The Mismeasure of Man

1. How does Gould define biological determinism? (page 52) The claim that worth can be assigned to individuals and groups by measuring intelligence as a single quantity.
2. What are the two major sources of data that have supported this theme known as biological determinism? (page 52) craniometry and certain styles of psychological testing
3. What have biological determinists invoked when it comes to the issue of race? (page 52) A traditional prestige of science of objective knowledge, free from social and political taint
4. According to Gould on page 53, biological determinism is useful for:
   1. Groups in power
   2. Groups not in power
5. According to Gould on page 53, for the adherents of biological determinism, changes to a social and political system based on a racial caste system seen as an extension of nature is:
   1. Inconsequential
   2. an enormous costs for individuals psychologically
   3. an enormous costs for society economically
   4. Both B) and C)
6. Gould’s arguments against biological determinism begin by attacking which two fallacies? (page 56)
   1. Reification and ranking
   2. Geocentrism
7. In the last paragraph of page 56, what does Gould write is his book is about (his explanation continues onto page 57)? The book is about abstraction of intelligence as a single entity, its location within the brain, its qualification as 1 number for each individual, and use of numbers to rank people in a single series of worthiness
8. Finish this sentence, which can be found on page 59: “In most cases discussed in this book, we can be fairly certain that biases—though often expressed as egregiously as in cases of fraud—were unknowingly influential and that scientists believed they were pursuing unsullied truth
9. On page 60, Gould describes biological determinism as a theory of limits. What does he mean by that? few biological subjects have had a more direct influence upon millions/ it takes the current status of groups as a measure of where they should and must be

Plessy v. Ferguson: A Brief History with Documents

1. According to Brook Thomas, the editor of Plessy v. Ferguson: A Brief History with Documents, what were the problems with laws designed to keep races separate (hint: it deals with the concept of skin color and “passing”)? (page 3) They were designed to keep races separate but widespread racial mixture played havoc with efforts to divide the population into pyre black and white categories. “separate but equal” but were rarely equal
2. What did Albion Tourgee want the Supreme Court to do when it came to segregation laws? (page 4) he wanted o test the case of someone with mixed blood to violate the law and he wanted a legal challenge
3. Why was Homer Plessy chosen as a test case? (page 4) He was 1/8 African american and according to counsel, “the mixture was not discernible”
4. Why did Justice John Ferguson rule in favor of Daniel F. Desdunes riding a train over state lines but against Homer Plessy, who rode a train within the borders of Louisiana? (page 5) Ferguson ruled that the law was unconstitutional on interstate trains b/c of the federal governments power to regulate interstate commerce
5. What is the difference between a social right, a political right, and a civil right? (page 12) Political rights are the rights we have in relationship to the political entity that governs us, civil rights are the nonpolitical rights of citizens of particular country and tend to occur a middle ground between political and social rights. Social rights are not rights in relation to governing body but in relation to other human beings in society.
6. Why does Congress pass a civil rights act? (page 13) It decides that some social rights are so important that they should receive legal protection.
7. According to Charles Walter Collins, what did the 14^th Amendment do? (page 14)
8. Which group was the first to bring a case before the Supreme Court citing a violation of their rights under the 13^th and 14^th Amendments (hint: it wasn’t African Americans)? (page 18.)