European Expansion Lets Talk.

Question: Who can explain what “Social Darwinism” is? How did Europeans use this as a justification for Imperialism? Do you think some Europeans who believed in Social Darwinism had good intentions?

Cecil Rhodes Business man – Started De Beers Diamonds, which had a world monopoly on diamonds until the 21st Century. “I contend that we Britons are the first race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race…It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eye that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honorable race the world possesses.”

“ The White Man’s Burden” 1899 - British poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “The White Man’s Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands.” Urged the U.S. to take up the “burden” of empire, as Britain and other European nations did.  Became a term used when talking about the unpleasant or embarrassing facts of Imperialism.