This site clearly explains the concept of Social Darwinism, then asks students to evaluate its implications in an example. Good lesson in critical thinking and philosophy.

U.S. History is designed to meet the scope and sequence requirements of most introductory courses. The text provides a balanced approach to U.S. history, considering the people, events, and ideas that have shaped the United States from both the top down (politics, economics, diplomacy) and bottom up (eyewitness accounts, lived experience). U.S. History covers key forces that form the American experience, with particular attention to issues of race, class, and gender.Senior Contributing AuthorsP. Scott Corbett, Ventura CollegeVolker Janssen, California State University, FullertonJohn M. Lund, Keene State CollegeTodd Pfannestiel, Clarion UniversityPaul Vickery, Oral Roberts UniversitySylvie Waskiewicz

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain how the inventions of the late nineteenth century contributed directly to industrial growth in America
Identify the contributions of Andrew Carnegie, John Rockefeller, and J. P. Morgan to the new industrial order emerging in the late nineteenth century
Describe the visions, philosophies, and business methods of the leaders of the new industrial order

Inventors of the Age
From Invention to Industrial Growth
Building Industrial America on the Backs of Labor
A New American Consumer Culture

By the end of this section, you will be able to:

Explain how American writers, both fiction and nonfiction, helped Americans to better understand the changes they faced in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries
Identify some of the influential women and African American writers of the era