The idea of race was first developed by

• A. European explorers as they encountered diverse people around the globe
• B. Medieval monks
• C. Ancient Greek philosophers
• D. Modern scientists

Answer: (A)

Racial thinking emerged as a way to categorize human differences and justify unequal treatment during Europe’s global explorations. As European explorers encountered diverse peoples around the world, they began creating simple categories based on visible traits to explain differences and to justify domination, conquest, and slavery. This setup the long-standing idea of distinct “races” with hierarchies, which later scientists tried to formalize but were building on those earlier colonial-era classifications. Medieval monks didn’t establish such a framework, ancient Greek philosophers didn’t develop race as a global social hierarchy in the same sense, and while later modern scientists expanded and systematized these ideas, the initial development came from European encounters with diverse populations.