How Did Albert Beveridge's Political Cartoon Protest Colonial Imperialism

Those who favored colonial expansion and the foundation of foreign colonies had different justifications for believing so. There were those who believed their race to be the superior race, and that because God had given them the gifts of knowledge and land, it was their mission to educate and govern the inferior races. Albert Beveridge, a former Uniter States Senator in the late 18th century, was a strong supporter and defender of imperialism. Using religion and divine right to justify the taking over of other nations, Beveridge claimed that God had given them the means and power to reach out to inferior nations and spread the ideals of Christianity. He even went so far as to state that it would be immoral and selfish of the American people to rise to this call of expansion. Beveridge also explains that these lesser nations do not have the right to decide how they are governed because that freedom of

Not to mention the damage the European agriculture and construction have done to the native species. One might receive the same message when looking at R. C. Bowman’s political cartoon titled, “Joseph Chamberlain mounts a new gun.” This image depicts the English leader of foreign policy, Joseph Chamberlain, firing different guns labeled, “extermination,” “conciliation,” and “intimidation” from a cannon labeled “parliamentary majority.” Bowman created this image to convey the message that imperialism cannot be justified by the claim that it seeks to civilize underdeveloped people, because, in their efforts to “civilize” them, the English invaders are doing nothing but killing countless native people. Not only are they killing natives, this image suggests that anyone in the battle for “civilization” is at risk of being killed, this includes the