Lewis Henry Morgan

Definition

Lewis Henry Morgan was a pioneering American anthropologist and social theorist in the 19th century, known for his influential work on kinship systems, social evolution, and the categorization of political systems. His ideas and theories have had a lasting impact on the development of anthropology as a discipline.

5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test

1. Morgan's most influential work, 'Ancient Society,' proposed a three-stage model of social evolution: savagery, barbarism, and civilization.
2. He developed a comprehensive system for classifying kinship relationships and terminology, which is still widely used in anthropology today.
3. Morgan's research on the Iroquois people in the northeastern United States led him to challenge the prevailing view that Native American societies were primitive and uncivilized.
4. His theories on the evolution of political systems, from simple tribal organizations to more complex state-level structures, were influential in the field of political anthropology.
5. Morgan's work on kinship and social organization laid the foundation for the development of structural-functionalist approaches in anthropology, which focus on the interrelated parts of a social system.

Review Questions

• Explain how Lewis Henry Morgan's theories on social evolution influenced the development of anthropology as a discipline.
  • Lewis Henry Morgan's three-stage model of social evolution, which categorized human societies into the stages of savagery, barbarism, and civilization, was highly influential in the early development of anthropology. This evolutionary perspective shaped the way anthropologists understood and studied the diversity of human cultures, leading them to view cultural differences as a reflection of different stages of societal progress. Morgan's work laid the groundwork for the comparative and cross-cultural approaches that became central to the anthropological method, as researchers sought to understand the patterns and trajectories of cultural change and development.
• Describe how Morgan's research on kinship systems contributed to the understanding of social organization in anthropology.
  • Lewis Henry Morgan's extensive work on kinship systems and terminology was a landmark contribution to the field of anthropology. By developing a comprehensive system for classifying and analyzing the complex web of social relationships and family structures within societies, Morgan provided anthropologists with a valuable tool for understanding the underlying principles of social organization. His research on the Iroquois people, in particular, challenged the prevailing view that Native American societies were primitive, and demonstrated the sophisticated nature of their kinship-based social systems. Morgan's work on kinship laid the foundation for the structural-functionalist approach in anthropology, which examines how the various components of a social system, such as kinship, work together to maintain social stability and cohesion.
• Analyze how Morgan's theories on the evolution of political systems influenced the categorization of different forms of political organization in colonial contexts.
  • $$ Lewis Henry Morgan's theories on the evolution of political systems, from simple tribal organizations to more complex state-level structures, had a significant impact on how anthropologists and colonial administrators categorized and understood different forms of political organization. Morgan's evolutionary perspective led him to view less centralized, non-state political systems as less advanced or 'primitive' in comparison to the state-level structures of Western societies. This framework was often used to justify colonial interventions and the imposition of Western political models on indigenous populations, as the colonizers saw it as their duty to 'civilize' these supposedly backward societies. Morgan's theories, therefore, contributed to the categorization and hierarchical classification of political systems in colonial contexts, which served to legitimize the expansion of Western political and economic dominance over non-Western societies. $$

Related terms

Kinship Systems:

The systems of social relationships and family structures that define how individuals are related to one another within a society.

Social Evolution: The theory that human societies and cultures progress through stages of development, from simple to more complex forms.

Political Categorization: The classification and organization of different types of political systems and structures within societies.