In 1899 Rudyard Kipling composed the poem “The White Man’s Burden” in response to the American colonization of the Philippines following the Spanish-American War. With his tone of command urging the white landowners of the United States to “Take up the White Man’s burden” ((The White Man’s Burden, 1899)), Kipling is implying that the USA must now carry the torch of imperialism once held by Great Britain as well as other European nations. Kipling’s message is one of command and warning, by implying that if the United States is to become an imperial power it must commit fully to the duty and complexities inherent with this position of power. It is clearly no small task, as it requires large economic burdens as well as a large commitment of manpower to travel and conquer foreign lands.
When I first read this last year I thought it was satire. Kipling seemed to be bashing the United States for its growing imperial presence in the world with what I confused as his almost-sarcastic tone. However once I realized he was serious, consequences and costs were easier to understand. However after taking my Senior Seminar on Empire last semester, I learned about the many different imperialist nations throughout history as well as what it takes to be not only an empire, but imperialist as well. In this poem, Kipling outlines several of the tenets to imperialism:
To be imperialist, a state must dehumanize a civilization and use them as the foundation for a colonialized civilization. In the first stanza Kipling highlights this with “Your new-caught sullen peoples, Half-devil and half-child.” ((The White Man’s Burden, 1899)), inferring that a powerful state has overtaken a much smaller, foreign state and dehumanizing its people in the process.
As our class established last semester, a state must not only dominate indigenous folk, but it must also exploit them in favor of the colonizing state. Kipling highlights this in the second stanza with “To seek another’s profit, And work another’s gain” ((The White Man’s Burden, 1899)), explaining that colonists are using the indigenous people’s economic source for the benefit of the colonizing state.
In those two stanzas Rudyard Kipling clearly outlines two of the most important tenets to imperialism: dominating a foreign population and siphoning their natural resources into the economy of the colonizing nation. Although this is essential to the imperialist process, it is a cruel and unforgiving ritual. The colonized state is reduced to little more than a slave state through the process called imperialism, and those indigenous people’s lives suffer as a consequence.
For class tomorrow, I pose these questions:
Where else in history have we seen these same things happen? When has a world power taken over a much weaker power in order to exploit it for various (economic, military strategic, etc.) reasons? What was the reasoning behind this takeover? Was it easily justified?
Mwaka 1899 Kipling aliandika shairi The White Man's Burden, ambalo lilihusu uvamizi wa Marekani wa Ufilipino baada ya vita vya Hispania na Marekani. Kipling, kwa sauti yake ya amri akiwahimiza wamiliki wa ardhi weupe wa Marekani 'kuchukua mzigo wa mtu mweupe' (The White Man's Burden, 1899), anamaanisha kwamba Marekani sasa lazima ibebe tochi ya ubaguzi wa rangi iliyokuwa ikishikiliwa na Uingereza na mataifa mengine ya Ulaya. Kipling alitoa ujumbe wa kuonya na kuamuru kwamba Marekani ikiwa inapaswa kuwa na nguvu kubwa ya kifalme, lazima itimize wajibu na utata wa kuwa na mamlaka hiyo. Ni wazi kwamba si kazi ndogo, kwa kuwa inahitaji mizigo mikubwa ya kiuchumi na pia kujitolea kubwa kwa nguvu za kibinadamu kusafiri na kushinda nchi za kigeni. Niliposoma hii kwa mara ya kwanza mwaka jana nilidhani ni ucheshi. Kipling alishutumu Marekani kwa sababu ya kuongezeka kwa utawala wake duniani kwa sauti ambayo nilidhani ilikuwa ya ucheshi. Hata hivyo mara moja nilitambua alikuwa na uzito, matokeo na gharama zilikuwa rahisi kuelewa. "Lakini baada ya kuchukua semina yangu ya juu juu ya Milki ya Semester iliyopita, nilijifunza juu ya mataifa mengi tofauti ya milki katika historia na vile vile inahitajika kuwa sio tu milki, lakini pia milki. """ Kipling aliandika katika shairi lake la kwanza kwamba ili kuwa na utawala wa kifalme, ni lazima serikali iondolewe ubinadamu wa jamii na kuitumia kama msingi wa ustaarabu wa kikoloni. Kipling alitoa kauli yake katika kitabu chake The White Man's Burden (1899) kwamba nchi yenye nguvu imeshinda nchi ndogo ya kigeni na kuwaharibu watu wake. Kama tulivyoeleza katika semesta iliyopita, serikali lazima isiwale tu wenyeji, lakini pia lazima iwatumie kwa faida ya serikali ya ukoloni. Kipling anaelezea hii katika mstari wa pili na "Kutafuta faida ya mwingine, na kufanya kazi ya mwingine" (The White Man's Burden, 1899), akielezea kwamba wakoloni wanatumia chanzo cha kiuchumi cha wenyeji kwa faida ya serikali ya ukoloni. Katika mistari hii miwili, Kipling anaelezea wazi kanuni mbili muhimu za utawala wa kifalme: kutawala watu wa kigeni na kuingiza rasilimali zao za asili katika uchumi wa taifa linalotawala. Ingawa hii ni muhimu kwa mchakato wa utawala wa kifalme, ni desturi ya kikatili na isiyo na msamaha. "Nchi iliyokoloniwa imepunguzwa kuwa kitu zaidi ya nchi ya watumwa kupitia mchakato unaoitwa ""Umiliki,"" na maisha ya watu hao wenyeji yanateseka kama matokeo." "Kwa ajili ya darasa la kesho, nitauliza maswali haya: ""Ni wapi pengine katika historia tumeshuhudia mambo kama haya yakitokea?""" Ni wakati gani nguvu ya dunia inachukua nguvu dhaifu zaidi ili kuitumia kwa madhumuni mbalimbali (kiuchumi, kijeshi, mkakati, nk.) sababu? Ni nini kilichokuwa kisababishi cha kunyakua huko? Je, ilikuwa rahisi kuitetea?