The White Man's Burden Analysis

The period 1875-1920 has been described by some historians as a period of “selflessness” during which the United States helped weaker nations from dominant European powers and spread the “blessings of democracy and civilization.” Others have described the “New Manifest Destiny” as a time of “ruthless American expansion” at the cost of weaker nations and in violation of our own principles of consent of the governed and popular sovereignty.

According to the United States, democracy and Christianity were principal elements of a successful society. During the end of the eighteen-hundreds and throughout the beginning of the nineteen-hundreds, America tried to colonize and reform less fortunate nations. Following a social-Darwinist point of view, Americans took their “God-given” superiority to those who were incapable of establishing their own self-government (Doc. H). After much debate, American foreign policy towards the Philippines and Cuba was that it is our duty to rule them until they could rule themselves. We pledged to save the indigenous people from their savage, bloody, and corrupt ways of life. President McKinley’s foreign policy towards the Philippines stated that “they would soon have anarchy and misrule…there was nothing left to do but take them all, educate the Filipinos, and uplift and civilize them” (Doc. A).

Source 1 is an image that is showing a man in a washroom washing his hands with soap. It can be made out that the man is white and of high social class. It is an advertisement about Pears’ soap and its advances in cleaning purposes. But on the other hand we can read the saying “The White Man’s Burden” which is used to indicate that white men have a responsibility o0f being paternalistic towards the first nations. In this case it is most likely first nations since in the background there are signs of ships and imperialism. The ideological perspective presented in the source is globalization. If there was no competition between the European countries it was most likely that America would have never been found. The links between the principles

The part of the world where the Philippines lies was one of the most volatile and dangerous in the world. That being said, it also had some of the most profitable trade routes, richest resources and was a vital part of the world to have a stronghold. By following through with the annexation of the Philippines, the Americans were able to gain a stronghold on the other side of the world, enrich themselves by gaining access to the valuable resources that were so plentiful and to take the time to help spread freedom and democracy. William McKinley clearly believed and stated that “ we could not turn them over to France and Germany – our commercial rivals in the Orient – that would be bad business and discreditable.”

Josiah Strong believed that God granted the Anglo-Saxon race superiority over the other races and are destined to dominate the world. Furthermore, Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge, an avid imperialism supporter, presented to the senate that those in the Philippines would be grateful for US protection and the chance at liberty (Doc 6). In addition, President McKinley asserted that the Philippines were too weak for self-government, instead, they needed America to to educate, uplift, and Christianize them (Doc 3). As asserted by prominent leaders at the time, Imperialism was a proper policy for America to follow because it would better the lives of those under them and fulfill God’s destiny for them to expand. Their dominance was not just inevitable, it was the right thing to do. Correspondingly, Imperialism was driven by the need for new markets to export goods to and the demand for raw materials. As written by U.S. Navy officer, Alfred T. Mahan, America’s economy needed to expand with the growing demand for raw materials and new markets for agricultural/industrial goods (Doc 2). Moreover in document 5, Indiana Republican Senator Albert Beveridge justified imperialism with the Pacific Ocean as the future of commerce, and thus, whoever controlled it would govern the

Imperialism was an extremely controversial issue in the 1800s and early 1900s. Imperialism is defined in our book as: “The practice by which a nation acquires and holds colonies and other possessions, denies them self-government, and usually exploits them economically.” The Republicans and Democrats had a huge role in the idea of expansion during this time period, Republicans defined themselves on the idea of what their party did to gain self worth and the Democrats were more focused on what they opposed rather that what they stood for. Democrats imposed government influence on economy and countless other things. Democrats stood for white supremacy.

Soon after the end of the Spanish-American War and the acquisition of the Philippines, many Americans became worried about the implications of the imperialist mindset. Jane Addams, an imperative social reformer of her time, gave a speech in which she argued that Imperialism would damage America’s social atmosphere by encouraging violence as a way of communication. Addams believed that the Imperialist mindset would move the United States away from social reform

Michael Cox’s thesis as outlined in “Empire by Denial? Debating US Power”, is chiefly that: the United States of America is an empire, and that current beliefs to the contrary are the result of denialism due to negative connotations associated with the concept of empire, not due to a lack of suitability of that term to describe the current state of American foreign policy.

Whether or not college athletes should get paid is a topic that has been heavily debated recently. Some questions that arise when debating this topic are: Where will the money come from? Will paying college athletes ultimately ruin college sports? Isn’t full scholarships enough for college athletes? College athletes of all sports, not just football, deserve to be paid.

The subsequent bombing of the ship was blamed on the Spanish with virtually no evidence; however, yellow journalists Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst sensationalized Spanish “atrocities” in Cuba fanning the flames for war. McKinley sought support for a military campaign against the Spanish in Cuba on April 11, 1898 in his Message to Congress Requesing a Declaration of War. The address highlights four justifications for intervention in the region. McKinley’s third reason for intervention was “justified by the very serious injury to the commerce, trade, and business of our people” and fourth justification “…which is of the utmost importance. The present condition of affairs in Cuba is a constant menace to our peace and entails upon this Government an enormous expense” resonate with a sense of American imperialism. The primary concerns of the nation dealt with trade and business implications for American markets instead of the safety and security of the Cuban people. The Platform of the American Anti-Imperialist League supported the “immediate cessation of the war against liberty, begun by Spain.”

The idea of Imperialism a policy of extending a country's power and influence through diplomacy or military force. The two readings of The white man’s burden and The Black Man's Burden: The White Man in Africa from the Fifteenth Century to World War I show to different sides of people and how they were affected by imperialism.

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.

The topic I examined in the collective activity was the “Dawn of American Imperialism.” The dawn of American imperialism was a time of expansion and also a time of war and racism. During this time America was increasing “its power by gaining control over other areas of the world” (Merriam-Webster). America was fighting a war in the Philippines to take control because Americans thought Filipinos’ could not govern themselves and were uneducated. Also America was trying to annex Hawaii even though the majority of Hawaiians were against the annexation. During this time people and companies such as Josiah strong, Rudard Kipling and Pearl’s soap were spreading racism and the belief that Anglo-Saxons were a superior race and should “impress its institutions upon man-kind” (Josiah Strong, “Our Country”).

I think that American imperialism was partly a success but mostly a failure. It was sort of a success because America was able to expand and take over many nations to have more land which was the goal, but it was also a failure because after gaining domination in many nations, the U.S. was unable to meet the amount of responsibility it required to take care of all the land. The struggles that America faced in taking care of the nation were shared in a poem written by Rudyard Kipling titled “The White Man’s Burden”1 and I believe that the poem is a good example of how imperialism did work but how it was regretted by America. It also failed because it went against the constitution, created hostility between nations, and it destroyed lasting cultures and promoted the idea of Americans being superior.

Rudyard Kipling’s 1899 poem “The White Man’s Burden” epitomizes the European man’s view on imperialism, Euro-centrism and social Darwinism. Four centuries before 1899, such ideas were briefly hinted in the letter from Christopher Columbus to King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella, however by 1899 these attitudes strengthened and developed fully into their complete meaning. The U.S and Europe’s imperialism in the nineteenth century were the most influential ever in the history of human civilization. The immense motive for imperialism came from social factors including religion and Social Darwinism.