Polygenesis held that each race was created separately as a distinct species

Evidence

The daguerreotypes were Agassiz’s attempt to illustrate his support of the “polygenesis” theory. I learned from the article that in 1850, when the photo was taken, there was a belief among white Europeans that all people were descended from Adam and Eve. This was called monogenesis. Polygenesis was the theory of “multiple, separate creations for each race as distinct species that became the hallmark of the American School of Ethnology.” — Tamara Lanier, From These Roots, 164

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines the polygenesis/monogenesis distinction that frames the entire case.
• XREF: Connects to the 1850 daguerreotype context and Agassiz’s scientific racism; relevant to the property-law-of-images argument.