Imperialism Dbq Essay

After the civil war, United States took a turn that led them to solidify as the world power. From the late 1800s, as the US began to collect power through Cuba, Hawaii, and the Philippines, debate arose among historians about American imperialism and its behavior. Historians such as William A. Williams, Arthur Schlesinger, and Stephen Kinzer provides their own vision and how America ought to be through ideas centered around economics, power, and racial superiority.

What role did Imperialism play in shaping U.S. foreign policy in the late 19th and early 20th centuries?

Imperialism was a time period in which more developed nations colonized less developed nations. The developed nations took advantage of the less developed nations resources, people, lands, and much more. Many countries lost their freedom and independence due to imperialism, however, they also received new technologies and innovations.

European Imperialization had an entirely different effect on Africa, Latin America, and Asia. People of these countries endored lots of hard work, and lost their culture, land, and self respect. A negative effect is seen in Document two, a picture called "Learning civilized ways is hard work." In the picture you can see an Asain and an African pulling around a seated European. For the native poeple colonization ment doing the European’s hard work. Natvie people were used as a form of cheap, and somtimes even slave labor. The Africans, Latin Americans, and Asians had no freedom, they were completly controlled by the Europeans. This did not civilize the smaller contries. All of the promisies and benifits sated in

According to these individuals, “Nothing can save the inferior race but a ready and plant assimilation . . . what if it should be God’s plan to people the world with better and finer material?” (Strong). In the opinion of these Europeans, imperialism could be seen as a helpful and merciful act. Unfortunately, works of writing such as this one by Josiah Strong acted as a veil between the reality of the forced assimilation in Africa and what Europeans thought the situation in Africa was like. In some cases, the colonized Africans themselves described imperialistic rule in Africa in a way which made it seem less harsh. For instance, one Ndebele tribe member named Ndansi Kumalo described how “the white men have brought some good things” and goes on to say how the Europeans brought “plows [and] . . . European clothes” (Kumalo). Additionally, he writes about the fact that “the Government has arranged for education and through that, when our children grow up, they may rise in status. We want them to be educated and civilized and make better citizens” (Kumalo). Though it may not have been intentional, and Kumalo goes on to describe some of the difficulties of

American Imperialism has been a part of United States history ever since the American Revolution. Imperialism is practice by which powerful nations or people seek to expand and maintain control or influence over weaker nations or peoples. Throughout the years there has been many instances where the Americans have taken over other people countries, almost every time we go into we have taken over a new piece of land. The Americas first taste of imperialism came about five hundred years ago when Columbus came to America. We fought the pleasant inhabitants and then took over their land making them slaves. Americans over the years have been known to become almost selfish, no matter how much we have we will never be happy until we control the

The principle justification offered by the Europeans for their colonization of Asia & Africa was the moral and technological superiority of the western world. As the Europeans saw it, the spread of the European way of life would substantially increase living standards for the colonized. While economic reasons were obviously the primary impetus for colonial expansion, the Europeans believed that they were not only improving the natives’ conditions, but they were saving their mortal souls by bringing Christianity to them. Over time, the technologically advanced way of life came to be associated with Europe, and with Europeans. This is the cause of the racist and social Darwinist undertones in the documents.

The Europeans had felt as though the needed to help the Africans to become more like ‘regular’ civil people. Jules Ferry, ex prime minister of France, was one of those Europeans that thought the needed to help the Africans. The ex prime minister had even given a speech “On French Colonial Expansion” where he gave his opinion on how Europe has done Africa a favor in colonizing the country. “They have a duty to civilize the inferior races”(document 7). Jules Ferry is saying that the Europeans are the only salvation for the Africans. He is saying that the only way that race can be more “human” is if the Europeans do their job and teach them how to act in a civilized society. This matters because this leads to racist beliefs that then go on for

