What was Beveridge's argument for how imperialism benefits
colonized people?
Beveridge, an American senator and advocate of imperialism in the late 19th
and early 20th centuries, argued that imperialism benefited colonized people
by bringing civilization, modernization, and democracy to underdeveloped
regions of the world.
According to Beveridge, imperialism allowed advanced Western societies to
spread their superior economic, social, and political systems to other parts of
the world, which would help to promote progress and uplift the lives of
colonized people. He believed that this would enable colonies to develop their
own resources, education systems, and national identity.
Beveridge, like other imperialists, believed that Europeans had a duty to
civilize and uplift the "primitive" and "backward" peoples of the world. He saw
imperialism as a way of bringing order and stability to societies that were
deemed as lacking in these qualities, and ultimately as a benefit to the
colonized people.
However, critics of imperialism argue that the benefits to colonized peoples
were greatly exaggerated and that imperialism was primarily driven by
economic and political interests of the colonizing powers, rather than a
genuine concern for the well-being of colonized people.
References:
- LaFeber, W. (1997). The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion 18601898. Cornell University Press.
- Perkins, B. (1960). American Imperialism in the Shortest-Span. W.W. Norton & Company.
- Beveridge, A. J. (1900). The Philippines and the East; a record of personal observations
and experiences. Chicago, A.C. McClurg & Co.