Pre-1900 eugenics

What if the concept of selectively breeding desirable traits were widely practiced in an earlier time. How would that society turn out. Would it have been a flash in the pan like Nazism or something that becomes sustained through changes in culture, fashion, and human migration?

I realize the Hindu cast system is effectively a form of eugenics. Some say that's why the warrior casts are physically bigger and the Brahmins claim to be smarter than other casts. Although I'm not sure the latter is scientifically verifiable.
 
Some say that's why the warrior casts are physically bigger and the Brahmins claim to be smarter than other casts. Although I'm not sure the latter is scientifically verifiable.
Well, physical bulk as well as intelligence are partially inheritable, but in the end, it just means that smart parents have larger odds of smart children; there's still the chance some end up hypern-like.

Inheritance and the like (unfortunatly) almost prerequires evolution (albeit intrepreted wrongly), which wasn't all that adhered to pre-1900, only published in 1859.
 
Inheritance and the like (unfortunatly) almost prerequires evolution (albeit intrepreted wrongly), which wasn't all that adhered to pre-1900, only published in 1859.

But humans have been breeding dogs, cats, horses, and other livestock since antiquity. The idea that selective breeding can produce specific physical and behavioral traits is well understood. Plus in the age of feudalism it was taken for granted that bloodline and breeding made the difference between servant and master. The idea that a person of low birth can be equally capable as a nobleman, if given the right education, was rarely accepted in much of the world.
 
But humans have been breeding dogs, cats, horses, and other livestock since antiquity. The idea that selective breeding can produce specific physical and behavioral traits is well understood. Plus in the age of feudalism it was taken for granted that bloodline and breeding made the difference between servant and master.
Well, if you put it in that context, it is possible, but than you shouldn't have used the more modern and complicated word 'eugenics' in your title. ;)
 
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