also see the other terms and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
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Chapter 9: Created Equal
Quotes
The ambitious politician, maybe fearful of alienating potential friends, maybe torn between Enlightenment antislavery and American proslavery, maybe honestly unsure, did not pick sides between polygenesists and monogenesists, between segregationists and assimilationists, between slavery and freedom. But he did pick the side of racism.
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Polygenesis Term Timeline in Stamped from the Beginning
The timeline below shows where the term Polygenesis appears in Stamped from the Beginning. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4: Saving Souls, Not Bodies
...Africans. In An Essay, Locke claims that West African women had children with monkeys. This polygenesis theory soon gained widespread support—not least among enslavers in the British colonies.
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Chapter 7: Enlightenment
...sense are also physically “hardy” and fierce. With these ideas, he adds weight to the polygenesis theory, suggesting that Africans and Europeans do not emerge from a common ancestor. This is...
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...different species, it wouldn’t make sense that they could have children together. Yet segregationists and polygenesists are not so easily swayed by this argument. The supposed wrongness and aberration of biracial...
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Chapter 8: Black Exhibits
...Edward Long writes a book entitled History of Jamaica that lends further weight to the polygenesis theory. Long claims that Black people more closely resemble monkeys than white people and argues...
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Chapter 9: Created Equal
...enslaved in this statement or if the word “created” hints at the still-raging debates over polygenesis. In the same document he rebukes the British for attempting to encourage the enslaved to...
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Chapter 10: Uplift Suasion
...the question of abolition is further marginalized. In this economically booming, increasingly secular environment, the polygenesis theory gains new life.
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Chapter 14: Imbruted or Civilized
...a “virtual consensus” around white superiority and scholars still remain gripped by the monogenesis versus polygenesis debate. In 1842, a scientific controversy emerges when Harvard-educated psychiatrist Edward Jarvis realizes that Northern...
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In 1850, a debate over polygenesis erupts at the American Association for the Advancement of Science’s annual conference in Charleston. Attendees...
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Chapter 15: Soul
...group of authors including Josiah C. Nott and George Gliddon publish an 800-page book on polygenesis, Types of Mankind. The book is an enormous success. Meanwhile, Herman Melville publishes “The ‘Gees”...
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...in appearance (and that this is a good thing). Despite their mutual opposition to slavery, polygenesis, and segregation, Douglass and Garrison’s friendship dissolves. Douglass dislikes the patronizing “paternalism” of the white...
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Chapter 16: The Impending Crisis
...white supremacy and Black inferiority was “stamped from the beginning.” It briefly seems as if polygenesis will become the broadly accepted story about human origins once and for all. However, everything...
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