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New Imperialism In The Late 19th Century

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New Imperialism describes a practice set in motion by the major western powers during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The “New Imperialism” surge that took place in the 1870’s and on through 1905 had come about suddenly due to various factors including many economic, political, and social forces. The European powers, the United States, and the Empire of Japan had somewhat similar circumstances taking place in their own countries, therefore they all had similar reasons to take part in the practice.
One major reason for the surge in new imperialism was the economy. This time period was not long after a agricultural revolution, and soon after an industrial revolution. These back-to-back economic changes resulted in a growing population in most countries, overcrowding the cities. The United States in particular had problems with a large number of immigrants flowing into the country. This took place when America itself was still recently just developed, so the country was not …show more content…

The nations had a race to get as many colonies as they could. Most people believed that the more colonies a country had, the better of that country would be. Most people also believed this time period was the chance to secure greatness for their country within the future. Great Britain is a prime example of this case, the country had enjoyed an excellent economy and increase in military power due to their head start in imperialism. This is not the only ideal that was widespread during this time, the mindset of social-darwinism also had a great influence on the people. The concept of social darwinism follows the teaching that people are subject to the same laws of natural selection and ”survival of the fittest” as plants and animals. Europeans even took this a step further to calling colonization “The White man’s burden”, as they believed it was their duty to convert their colonies’ way of

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