Question

In this activity, you’ll analyze an advertisement and a political cartoon to examine different perspectives on “The White Man’s Burden.”

Part A

In 1899, British poet Rudyard Kipling published the poem “The White Man's Burden.” Read the poem and then think about this prompt:

The poem dramatically expresses some issues and difficulties of imperialism. Readers interpret the poem in different ways. Some say it’s a justification of colonization. The poem says that colonizing foreign regions was necessary to develop and modernize the world. It was the white man’s burden to lead this task. Others say the poem is a satire. It makes fun of imperialists for believing that they were doing their colonies a favor.

What do you think Kipling’s attitude was toward imperialism? Support your answer with information from the poem and this lesson. Your answer should consist of 75 to 100 words.

Answer 1

The correct answer to this open question is the following.

I think Kipling’s attitude toward imperialism was of supporting the idea that white people were superior to blacks and indigenous people.

Indeed, his poem dramatically expresses some issues and difficulties of imperialism. We could say the poem includes a justification for colonization. Kipling stated that colonizing foreign regions was necessary to develop and modernize the world. That is why he called the white man’s burden to lead this task.

English author Rudyard Kipling wrote the poem in 1899, in the times when the United States had won the Spanish-American War, and as a result of this, the US took possession of Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Philippines, which were part of the Spanish monarchy.

At that time, Europeans sadly believed that they were a more evolved race who deserved to take over others. This is related to the term "Social Darwinism," which is considered to be imperialistic and racist.