The Importance Of British Imperialism In The British Empire

1504 Words4 Pages

The British Empire was a period of , but it was only this way due to their imperialistic views and the exploitation of people within the Empire. Even though the British Imperialism of the late 19th century/early 20th century brought great wealth, knowledge, and technological advancements, but at the expense of others. Britain had to find a way to justify their ‘superiority’ over these other countries….. Scientists and social scientists created many sciences, including social Darwinism, eugenics, phrenology, and polygenism. Many historians have argued whether or not these sciences were proposed in order to justify the British Empire or not. These pseudo-sciences were constructed to rationalize the imperialism during the 19th century. This paper …show more content…

Phrenology, also known as craniology, argued that intellect and personality traits were correlated with cranial bumps on the head. Phrenologists would… In 1839, Samuel George Morton, a physician, published the novel Crania Americana, one of the most influential works of scientific racism. Morton categorized humans into 4 groups: Europeans, Asians, Native Americans, and Africans. He then linked characteristics of each race to their skulls. Europeans were ranked at the top, and he characterised them with ‘naturally fair skin… [the skull] is large and oval, and its anterior position full and elevated.’ He also stated that ‘[the European race] is distinguished for the facility with which it attains the highest intellectual endowments.’ Africans were placed at the bottom of the list and were described as people with ‘a black complexion, and black woolly hair...the head is long and narrow’ and he also described them as ‘joyous, flexible, and indolent….proverbially fond of their amusements, in which they engage with great exuberance of spirit’ Morton mentions how ‘like most other barbarous nations their institutions are not infrequently characterized by superstition and

Open Document