Essay "Savage or Civilized?"

Essay "Savage or Civilized?"

This 1877 essay from Monthly Musings, the predecessor to the Messenger literary magazine, argues against the Theory of Evolution. It begins with the assertion that the belief that men were once "savages" is currently fashionable. The writer looks to ancient civilizations such as the Egyptians, Chinese, and Cushites and asserts that they were not savage people, nor were they ever, pointing to things such as monuments, agriculture, and domestication of animals. However, at the end of the work, the writer claims that the people of the Pacific islands were "in their Stone Age" when Europeans came across them, as well as calls the Aztec civilization "inferior." This writer cites the sources "M. Renan" and "Dr. Schliemann" in his essay.

"Savage or Civilized?" Monthly Musings 3, no. 2 (1877): 3. Virginia Baptist Historical Society.

Monthly Musings, University of Richmond

1877

English

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Richmond (Va.)