Ideological Motives for Imperialism

As discussed before, there are four reasons for Imperialism in Africa. Economic- Natural resources, expand trade, cheap labor, more markets to sell to Political- control over people, control over land, more colonies meant more power Religious- desire to spread Christianity, to spread European values and moral beliefs, to educate peoples of other cultures Ideological- the belief that the white race was superior, other cultures were “primitive”, European should “civilize” peoples in other parts of the world, great nations should have empires, and only the strongest nations will survive

Ideological Motives for Imperialism Many Europeans believed in Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is the belief that some societies were more successful because their cultures were superior.

Rudyard Kipling

Rudyard Kipling English short-story writer, poet, and novelist chiefly remembered for his celebration of British imperialism. He spoke of the “White Man’s Burden”- the duty of Europeans to spread their culture to areas of Africa. These convictions are not to be dismissed in a word: they were bound up with a genuine sense of a civilizing mission that required every Englishman, or, more broadly, every white man, to bring European culture to those he considered the heathen natives of the uncivilized world.

White Man’s Burden by Rudyard Kipling Excerpt from the White Man’s Burden Take up the White Man’s burden— Go send your sons to exile To serve your captives’ need To wait in heavy harness On fluttered fold and wild— Your new- caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child

Cecil Rhodes

Cecil Rhodes financier, statesman, and empire builder of British South Africa. British policy in South Africa was influenced by Cecil Rhodes. He was a believer of Social Darwinism- the belief that some societies were more successful because their cultures were superior. He built a large empire in Southern Africa, but in doing so he disregarded the rights of the people—the “natives,” as he referred to them—already living on the lands that he claimed.

Cecil Rhodes “ I contend that we are the finest race in the world and that the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race. Cecil Rhodes