New Imperialism WH060 Activity Introduction Thanks for tuning in to today s lesson New Imperialism! Let s get started. Video 1 Hello there. My name is (name) and I m here to talk to you about Darwinism and Social Darwinism during the late nineteenth century. Ok, so you already know that the nineteenth century held all kinds of influential new ideas and movements: things like nationalism, socialism, liberalism, and romanticism During this same time, an extremely profound idea arose! It was devised by an English scientist named Charles Darwin. Ever heard of him? Well, his idea was a little something called evolution which, of course, would also be referred to as Darwinism. Anyway, as you may know, Darwin s theory of evolution stated that all living creatures, including us human beings, evolved from less complex life forms into their present condition through a series of adaptations which were needed in order for the creatures to survive. Therefore, this theory suggested that all biological developments were the result of a very slow process that took place over long periods of time not a sudden moment of
universal creation. As you can imagine, this idea was ludicrous to many people, for it made the idea of living and dying seem totally random! But according to Darwin, the creatures that were adapted to their environment survived. Over time, less complex life forms evolved into more complex life forms. On the other hand, organisms no longer adapted to their environment, well those creatures inevitably died off. It might sound harsh, but another way to explain Darwin s theory is that the fittest or most genetically able creatures were better adapted, would survive, and therefore pass on their genes to the next generation. Ever heard of the popular expression survival of the fittest?! Well, now you know where that came from Of course Darwinism was highly controversial. It went against many major religious beliefs, including the Judeo-Christian belief that God directly and purposefully created humankind. The thought of science and nature being the explanation for human existence, and not the divine will of God, was a very radical concept! As you can imagine, the fact that Darwinism rendered the literal interpretation of the Old Testament invalid made many people uncomfortable. So it s easy to see why initially there was great resistance to this theory; however, over time many of Darwin s followers, called Darwinists, gained ground in convincing people of the viability of evolution!
Who were the first of these so called Darwinists? Good question! They were mostly people from cities and especially the educated middle and upper classes. The theory was not as readily accepted in rural areas where people of religious and provincial cultures found the theory too contradictory to their beliefs. However, by the end of the century, virtually all accredited scientists, and even many theologians, accepted the validity of Darwin s scientific theory Let s stop here. If you want to see that again, be my guest. Video 2 Okay, so Darwinism produced lots of things: controversy, discomfort, fear, and even anger! However, it also spurred a totally new social theory known as Social Darwinism. Basically, this theory took the ideas that Charles Darwin applied to nature and applied them to human society! Yep, it was toward the end of the nineteenth century when the theory of Social Darwinism was served up by sociological theorists like Herbert Spencer and William Graham Sumner. These guys called themselves Social Darwinists and believed that the strongest, fittest members of society should survive and thrive in society, naturally dominating the weaker members of society.
These theorists were challenged with tough questions like: Who or what determines someone s level of fitness in society? Their answer? Heredity! Heredity determined those who would best thrive in society and that those at the top of the social classes were there because of natural selection. Due to this last statement, it s not surprising that Social Darwinism appealed to those in the upper classes of Western society For instance, industrial capitalists used Social Darwinism to justify their enormous wealth in the face of the oppressive poverty of their workers. They believed that they were not actively oppressing them but rather adhering to the natural order of things in society! In the same vein, some members of the upper and middle classes even believed that it was socially irresponsible to donate money to the poor. They believed that the poor were unfit to receive it since they clearly did not have the natural ability to use it properly. In addition, they felt that direct hand-outs impeded one s natural potential to rise to a higher position in life. An example of this was Andrew Carnegie s form of philanthropy. Instead of giving direct handouts to the poor, he invested in the building of hundreds of schools and public libraries so that those who were inclined to do so could better themselves by taking advantage of the educational resources he provided. Pretty nice of him, eh?! Okay, in addition to justifying capitalism, Social Darwinism was used to justify the imperialist impulse of the nineteenth century. Yes indeed! Many imperialists believed that it was their hereditary destiny to dominate those in less-well-off parts of the world, like Asia and Africa, by way of colonialism.
Perhaps most horrifically, Social Darwinism was used to justify eugenics, or the belief that you could improve the human race by weeding out those with less desirable genes. For instance, many people supported the idea of state-sponsored sterilization programs that were designed to keep physically and mentally disabled people from reproducing. This was known as negative eugenics. Positive eugenics, on the other hand, encouraged those who were believed to have strong genes to reproduce. Nazi Germany would take eugenics to the extreme by outright killing those whom the government found to be undesirable in society. Although the term Social Darwinism is still batted around today, fortunately, the theory never gained wide, long-term support. So that pretty much covers it. Like before, you can always see this again. Just let me know. Reading Passage Introduction So you just learned a bit about how the new imperialism was spreading across the globe by the late nineteenth century. Well, now it s time to discuss the Spanish- American War. Why?! Because that little war would tempt the United States to get involved in the new imperialism that European nations were so crazy about. You see, the United States was a bit reluctant to become an outwardly imperialist nation because of the fact that it was founded upon the ideals of equality, liberty, and self-determination. (beat)
But because the western part of the country was closed to settlement by the late nineteenth century, a few people, like Theodore Roosevelt, desired expansion outside of North America. Want to learn more? Well, read this little passage!