1. Historically, the western mind has, until the beginning of the nineteenth century, considered the earth to be only a few thousand years old and this was based upon the Biblical account and the ensuing genealogies given into historical times. Following European and Elizabethan exploration, questions of race were raised and doubts cast upon the universality of the Genesis Flood. The argument was based upon the belief that the colored peoples could not be the descendants of Adam — racial prejudice assumed Adam to have been white!