AMERICAN IMPERIALISM AND
RACE A BURDEN
IMPERIALISM 1900
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
1890s United States expansion continues- gain
Alaska and Hawaii
Mind frame of the time- whites are sent by god to
protect the world and establish democracy
(Manifest Destiny, Spanish- American war)
Foreign affairs
Social Darwinism
Period of Jingoism
BURDEN
The White Man’s Burden
The Brown Man’s Burden
February 1899
February 25, 1899
Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936)
Born and resided in Bombay
(Mumbai), India during British control
of India
Henry Du Pre Labouchere (1831-1912)
Raised in England
Politician and writer
English writer
Radical-attacked socially privileged
order (same one that he came from)
Supported imperialism
Against:
Fraud
Injustice
THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN
Overview of poem- Kipling’s message
Appealing to Americans to join imperialism
Duty of white man
Saving the “half-devil and half-child” people by:
Providing food
Protecting against sickness
Civilizing them
Creating peace
Not have an iron fist king
THE BROWN MAN’S BURDEN
Mocking “White Man’s Burden”
Brown man’s loss
white man’s gain
False claim by white man of “helping” brown
man
Claim of philanthropy
Abuse
Little money/value from labor
Freedom only for white man
More blood spilled
Racism
White’s economic gain
QUESTIONS???
NB RESPONSE
• What lessons can be learned from America’s Age of
Imperialism?
• What actions do you believe America should take going
forward (post Spanish-American war)?
• What should be America’s foreign policy in 2011?