Date of Award
6-12-2025
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
History, MA
First Advisor
Justin Castro
Committee Members
Erik Gilbert; Joseph Key
Call Number
ISBN 9798280760240
Abstract
This thesis explores the connections between scientific language, scientific and commercial ventures, and the impact they had on nineteenth century California. Eighteenth century intellectual movements that emerged from the Scientific Revolution, Industrial Revolution, and the Enlightenment, influenced how U.S. intellectuals perceived both nature and other peoples. By the nineteenth century, U.S. politicians began to promote the scientific exploration of the western regions of North America in order to understand how to better utilize and gain power over natural resources and access to commercial markets. Within these scientific expeditions, scientists, military officials, and artists incorporated new verbiage to not only describe the land but the people as well. The language that scientists implemented further reinforced racial hierarchies that promoted the philosophy of Manifest Destiny. This language seeped into the American consciousness creating new justifications for racism that promoted political expansion and the dispossession of Indigenous and Mexican lands. By 1848, these justifications pushed the U.S. nation-state fully into California. Both state and federal politicians further implemented the language of science to promote and support the genocide of Indigenous Californians.
Rights Management
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Allinson, Jared Dewight, "Scientific Imperialism: Science, Nature, Race, and the U.S. Conquest of California" (2025). Student Theses and Dissertations. 1054.
https://arch.astate.edu/all-etd/1054
