To Breed or Not to Breed, That Is the Question (Europe 1776–1870)

Abstract

Chapter 3 examines the rise of the natalist discourses that proliferated from 1776 to 1870. The works and disciples of Adam Smith, Thomas Malthus, and Friederich Engels are analyzed to illuminate the birth of new narratives on natality and revolutionary ideas on the meaning of population growth to the body politic. In addition, the birth of demography as a science is discussed. The modern tools of statistics, the census, and secular recordkeeping of population data were pioneered during this era. Discourse was complemented by policy during this period by the new truths on population, which became embedded in the minds of government officials and policymakers. The disconnect between macro conceptualizations of the population and the real behaviors of individuals is examined to begin the process of uncovering the truth about the consistent failure of policy across states.