How does the white man's burden relate to emperialism?

Answer 1

It sets out the idea that more developed countries should share their knowledge with less developed ones. From our more modern perspective we'd be more concerned about whether the less developed country wanted that kind of help.

Answer 2

The white man's burden is the outdated belief that white westerners had the responsibility of ruling of territories inhabited by 'colored people.' It was taken from the concept that there were essentially 2 types of race - those capable of ruling and those who could only be subject peoples. Africans were generally considered to be subject peoples, although most Asian races weren't. Examples of this concept were the British, Portuguese, German and French Empires.

The burden aspect came from the fact that many of the subject peoples territories didn't provide much (if any) financial return to the colonizers. Whilst many colonies were exploited, many benefited greatly (in terms of infrastructure, social and economic development) from colonization, despite it being a humiliation for the subject peoples. The costs of empires are also shown by the massive losses of life of the colonizers from disease and attacks - It is estimated that about 1 in 3 of the French and British soldiers deployed to West Africa would die from disease.

The White Man's Burden was a poem written by Rudyard Kipling that justified Imperialism as a "duty" to civilize inferior races:

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 darkness

On fluttered folk and wild-

Your new-caught, sullen peoples

Half-devil and half-child.

- Rudyard Kipling (1899)

His stories and poems during this era seem to glorify imperialism and present it as a romantic adventure.

Answer 3

The concept of the white man's burden justified European imperialism by suggesting that it was the duty of the "civilized" white Europeans to educate and uplift the "uncivilized" indigenous peoples they colonized. It perpetuated the idea that non-white societies needed to be controlled and guided by European powers for their own supposed benefit, while exploiting their resources and labor. This notion helped rationalize the colonization and exploitation of non-European territories by framing it as a benevolent mission to civilize and modernize the "inferior" peoples.

Answer 4

There was a very arrogant view that Europeans had a duty to make the peoples of Africa and Asia 'civilized'. This view sometimes served as an excuse for imperialism.