William Graham Sumner - Definition and Overview

William Graham Sumner (1840-1910) was the leading American advocate of Social Darwinism. He was a professor of sociology at Yale University. As a sociologist, his major accomplishments were developing the concepts of diffusion, folkways, and ethnocentrism. Sumner's work with folkways led him to conclude that attempts at reform were useless. He was a staunch advocate of laissez-faire economics, arguing that the practices of the Gilded Age were rather plutocracy.

Quotes

There are two chief things with which government has to deal. They are the property of men and the honor of women.