What was the main idea of the white mans burden?
The philosophy underpinning the “White Man’s Burden” consisted of the “Three C’s of Colonialism: Civilization, Christianity, and Commerce.” In 1884, the Berlin Conference marked the official beginning of colonialism in Africa. One of the justifying principles behind colonialism was the need to civilize the purportedly backward peoples of Africa.
What was the purpose of the white mans burden?
“The White Man's Burden” Poetic Devices & Figurative Language
- Anaphora
- Parataxis
- Alliteration
- Personification
- Parallelism
- Consonance. Select any word below to get its definition in the context of the poem. The words are listed in the order in which they appear in the poem.
What does the white mans Burden refer to?
“White Man’s Burden” is a racist term from the days when members of the white race felt superior to all other races and used that as an excuse to take freedom and property from other races, with the excuse that the white man didn’t really want to do it but had to protect those people from their own low I.Q.s and inability to look after themselves.
What was the white mans burden justified to?
In reality, European colonization devastated traditional African societies and economies. However, the leaders spearheading the movement cited the “white man’s burden,” a term popularized in Rudyard Kipling’s poem to morally justify imperialist expansion.
What is the meaning of the white man's burden?
Definition of white man's burden : a duty formerly asserted by white people to manage the affairs of nonwhite people whom they believed to be less developed.
What is the white man's burden poem about quizlet?
What is the message of "The White Man's Burden"? Kipling is urging the whites (the U.S.) to take up the "burden" of empire, as had Britain and other European nations done before - despite of it being hard and thankless work.
What was the white man's burden answer?
According to the poem, what is the "white man's burden"? The white man's burden, according to the poem, is to civilize those deemed uncivilized by ruling them.
What is the main theme of the white man's burden?
Colonialism is the most overarching theme of the poem, especially when the poem focuses on white men's burden of colonizing and civilizing other nations.
Why is the White Man's Burden important?
''Take up the White Man's burden,'' was Rudyard Kipling's notorious prescription for the United States as it began to rule the Philippine Islands. That refrain, from an 1899 poem, eventually became a key exhibit in the case against the racism and exploitation of 19th-century imperialism.
What did the term white man's burden mean quizlet Chapter 17?
What did the term "white man's burden" mean? Domination of non-whites by white people was necessary for the progress of civilization.
What is white Man's Burden Class 10?
Answer: The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902), which exhorts the U.S. to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.
Who said the white man's burden?
Rudyard KiplingIn 1899, Rudyard Kipling, a famed English poet, had his poem "The White Man's Burden" published in McClure's, a monthly magazine popular at the turn of the 20th century.
What was another name for the white man's burden?
obligation, responsibility, duty.
Is the white man's burden for or against imperialism?
"The White Man's Burden" is an endorsement of imperialism. The poem portrays white society as the harbinger of global progress.
Why is the White Man's Burden important?
"The White Man's Burden" reflects commonly shared beliefs in British and U.S. society at the turn of the twentieth century. These beliefs include t...
Who is the white man's burden addressed to?
"The White Man's Burden" is specifically addressed to readers in European and North American society. There is a direct address to adults with chil...
What is the message of the white man's burden?
The poem conveys the need for European and North American powers to colonize non-white societies worldwide. It also represents the appropriate atti...
What exactly is the white man's burden?
"The White Man's Burden" is presented as the labor carried out by white societies to help non-white societies. They are incapable of recognizing th...
What is The White Man's Burden?
What is The White Man's Burden meaning, and The White Man's Burden definition? The phrase ''The White Man's Burden'' is a trope related to modern imperialism. It entered English usage with English writer Rudyard Kipling 's 1899 published poem of the same title.
What is the White Man's Burden Poem About?
Rudyard Kipling's poem was published in Britain in "McClure's Magazine" in February of 1899, with the full title ''The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands.'' The poem was reprinted in the United States that same month. ''The White Man's Burden'' reflects commonly shared beliefs in British and U.S.
How many lines are there in The White Man's Burden?
