Question

Social Darwinists in the late 1800s and early 1900s used the

philosophy of "survival of the fittest" to justify which national action?


Select one:

legislating progressive political reform


supporting local humanitarian aid


expanding existing colonial empires


creating regional trade partnerships

Answer 1

Expanding existing colonial empires

Step-by-step explanation:

Social Darwinism takes place in neocolonialism or imperialism (not in the old models, but in contemporary imperialism). It is a policy of expansion and political and economic dominance and is the result of the exploitation of colonized countries, due to the industrial demand of the emerging powers. Thus, the purpose of social Darwinism was corroborated by the process of political and economic domination and legitimization of the emerging powers, the so-called neocolonialism. As a consequence, the conquest of peoples was taking place, which conveyed the idea of a benefit to the conquered people. Thus, they would be led by people capable of transforming and advancing their people. This gave the conqueror his superiority, since the superior nations had the mission to "civilize" the inferior ones.