Motives For Imperialism Essay

Since there were many nations involved, there were many attributes that led up to imperialism. Firstly, the Europeans wanted economic expansion. Since the industrial revolution had taken place, the Europeans were in need of more natural resources. They also wanted new markets for the sake of selling industrial products. To achieve this they had to look for more places outside of Europe and colonize it.

Throughout the history of the world, imperialism has played a major role. Imperialism is one country’s complete domination of the political, economic, and social life of another country. Imperialism has many positive and negative effects. The Age of Imperialism is considered 1800 - 1914. During this time Europe became a major world leader. European countries set up colonies all over Africa, Latin America, and Asia, and encouraged their citizens to populate them. European imperialism boosted Europe’s economy, and made them a world power. Imperialization had an entirely different effect on Africa, Latin America, and Asia. People of these countries were mistreated, they lost their culture, land, and self respect. The negative effects of

Joseph Conrad 's Heart of Darkness is both a dramatic tale of an arduous trek into the Belgian Congo at the turn of the twentieth century and a symbolic journey into the deepest recesses of human nature. On a literal level, through Marlow 's narration, Conrad provides a searing indictment of European colonial exploitation inflicted upon African natives. By employing several allegoric symbols this account depicts the futility of the European presence in Africa.

Drinking was very common among the early European colonist. Alcohol served different purpose in their everyday lives. Alcohol used as a substitute of drinking water because water was contaminated also alcohol used for medical purposes to overcome fatigue, soothing indigestion and pain. People started to drink more when the hard liquors became more available and local brewing had increased. Between 1800 and 1830, the annual per capita alcohol consumption in the United States was estimated to be between 5 and 9.5 gallons, compared with 2.6 in 1978.[American journal ] Furthermore, the kind of alcohol use that was usually reported was far more socially harmful than is usual today. Indeed, alcohol provided an uncontrolled opportunity or unacceptable behavior. No doubt, self-selection of

Source: “European rule has been what we call, ‘the knife of sugar’.That is to say, living under their control is all smooth and sweet, but it is still a knife, We have benefited in some ways by their presence, but in others ways we have suffered.”-Unknown

Heart of Darkness is a novella written by Joseph Conrad based on his six month stay in Congo, Africa which is considered a significant tome for its depiction of Imperialism. Imperialism is defined as 'a policy or practice by which a country increases its power by gaining control over other areas of the world.' (Merriam-Webster Dictionary) In it Conrad depicts the treatment of the local natives by Europeans and the motives of Europeans to compare actual activities in Africa to the propaganda being spread in Europe claiming efforts to civilize , educate, and otherwise establish Africans to European standards of living. The accuracy of Conrad's

European society has always believed that their race is better than the others and that it is their responsibility to look out for the “weaker” races. French politician Jules Ferry in his 1883 “Speech before the French National Assembly” asserts, “superior races have a right, because they have a duty. They have the duty to civilize inferior races”(188). As the European people believed that they are the dominant race, they took it upon themselves to “civilize” the other non-white races. Similar to Ferry, Rudyard Kipling, an English novelist and poet, explains his views of white being the superior race and having an obligatory duty towards civilizing the other races in his 1899 “The White Man’s Burden” poem. In his poem when he says, “take up the white man’s burden,” he refers to the burden of having to civilize the societies and people that are not like them. Kipling refers to the people from races and societies as “silent, sullen peoples”(219). Kipling portrays the white Europeans as being the powerful ones chosen to upbring other societies. This poem was written during Imperialism in order justify the European powers taking over colonies that shared different cultures and beliefs. For the European people, “civilize” meant to impose their way of life and culture on the other assumed to be weaker races. Although, Darwin's ideas opposed this European belief of the white race being supreme. In his “Descent of Man”, Darwin argues, “man with all his noble qualities, with sympathy which feels for the most debased, with benevolence which extends not only to other men but to the humblest living creature”(184). Darwin refutes the idea that white race is superior by demonstrating that being civilized is defined by the characteristics of man, not race. Also, according to Darwin, all mankind evolved from the same origin and therefore making no race superior. By

In Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, the imperialism of Africa is described. Conrad tells the story of the cruel treatment of the natives and of the imperialism of the Congo region through the perspective of the main character, Marlow. Throughout the novel, Marlow describes how the Europeans continuously bestow poor treatment to the native people by enslaving them in their own territory. Analyzing the story with the New Criticism lens, it is evident that Conrad incorporates numerous literary devices in Heart of Darkness, including similes, imagery, personification, and antitheses to describe and exemplify the main idea of cruel imperialism in Africa discussed throughout the novella.

Imperialism is the reason for the corruption and the want for power in the novel Heart of Darkness. Author Joseph Conrad criticizes imperialism and the effects on Africa. Conrad sarcastically describes imperialism as “ “something like an emissary of light, something like a lower sort of apostle" (Conrad 14), which proves that Conrad disliked the justification of imperialism.

Heart of Darkness, by Joseph Conrad, is an intriguing and extremely disturbing portrayal of man"s surrender to his carnal nature when all external trappings of "civilization" are removed. This novel excellently portrays the shameful ways in which the Europeans exploited the Africans: physically, socially, economically, and spiritually.

Heart of Darkness, written by Joseph Conrad is an interesting take on European imperialism in the 19th century. It tells a lot about Conrad’s views on the matter and being able to read it and look upon it with a retrospective view is very intriguing as we know of many brutalities but often just dismiss it. For many what Conrad’s views are is widely questioned. It can be seen as either a criticism on imperialism and European activities in Africa.

Imperialism is a practice by which a nation expands its energy by picking up control over different regions of the world. The motives of imperialism is to profit, control exchange, crude materials and shoddy work. investigate obscure zones, more logical examination, go on an enterprise. pick up force, contend with region, and great military power. Some major events are the First and Second Boer Wars, "European trade with Africa became well established, East India Company collapses due to Sepoy Rebellion, and Ethiopians defeated the invading Italians at the Battle of Adowa." An organized political framework was presented. Land picked up by the Europeans were lost to the Africans. Regional requests brought on both common wars amongst tribes and

Imperialism in Heart of Darkness is prompted by pursuit of natural resources such as ivory under the guise of the benevolent deed of civilizing primitive savage tribes of Africa. What occurs is the widespread enslavement of Africans by Europeans via forced labor, physical beatings, chained bondage, and denial of basic necessities such as food, clothing, and medicine, as seen here:

"There were many different motivations for 19th-century imperialism. Economics was a major motivating factor. Western industrial powers wanted new markets for their manufactured goods as well as cheap labor; they also needed raw materials.

When met with recent history, the ideas that supported imperialism in 1800s are more excuses to conquer rather than reasons to civilize. While most Europeans blindly agreed to the practice, Joseph Conrad protested it in his novella Heart of Darkness. Imperialism held pride in raising the bar in Europe’s economy, disgusting Conrad with the superiority the trading heads seem to exalt. Conrad expresses his negative opinion on European imperialism by empathizing businessmen’s and pilgrims’ malicious acts and the natives’ innocence. He also uses the narrator, Charles Marlow, who tells his story with such passion that it seems unreliable, but the comments he makes throughout both reflect the consensus that Europe had come to and Conrad’s ideas.