‘ The White Man’s Burden’ by Rudyard Kipling is a seven stanza poem that is separated into sets of eight lines. The rhyme scheme and metrical pattern are extremely regulated. This feature makes the poem feel very tensely structured and creates the feeling that these lines should be read out loud, perhaps chanted. The lines rhyme in the straightforward pattern of ABCBDEFE while the meter is a little more complex.
What is the first stanza of The White Man's Burden?
In the first stanza of ‘The White man’s Burden, ’ the speaker begins by demand ing that the reader, or an intended listener, “Take up the White Man’s Burden”. It’s clear there is some job or responsibility that the speaker is trying to engage someone else in. He tells the listener to “Send for the best yet breed,” or your best sons, for the job. So far, all that’s clear is that there is a burden, a heavy task of some kind, that is related to white men, that needs to be completed. The following lines and stanzas describe what exactly that means.
What does Kipling present the reader with?
Kipling presents the reader with inherently racist images of dominance, cast as “help” provided to the native peoples of the Philippines. At no point in the poem does the speaker consider whether or not these people want that help nor does he stop to validate this mindset or explore its origin.
What are the poetic techniques used in The White Man's Burden?
Kipling makes use of several poetic techniques in ‘The White Man’s Burden’. These include enjambment, alliteration, and allusion. The first, enjambment, occurs when a line is cut off before its natural stopping point. Enjambment forces a reader down to the next line, and the next, quickly.
How many iambs are in a meter?
In regards to the meter, Kipling structures the odd-numbered lines (1,3,5 and so on) with two iambs and one amphibrach. An iamb is a pair of two syllables the first of which is unstressed and the second stressed.
What does "take up the white man's burden" mean?
To seek another’s profit, And work another’s gain. In the second stanza of ‘The White Man’s Burden’ , the poet repeats the refrain, “Take up the White Man’s burden—“ and adds details about how the men should act. They should, in contrast to the minority the speaker is discriminating against, act patient.
Why should Pride be kept in check?
Pride should also be kept in check so that they might do their job and control this other group to their best ability. Kipling’s speaker’s message does not get any less discriminatory in the next lines.
What is the White Man's burden?
" The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands " (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902), which exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country.
What does "take up the white man's burden" mean?
Take up the White Man's burden—. In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror. And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain. To seek another's profit, And work another's gain. Take up the White Man's burden—.
What was the Black Man's Burden Association?
In the U.S., a Black Man's Burden Association demonstrated to Americans how the colonial mistreatment of Filipino brown people in their Philippine homeland was a cultural extension of the institutional racism of the Jim Crow laws (1863–1965) for the legal mistreatment of black Americans in their U.S. homeland.
When was The White Man's Burden first published?
( Detroit Journal, 1898) "The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands" was first published in The Times (London) on 4 February 1899, and in The New York Sun on 5 February 1899.
Who wrote the Black Man's Burden?
The philosophic perspective of "The Black Man's Burden (A Reply to Rudyard Kipling)" (1920), by the social critic Hubert Harrison, described the moral degradation inflicted on both the black people who were colonized and the white people who colonized them.
Who wrote the poem "Take Up the Black Man's Burden"?
T. Johnson, and the poem "Take Up the Black Man's Burden" by the American educator J. Dallas Bowser.
Who wrote the essay "To the Person Sitting in Darkness"?
The American writer Mark Twain replied to the imperialism Kipling espoused in "The White Man's Burden" with the satirical essay " To the Person Sitting in Darkness " (1901), about the anti-imperialist Boxer Rebellion (1899) in China.
Who wrote the poem "The White Man's burden"?
A young poet named Rudyard Kipling just sent you a poem entitled ''The White Man's Burden.''. Write Kipling a 1–2 paragraph thank you note outlining your views on the poem and what aspects of it you agreed with. Remember, you represent the majority view of the American population.
When was the White Man's burden first published?
Kipling's poem ''The White Man's Burden'' was originally published in February of 1899 , under the title, ''An Address to the United States''. But why would a British writer publish a poem specifically for the United States? In 1898, the United States went to war with Spain as a result of a revolution in Cuba.
