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UNIT 2 HANDOUT # 6 (Imperialism)
NAME __________________________
U.S. HISTORY 2 Advanced Placement
DATE __________________________
FRANCIS
CLASS__________________________
Read the following and answer the questions at the end.
How did the United States justify imperialism?
As America became an industrial giant she was in many ways still a small nation. America was not
a powerful nation militarily and the level of business conducted internationally by Americans was
relatively small. The rapid growth of American industry forced business to look elsewhere and the
government wanted to help find markets for these products. As American industrial production had
soared the US market became saturated. Americans could not buy all that our industry produced.
As a result we began to seek out foreign markets.
There was a widely-held belief that the U.S. needed ships, not to make war, but to protect its rights
and prestige (nationalism). Alfred Thayer Mahan (1840-1914) was a naval strategist and leading
advocate of a powerful U.S. Navy. He was very influential over his friend and colleague, Teddy
Roosevelt. In his writings and speeches, Mahan argued the following:
1. Our increasing production demanded we expanded overseas and gain new markets.
2. We must make sure that no nation owns islands within three thousand miles of San Francisco.
This meant we had to gain control of Hawaii.
3. A powerful navy must be built.
Alfred Thayer Mahan's writings and America's need to expand to markets abroad resulted in two
things:
1. The creation of a large and powerful navy to protect America's interests overseas.
2. The expansion of US economic interests overseas.
America was embarking on a new journey. In the late 1700's George Washington had urged
America to "steer clear of foreign affairs." For over a hundred years we had more or less followed
that advice but now we would abandon it. America was going to dive head first into competition
with other industrialized countries for markets and resources. American policy was now going to
be based upon intervention and acquisition, not isolation and neutrality....it was to be the age of
imperialism.
As Americans increased business overseas it became necessary to protect those investments. In
order to protect those investments America built the "great white fleet" that had been requested by
Captain Alfred Thayer Mahan.
Senator Alfred Beveridge expressed this view as a justification for imperialism:
Today we are raising more than we can consume. Today we are making more than we can
use... Therefore we must find new markets for our produce, new occupation for our capital,
new work for our labor... Ah! As our commerce spreads, the flag of liberty will circle the globe
and the highway of the ocean - carrying trade to all mankind - will be guarded by the guns of
the republic. And as their thunders salute the flag, benighted (ignorant) peoples will know
that the voice of liberty is speaking, at last, for them... that civilization is dawning at last, for
them.
--Senator Alfred Beveridge, 1898
Many Americans justified imperialistic behavior by claiming that it was their responsibility.
Americans and Europeans both claimed that it was their responsibility as superior races to uplift,
civilize and Christianize native peoples. This became known as the White Man’s Burden and was
based upon the ideas of Social Darwinism.
Rudyard Kipling wrote a famous poem by the same name:
“The White Man’s Burden”: Kipling’s Hymn to U.S. Imperialism
In February 1899, British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “The White Man’s
Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands.” In this poem, Kipling urged the U.S. to take up
the “burden” of empire, as had Britain and other European nations. Published in the February, 1899
issue of McClure’s Magazine, the poem coincided with the beginning of the Philippine-American War
and U.S. Senate ratification of the treaty that placed Puerto Rico, Guam, Cuba, and the Philippines
under American control. Theodore Roosevelt, soon to become vice-president and then president,
commented that it was “rather poor poetry, but good sense from the expansion point of view.” Not
everyone was as favorably impressed as Roosevelt. The poem “White Man’s burden” became a
euphemism for imperialism, and many anti-imperialists voiced their opposition to the phrase.
Take up the White Man's burden-Send forth the best ye breed-Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives' need;
To wait in heavy harness,
On fluttered folk and wild-Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half-devil and half-child.
Take up the White Man's burden-And reap his old reward:
The blame of those ye better,
The hate of those ye guard-The cry of hosts ye humour
(Ah, slowly!) toward the light:-"Why brought he us from bondage,
Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden-In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the show of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain
To seek another's profit,
And work another's gain.
Take up the White Man's burden-Ye dare not stoop to less-Nor call too loud on Freedom
To cloke your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your gods and you.
Take up the White Man's burden-The savage wars of peace-Fill full the mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought,
Watch sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hopes to nought.
Take up the White Man's burden-Have done with childish days-The lightly proferred laurel,
The easy, ungrudged praise.
Comes now, to search your manhood
Through all the thankless years
Cold, edged with dear-bought wisdom,
The judgment of your peers!
Take up the White Man's burden-No tawdry rule of kings,
But toil of serf and sweeper-The tale of common things.
The ports ye shall not enter,
The roads ye shall not tread,
Go mark them with your living,
And mark them with your dead!
Many pro-imperialism Americans felt it was not only our responsibility and duty but it was also a
mandate by God. One of the leading proponents of imperialism was the Minister Josiah Strong.
Minister Strong argued that America was in a race with other nations to dominate the world and
acquire the limited resources the world had to offer. Strong claimed that America as the leading
nation in the world had a destiny to acquire new lands. This idea sounds a lot like Manifest
Destiny because it is the same idea! In the following passage Strong makes his ideas quite clear.
It seems to me that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the Anglo-Saxon race for
an hour sure to come in the world’s future. The lands of the earth are limited, and soon will be
taken. Then will the world enter upon a new stage in its history- the final competition of the
races. Then this race of unequaled energy, with the majesty of numbers and the might of
wealth behind it- the representative of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest
civilization... will spread itself over the earth.
--Minister Josiah Strong, 1885
American policy makers were clear in the course of action. We were to follow an aggressive
imperialistic foreign policy. Industrialism had changed the United States. Americans began to view
their nation with increasing nationalism. The spirit of expansion and imperialism was fueled by
these feelings. For one hundred years America had taken a back seat to the traditional European
powers, that many American felt, should change.
In order for America to take its rightful place amongst the world’s power many felt we needed to
control a vast imperial empire. This empire would provide a market for our goods, raw materials for
our factories and protection for our commercial interests. The expansion was, as previously
discussed, justified by the need for our people to expand commercially and the Social Darwinist
idea of the white man's burden. With this need in mind eyes turned towards Spain. Spain, a once
mighty empire, still with vast colonial holdings many of them in our Caribbean backyard, was now a
much weaker nation than us. They were ripe for the picking and a their imperial holdings would be
the spoils of victory.
1. Mahan was a naval officer. Did this have any influence on his theory as to what
America needed to do to gain an empire?
2. Washington had warned Americans about ‘foreign entanglements’. Did we listen?
3. How did Senator Beveridge justify America’s expansion?
4. According to Kipling, and in your own words, what was the "White Man’s Burden"?
5. What reward did Kipling suggest the "White Man" gets for carrying his "burden"?
6. Who did Kipling think would read his poem? What do you think that this audience might
have said in response to it?
7. How did Josiah Strong justify his imperialistic beliefs?