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Darwinism, the belief that nature was a random process in which either the strongest survived and persisted, was a philosophy widely discussed and used during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. During this time period, it was used to justify both social conservatism, the maintaining of the status quo in society, and social reform. From both sides, this philosophy was augmented upon and interpreted in many different ways. For those who believed in social conservatism, Darwinism justified the current social structure, whether it was exclusion of immigrants or the pyramid social structure. On the other hand, social reform came in many branches of Darwinism. Some, such as Walter Rauschenbusch interpreted the message of Darwinism as to have all individuals work to better society. Others used Darwinism to justify their reform of the idea of professions. Although, having their differences, both social conservatism and reform branched off from the same roots. Social conservatism was a belief that most elites of the time period followed. Darwinism provided the necessary justification for their belief. In society, the number of elites was few while there was a huge population of lower class citizens, hence, creating a “pyramid” social structure. These elites had only one thing in mind, to make profit.
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