Throughout history people have been attempting to justify imperialism. The reasons given to support imperialism by the colonizers have included religion, economics, territorial gain, power, and most of all control. The colonizers believed that the natives needed their help to be better people, to be civilized people. They believed that God was guiding them into positions of power because the world needed order. The world needed to be explored, profits needed to be made, and the natives needed to be enlightened. Some people were considered inferior because of their race and culture. The imperialists believed that to create a better world, those people who were savage, wild, ignorant, and different than the white man needed to be taught proper religion, shown how to efficiently tend to the land, and how to be subservient while doing so. The natives conformed to the ways of the newly formed colonies, even at the expense of their freedom, happiness, and oftentimes life. Justifications of Imperialism Imperialism changed civilizations across the world. Civilizations changed as …show more content…
Occupying more land allowed for larger crops and larger crops led to more money and in the minds of the colonists, money meant security, power, and happiness (Kipling, n.d.). In Mark Twain’s (n.d.) writing, betterment of everyone’s lives did not appear to be the case, as the old man in the writing reminds the people that when they ask for good to happen for themselves, such as prayer to win a war, sometimes it comes at the cost of other peoples’ lives, even the lives of children (Twain, n.d.). Because the old man didn’t look like the rest of the people, and because the information he offered didn’t make sense to them, he was looked upon as insane, as different than all the other people who supported their troops, and supported the war (Twain,