Racial Intermarriage Quotes
Lawrence was one of the very advanced scientists of his time presaging Darwin on a few issues. But he erroneously believed that character and intellect were heretical capabilities. Intellect has been shown to be an inheritable trait to some extent (50-60 percent), but it is not racial per se. And character as we now know is not inherited.
This was passed after the Civil War had ended---during Reconstruction. Many states had similar laws until the Supreme Court challenges to them in the latter half of the 20th century.
Nott, a Southerner who owned slaves, was not only an apologist for slavery as this quotation illustrates, but also wrote on his theories of race. Nott was one of the writers about race that Darwin singled out as being completely wrong in 1871: The Descent of Man.
For anyone in government not to take a stand against intermarriage was almost unthinkable, but when the First Lady did so, it became a national scandal, especially in the South. See {625628} for one reaction.
He was referring to the French Revolutionist, Joachim Murat, who was a mulatto. Note the incorrect bias at the time that a mixed race — human hybrid — was inferior and unnatural. See related quotes.
Note that Alabama not only had a law against miscegenation but with this constitution made it illegal for a legislature in the future to ever legalize miscegenation. After the Supreme Court made anti-miscegenation laws illegal, Alabama had to amend this part of its constitution.
Agassiz, a prominent Harvard professor was considered the leading biological and zoological scientist in America, Yet he was totally wrong about most of his conclusions regarding regarding species and races from horses to humans. He was one of the few scientists who rejected Darwin’s approach to evolution and that that Asians, Blacks, Whites and Indians were separate species and other erroneous things as this quote about mixed race humans.