What did Kipling say about the White Man's burden?
Although Kipling's poem emphasized the goodness of imperialism and the White Man's burden, he also told the United States that this burden came with a price. The native people they ruled over would be resistant.
What was the White Man's duty?
It was the duty of the White Man (literal or figurative) to bring education and civilization to the natives in the world's dark places. The White Man's burden comes with a price of manpower and possible deaths from controlling the natives of conquered territories. Learning Outcomes.
What is the meaning of the word "white man"?
The phrase White Man can be taken two different ways. Literally, the White Man describes people who are Caucasian. In the early 20th century, many Americans believed in the concept of social Darwinism, where certain people were superior to others based on their color and race.
What is the meaning of the poem "The White Man's Burden"?
In order to understand the meaning of Rudyard Kipling ’s poem "The White Man’s Burden," it is important to understand the time frame in which this was written. The United States had just won a war with Spain and had gained control over several of Spain’s former colonies. The United States now had an opportunity to become an imperial power.
What is the white man's burden?
According to Kipling, the "white man's burden" is the responsibility of Western countries to "civilize" peoples in other lands through imperialism and to impose their cultural standards on them. This "burden" also involves the difficulties that Kipling believed arose from this task.
What did the poem "The United States" mean?
The poem suggested that imperialistic countries had an obligation to show people they believed were inferior how to run a government, how to run a country, and how to live.
Overview
"The White Man's Burden" (1899), by Rudyard Kipling, is a poem about the Philippine–American War (1899–1902) that exhorts the United States to assume colonial control of the Filipino people and their country. Originally written to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria (22 June 1897), the jingoistic poem was replaced with the sombre "Recessional" (1897), also a Kipling poem about empire.
History
"The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands" was first published in The Times (London) on 4 February 1899, and in The New York Sun on 5 February 1899. On 7 February 1899, during senatorial debate to decide if the US should retain control of the Philippine Islands and the ten million Filipinos conquered from the Spanish Empire, Senator Benjamin Tillman read aloud the first, the fourth, and the fifth stanzas of Kipling's seven-stanza poem as arguments ag…
Text
Take up the White Man's burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child. Take up the White Man's burden— In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain. To seek another's profit, And work another's gain. Take up the White Man's bu…
Take up the White Man's burden— Send forth the best ye breed— Go bind your sons to exile To serve your captives' need; To wait in heavy harness On fluttered folk and wild— Your new-caught, sullen peoples, Half devil and half child. Take up the White Man's burden— In patience to abide, To veil the threat of terror And check the show of pride; By open speech and simple, An hundred times made plain. To seek another's profit, And work another's gain. Take up the White Man's bu…
Interpretation
The imperialist interpretation of "The White Man's Burden" (1899) proposes that the white race is morally obliged to civilise the non-white peoples of planet Earth, and to encourage their progress (economic, social, and cultural) through colonialism:
The implication, of course, was that the Empire existed not for the benefit — economic or strategic or otherwise — of Britain, itself, but in order that primitive peoples, incapable of self-government…
Responses
In the early 20th century, in addition to "To the Person Sitting in Darkness" (1901), Mark Twain's factual satire of the civilising mission that is proposed, justified, and defended in "The White Man's Burden" (1899), contemporary opposition to Kipling's jingoism provoked poetic parodies that expressed anti-imperialist moral outrage, by critically addressing the particulars of white supremacist racism in colonial empires. "The Brown Man's Burden" (February 1899), by the Britis…
See also
• Orientalism
• Civilizing mission
• Christian mission
• Economic growth
• Development theory
General references
• A Companion to Victorian Poetry, Alison Chapman; Blackwell, Oxford, 2002.
• Chisholm, Michael (1982). Modern World Development: A Geographical Perspective. Rowman & Littlefield, 1982, ISBN 0-389-20320-3.
• Cody, David. "The Growth of the British Empire". The Victorian Web, University Scholars Program, National University of Singapore, November 2000.