Imperialism: Josiah Strong And Rudyard Kipling

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Many believe that it is the responsibility and God’s will that one country should dominate over another country or territories. This concept is known as imperialism. Josiah Strong and Rudyard Kipling were powerful men who supported imperialism. Strong was an American religious leader who argued that America was in a race with other countries to dominate the world. Kipling was an English journalist who wrote the famous poem, The White Man’s Burden, based upon the ideas of social Darwinism. How do people justify imperialism? Before one can completely answer this question, the meaning of imperialism must be clear. Webster defines imperialism as the policy, practice, or advocacy of extending the power and dominion of a nation especially by direct territorial acquisitions or by gaining indirect control over the political or economic life of other areas. Throughout history, people have used a variety of reasons to justify imperialism. For Strong and Kipling, …show more content…

Reverend Strong was a main proponent for imperialism and argued that America was in a race with other nations to dominate the world and acquire the resources the world had to offer. Strong was the type of person to believe that if you were not a Christian, then you were nothing. One could conclude that Strong was slightly racist and would justify anything and everything with God. In Strong’s eyes, if you did not take over other countries and obey God’s will, you would not be fulfilling His plan. Strong states, “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.” This statement was saying that God’s ultimate goal was to prepare the Christians to be in positions to assure that God’s word would inhabit all the lands. Based on this statement, it is clear that some people justified imperialism because they believed it was God’s

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