Drawing on the writings of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spencer, social Darwinism begins to emerge as a framework for applying natural selection to human societies. It is: "roughly, the idea that the successful deserve their success while those who fail deserve their failure" (Falk, 2020).

Social Darwinism ignores social conditions, such as racism and labor exploitation, and instead argues that the upper classes are biologically superior. This will provide the foundation for many eugenicist beliefs and policies over the coming century.