The Truth of Western Imperialism - Essay Example

The rhetoric of colonialism argues that more advanced nations serve weaker and undeveloped nations by bringing them modern benefits like effective government, education, and Christianity with all its moral training. This is, however, a positive spin on what was actually an exploitative phenomenon. A fundamental idea in Western governments at the turn of the twentieth century was that “the higher races have a right over the lower races,” (Ferry: 1884, no page number). This implies an assumption that colonial powers could and should simply take for themselves what they needed from civilizations that were less well developed industrially. The exercise of power is quite blatant, since it denies the rights of the other nations, and speaks of a duty to “civilise inferior races” (Ferry: 1884, no page number). The terminology of empire casts the conquered lands as “savage wilderness” (Beveridge, 1898). In contrast, the colonizers are lauded as saviors: “it is ours to save that soil for liberty and civilization.” (Beveridge, 1898). This kind of rhetoric stresses the incompetence of conquered lands in governing themselves and the positive contribution that colonial powers will make to the lives of the conquered peoples. These ideas show just how arrogant and condescending the western powers were, and how little they were able to appreciate different ways of living than their own.
The notion of cultural supremacy is taken for granted in the political texts mentioned, but it also creeps into arts and literature as well. Rudyard Kipling’s famous patriotic poem “The White Man’s Burden” encapsulates this prejudice by suggesting that people who have black skin are “half-devil and half-child” and that white people have to carry the burden of fixing problems like famine and disease. (Kipling, 1899) There are undertones of racism in this contrast of the “silent, sullen peoples” and the white men.
The motivation that was driving Western governments to conquer territories appears to be not humanitarian at all, but rather mainly economic. Ferry, for example, who was Prime Minister of France complains of protectionism on the part of Germany and America, which prevents French industrial goods from reaching these lucrative markets. Colonies help resolve this dilemma by providing ready-made markets, and incidentally also a safe harbour for French trading ships. (Ferry: 1884, no page number). The American senator Albert Beveridge echoes this when he writes “Therefore we must find new markets for our produce” (Beveridge, 1898, no page number) and went even further, asking the rhetorical question “Shall the American people continue their march toward the commercial supremacy of the world?” (Beveridge, 1898, no page number).
The British Earl of Cromer is also conscious of the competing interest of colonial powers like France, Great Britain, and Germany, and he cites also some military and strategic reasons. Read More