Download Imperialism CW - Ms. Cannistraci presents the World History Blog

Ms. Cannistraci Name:_________________________ Date:________
Heinrich von Treitschke, a German historian, argued that his
country ought to take colonies
All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to set
their mark upon barbarian lands. All over the globe today we see
the people of Europe creating a mighty aristocracy of the white
races. Those who take no share in this great rivalry will play a
pitiable part in time to come. The colonizing impulse has become a
vital question for a great nation……
Adapted from Heinrich von Treitschke, Politics (1897)
Choose one of the two questions to answer:
What seems to be Treitschke’s major argument for
imperialism?
OR
Based on this text how would you define imperialism?
Ms. Cannistraci Name:_________________________ Date:________
Heinrich von Treitschke, a German historian, argued that his
country ought to take colonies
All great nations in the fullness of their strength have desired to set
their mark upon barbarian lands. All over the globe today we see
the people of Europe creating a mighty aristocracy of the white
races. Those who take no share in this great rivalry will play a
pitiable part in time to come. The colonizing impulse has become a
vital question for a great nation……
Adapted from Heinrich von Treitschke, Politics (1897)
Choose one of the two questions to answer:
What seems to be Treitschke’s major argument for
imperialism?
OR
Based on this text how would you define imperialism?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:_______
Modern History Sourcebook: Herbert Spencer: Social Darwinism, 1857 [adapted]

Herbert Spencer (18201903) was thinking about ideas of evolution and progress before
Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species (1859). Nonetheless, his ideas received a major
boost from Darwin's theories and the general application of ideas such as "adaptation" and
"survival of the fittest" to social thought is known as "Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism is
an application of the theory of natural selection to social, political, and economic issues. In its
simplest form, Social Darwinism follows the mantra of "the strong survive," including human
issues. [This form of justification was enthusiastically adopted by many businessmen as
scientific proof of their superiority. Spencer also applied Darwinian Theory to human
development, arguing that wealth and power were signs of fitness and that mankind
benefited from intense competition and removal of the weak and unfit. According to Social
Darwinism, those with strength (economic, physical, technological) flourish and those without
are destined for extinction. It is important to note that Darwin did not extend his theories to a
social or economic level, nor are any credible evolutionists subscribing to the theories of Social
Darwinism. Herbert Spencer's philosophy is only loosely based on the premises of Darwin's
work.]
How would you define Herbert Spencer’s theory “Social Darwinism”?
How does Social Darwinism promote discrimination?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:_______
Document 1:
We must look this matter in the face, and must recognize that in order that we may have more
employment (jobs) to give we must create more demand [for our goods/products]. Give me
the demand for more goods and then I will undertake to give plenty of employment in making
the goods; and the only thing, in my opinion, that the Government can do in order to meet this
great difficulty that we are considering, is so to arrange its policy that every inducement
[encouragement] shall be given to the demand; that new markets shall be created, and that old
markets shall be effectually developed…I am convinced that it is a necessity as well as a duty for
us to uphold the dominion [power] and empire which we now possess…I approve of the
continued control][ of Egypt; and for the same reasons I have urged upon this Government, and
upon previous Governments, the necessity for using every legitimate opportunity to extend our
influence and control in that great African continent which is now being opened up to
civilization and to commerce…
Source: Joseph Chamberlain, Foreign and Colonial Speeches, George Routledge & Sons, 1897
Based on this document, state one reason Joseph Chamberlain believed colonies were
valuable to Great Britain.
Based on this text how would you define imperialism?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:_______
Document 2:
2a
English Exports to India (Average 1920–1922)
Cotton goods and yarn
Iron and steel, tools, machinery, and
locomotives
Wagons, trucks, and automobiles
Paper
Brass goods
Woolens
Tobacco
£53,577,000
37,423,000
4,274,000
1,858,000
1,813,000
1,600,000
1,023,000
No other item over £1,000,000.
Source: Parker T. Moon, Imperialism and World Politics, Macmillan Co., 1926
2b
. . . Of late years this group of import interests [British merchants] has been enormously
strengthened by the demand of giant industries for colonial raw materials—rubber, petroleum,
iron and coal, cotton, cocoa. The oil trusts of England and the United States have enlisted the
aid of naval and diplomatic officials in their world-wide rivalry. The cotton industry of Germany
hoped to obtain from Asiatic Turkey, under German imperialist control, raw cotton for German
spindles; the cotton interests of England have been striving for a generation to develop
Plantations in British colonies; their French and Italian rivals have been hardly less interested in
colonial potentialities. The European cotton industry, it may be remarked, as an export business
and as an import business, is doubly imperialist. . . .
Source: Parker T. Moon, Imperialism and World Politics, Macmillan Co., 1926
According to these documents, what were two reasons for imperialism?
1st
2nd
Based on this chart and text how would you define imperialism?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:_______
Define Social Darwinism:
Document 3: White man’s Burden
3a
Take up the White Man’s burden—
Send forth the best ye breed—
Go send 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
Source: Rudyard Kipling, “The White Man’s Burden: The United States & The Philippine Islands, 1899.” Rudyard Kipling’s Verse: Definitive
Edition (Garden City, New York: Doubleday, 1929).
CHOOSE ANY TWO OF THE THREE QUESTIONS TO ANSWER:
How does Rudyard Kipling’s poem The White man’s Burden justify imperialism?
How does this text align with Herbert Spencer’s theory of Social Darwinism?
Based on this text how would you define imperialism?
Ms. Cannistraci
Name:___________________________________ Date:_______
Based on today’s research what were the political, economic and social (cultural) causes of
imperialism?
Work in your teams and chart your responses below.
POLITICAL
ECONOMIC
SOCIAL (CULTURAL)