New Imperialism Dbq

Kyle Samms P-5 2/15/2018 DBQ Essay: New Imperialism: Causes The new imperialism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was made possible by several economic, political, and social forces. During the scramble for overseas colonies, many European powers saw the benefits of establishing colonies in distant lands. There were many motives behind this however, economically, politically , and socially. Forming a colony would greatly promote economic interest. Faraway lands were rich in the natural resources that western nations greatly desired, such as rubber, cloth, spices, salt, precious minerals, and of course slaves. Through colonization, these raw materials could easily be obtained and monopolized, thus making the nation wealthier

Westerners saw themselves as the superior races, and ignorantly belittled the cultures they encountered. They exploited the people and used them as slaves, ordered them to hard labour, forced their ways onto them, or gave them little to no rights. They felt no shame or wrongdoing in taking their lands or their treatment of the natives because in their eyes these groups were savages or not even considered human. Moreover, they, as the superior race, felt obliged to seize countries and its people and use them to make their nations even greater. This Western mentality can be observed in Document 4 in which British imperialist Cecil Rhodes writes, “ I contend that we (Britons) are the finest race in the world, and the more of the world we inhabit, the better it is for the human race... It is our duty to seize every opportunity of acquiring more territory and we should keep this one idea steadily before our eyes that more territory simply means more of the Anglo-Saxon race, more of the best, the most human, most honourable race the world possesses.” Many of those holding this position applied Social Darwinism to justify their taking over of foreign peoples. Document 5 states, “Psychologically speaking... evolutionary teaching (about the ‘survival of the fittest’) was perhaps most crucial. It not only justified competition and struggle but introduced an element of ruthlessness…” In

It brought great success to the western world, and ultimately to the rest of human civilization. Nations amassed new wealth, power, security and prominence that they could only dream of through imperialism. New ideas, technology and knowledge spread quickly throughout the then undeveloped world that caused them to become modernized. Western influence was felt all across the globe as a result and completed reshaped civilization within it. Though imperialism may have risen from overall selfish ambitions, it would eventually better the world. Politically, European competed to halt the expansion of their rivals and prove themselves to be the greatest nation at that time. Economically, countries looked to oversea colonies for natural resources and raw materials to fuel their growing industries and opportunities for new market ventures and more fortune from new businesses. Socially, many westerners viewed imperialism as a way for their race to prove itself the most “superior” while others took as as the chance to introduce Christianity and a better way of living to the most “uncivilized” people. Overall, there were many forces of economics, politics, and social views that were responsible for the new imperialism of the late nineteenth and early twentieth