Especially in past centuries, it has always been the European way of thinking to see themselves superior to people in developing nations or third world countries. Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden”, is a popular and shining example of these thought processes, and can work as almost a summary of the beliefs held by white Europeans during the early days of colonization and imperialism. Kipling, who is ironically also admired as a famous children’s author, writes, “Take up the White Man’s Burden, Send forth the best ye breed. . . Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child” (1-4). Kipling’s famously controversial poem supports the idea that it was the white man’s responsibility to educate, clean, and overall “better” the lives of the people whose lives they completely uprooted by colonizing their homelands. He disturbingly refers to these people as “Half-devil and half-child,” meaning that they weren’t viewed as human, let alone capable, intelligent beings. Although this extreme way of thinking is far more rare to find today, it goes to show how strong the ideas that Africans were lesser than Europeans were ingrained in white people’s minds, as this poem was highly regarded by many during its time of publication. Conrad was no exception to this way of

Throughout history, many imperialistic countries employ different forms of prejudice within society to help enable the governing heads to rule with very little resistance and to further assist the growth of their nation even though the method deployed are incorrect in many ways. Africans in Heart of Darkness were isolated in order to help expand the horizons of the growing British Empire through economic and other personal agendas, such as protection. By instilling the ideology of prejudice within a person, they are more likely to carry out more efficient, inhumane methods of carrying out a task without much hesitation and drawback as it gives them motivation to do so without a real just purpose. At the time this book was written, England was

Chapter 1 of The Power of Babel basically speaks of the racism that came along with the colonization of African countries. It specifically states that “European

During the 19th and 20th century European nations tried to justify their actions by claiming it to be a ‘’civilizing mission’. Indeed, the Victorians argued that they were bringing light to what they called the dark continent that being Africa.

Scientific study was a crucial contributor leading to violence towards other races of Caucasian Europeans. Author Linqvist illustrated European brutal treatment towards people of colour in the historical analysis Exterminate all the brutes. Europeans claimed that as they reached industrialization, African were at the primitive stage of society, therefore it was the European mission to help “civilize” them. They considered Africans more animal than human. Europeans, during the Imperialism period, were determined to claim that the white was the most superior race of the human species.

European colonists at the time had an extreme sense of racial superiority over the Africans who were perceived to be “savage” and “uncivilized.” According to the English poet Rudyard Kipling in his poem the “White Man’s Burden,” it was the moral duty and obligation to civilize and educate “Your [the Europeans’] new-caught, sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.” This poem served as justification for the actions of the European colonists in Africa. Although, the common person may have thought civilizing was occurring, realistically that was not the case. Africans were being abused, sold into slavery, and stripped of their cultural norms by the colonists’ religion, Christianity. With constant pressures from Europe, Africa was unable to develop because of population loss, new dependence on European imports as opposed to domestic production, and warfare that was created as a result of European colonists establishing superimposed boundaries between nations. These boundaries disregarded relations between various African ethnic groups and therefore resulted in warfare because conflicting ethnic groups were often included same nation. Because of the constant instability between ethnic groups, development was hindered the majority of the nation was constantly using its available resources towards war rather than development. Furthermore, with the lack of resources being allocated towards development the African nations would fall behind the rest of the European and North American

This idea is outlined in Rudyard Kipling’s poem, “The White Man’s Burden.” The poem doesn’t overtly implicate religion in the paternalistic call to civilize allegedly savage peoples, but it does rely on religious phraseology to make its imperialist point: “Your new-caught sullen people, half-devil and half-child…Watch sloth and heathen Folly bring all your hopes to naught…The silent, sullen people shall weigh your gods and you…” (Kipling, web). The deep paternalism of the civilizing mission, which dictated the European community’s humane duty to care for those in other, “lesser” cultures, can also be tied to the justifications for chattel slavery which wasn’t abolished until late in the nineteenth century. Proponents of slavery relied upon a Eurocentric worldview in which a racial hierarchy was a social necessity. Further, certain biblical passages allowed and celebrated the enslavement of others (“The Philosophy of Colonialism,” web). Hence, Christianity has played an integral role in the imperialist and colonist tendencies exhibited by prominent Western powers in the last four