Dbq Imperialism Essay

539 Words3 Pages

European imperialism accelerated between 1870 and 1920 because of economic, political, and social forces. The Industrial Revolution stirred ambitions of European nations to follow imperialism. The economic force of the desire for resources, Britain’s “sun never sets”political force, and the social force is known as “the white man’s burden” were most responsible for the new imperialism that began in 1870 and 1920. There were several economic forces that led to a new wave of imperialism between 1870 and 1920. Countries all had a desire for resources. According to the first document "makers of cotton and iron goods have been very much interested in imperialism...shipowners demand coaling stations for their vessels...banks make loans to colonies..."(Document …show more content…

Rudyard Kipling was an English poet who wrote poem named “The White Man’s Burden” in 1899. The poem talks about the burden of the white man which is “To serve your captives’ need; To wait, in heavy harness,”(Document 6). Many saw imperialism as a way to bring a sense of civilization and democracy to people who lacked the ability to cultivate it themselves. The burden is to sacrifice their time to serve and guide those who are inferior. This is a very racist way of thinking since people the way of thinking perceives minorities as unable to be civilized and inferior to Caucasian people. Another example of this racist ideas is an interview of President William McKinley who stated “They were unfit for self- government…We could uplift and civilize and Christianize them…”(Document 7). President McKinley is explaining why the United States took over the Philippines. President McKinley says that Filipinos are unable to become civilized and the United States knew it was their burden to take care of them. President McKinley also mentions that the United States needs to “Christianize them” as to say that the Filipinos were incapable to have a religion. By saying “burden“, the word means that it is an ideological duty to bring civilization, freedom, and democracy to all those