By the end of the American Civil War in the late 1860s, the argument for “Survival of the Fittest” was applied to the issue of education for the deaf as a result of a Darwinist perspective of Evolution.[18] This movement brought manualists arguing their view that signs were closer to nature because the first thing babies learn to do is gesture, which is akin to sign language.[18] To the Deaf community, manualism was at the time considered a gift from God.[18] During this particular time in the United States, oralism was coming about which gave some a negative view of manualism because, it was argued, it was not a natural language.[18]