Name: ________________________________________
Date : ____________________
The White Man’s Burden
The White Man’s Burden
Rudyard Kipling, 1899
Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go, bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait, in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild—
Your new-caught sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.
How are the non-white people described in
the poem? Why?
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____________________________________________
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What is the white man’s responsibility to
these people?
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Ethnocentrism: __________________________________________________________
Eurocentrism: ____________________________________________________________
Political Cartoons
Europeans and Americans had varied reactions to
Kipling’s poem and imperialism in general. View the
cartoons and analyze their meanings by answering
the questions below in complete sentences.
Cartoon on
the Left
Cartoon on
the Right
How are the white men portrayed?
How are the white men portrayed?
How are the non-white men portrayed?
How are the non-white men portrayed?
What is the American man doing? What is
the White Man’s Burden?
What are the white men doing? What is the
White(?) Man’s Burden?
Is this a positive or a negative image of
Imperialism? Explain.
Is this a positive or a negative image of
Imperialism? Explain.