Historical Development Anthropology Blog

I chose to research Lewis Henry Morgan. He was an American anthropologist who lived in the mid 19th century. Morgan was an attorney for most of his adulthood but found that he had a fascinating interest in the Native American people and their way of life. He began to study the history and culture of the Iroquois Nation. Morgan claims that one of the Indigenous groups within the Iroquois Nation, the Seneca tribe, adopted him. He spent his time with them and studied different aspects of their culture. He later wrote what he'd learned in a book he called, "The League of the Ho-dé-no-sau-nee, or Iroquois", published in 1851. 

As he became more focused on the Seneca people, he noticed pieces of information from the tribe that he could connect with other groups and societies. This lead him to come up with his theory on "cultural evolution" - the idea that society progresses and goes through different stages. He goes in depth on this in his book, "Ancient Society, or Researches in the Lines of Human Progress from Savagery through Barbarism to Civilization". This book was published in 1877.

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