The Role Of Social Darwinism In The White Man's Burden

The late nineteenth century was known as the age of the “New Imperialism.” Robert Marks describes imperialism as a time “where European countries and the United States competed to grab large parts of the world to create, or add to, their colonial empires.” This in most eyes, does not seem like the correct way to raise a society, but major nations who had power led others to believe in the justification of imperialism through theories, writings, and images.
One of the major ideas brought about in the late nineteenth century was Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism explains the “why” in how some people are wealthy and some are “sloth.” Hebert Spencer idol of Social Darwinism, virtually described it as a natural process in which all people deserved their dismal fates. It was encouraged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to justify imperialism to discourage intervention. …show more content…
Kipling described how people in Europe viewed men of different backgrounds as “sullen people.” He then continued with “To seek another’s profit, and work another’s gain.” This defined the relationship between the “white man” and “other man.” The white man gets the profit while those who worked must grow up and understand no matter how hard they work, they may never earn the life they might have predicted. Kipling’s intended his poem to show the U.S. to take up the “burden” of empire like the European nations had done and described the affliction by justifying