The Civilizing Mission

EXPANSION IN THE INDUSTRIAL AGE HIST 1301 | History The Civilizing Mission Following the troops who initially allowed business representatives to enter countries in Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, there were others who aimed to provide goods that industrialising nations deemed useful. Many in Europe and the United States believed that it was the responsibility of industrialized—or, as they put it, "civilized"—people to spread the advantages of western civilization to the subjugated. The ideology known as social Darwinism, which gained popularity in Europe and the US at the time, holds that certain groups of people develop superiority by nature, leading to their increased strength and power. According to this theory, people of European heritage could force their will on others since their cultures were more developed and they were inherently "better." Early in the 1880s, Jules Ferry, the French prime minister, emphasised that "superior" peoples had the right and obligation to exercise such dominance. Typically, religion, education, western attire, and "characterbuilding" sports like football were the "benefits" bestowed upon the colonised. Baseball originated in the United States and was brought to the Caribbean by the British, who also introduced cricket to their colonies in Asia and Africa. The idea behind the creation of these games was to instill in people what were claimed to be western ideals, such as fair play, collaboration, and competition. This facet of imperialism was dubbed "the civilising mission" by the French. In addition, colonists usually constructed an infrastructure in the areas they conquered, including telegraph lines, safe water systems, and railroads. The idea was that, thanks to the kindness of the industrialised nation, people had not been conquered to rob them of their wealth but rather to introduce them to the advantages of civilization. Many undoubtedly used this viewpoint as a front for more heinous intentions. Nonetheless, others really thought that the introduction of western traits like Christianity, monogamous marriage, and body-covering clothing was improving the communities of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific Islands. Rudyard Kipling, an English writer, expressed this mindset in his poem "The White Man's Burden," which supported imperialism. Written in 1899 in reaction to the United States' acquisition of the Philippines, the poem's opening stanza conveys Kipling's opinion that the conquered people of color—who are represented as primitive and in need of leadership from those of a superior biological and cultural race—were the ones who suffered at the hands of the White conquerors: Take up the load of the White Man—Produce the finest breed possible — Bind your boys to exile and go. To fulfil the needs of your prisoners; To wait, in bulky harness, Upon fluttering folk and wild—Your newly captured gloomy peoples, Half demon, Half kid. As Kipling's allusion to the "half devil" character of people of colour implies, missionaries were important to the effort to civilise people of colour. They were frequently the main channels by which people were exposed to the "gifts" of civilization. Aside from Japan, every imperial state dispatched missionaries to establish new colonies. For hundreds of years, Roman Catholic priests had been converting people living in European colonies. In order to teach the conquering nations' languages to the peoples of Africa, Asia, and the Pacific, Protestant clergy and enthusiastic civilian volunteers built churches and schools. Additionally, they tried to integrate abandoned or orphaned youngsters into the culture of their native nation. While the construction of hospitals and other missionary endeavours may have benefitted the Indigenous population, the majority of missionary operations were definitely detrimental. Missionaries, horrified by the practice of polygamy, frequently insisted that men with several wives select one and divorce the others, forcing the latter to either live in poverty if they had no family or return to their families in disgrace. In China, the demand made by missionaries for new Christians to give up ancestor veneration frequently resulted in the rejection of these individuals by their relatives. Whether carried out by government employees or missionaries, many parts of the "civilising mission" were seen to be just as beneficial to the conquering nation and its people as they were to the "savage" occupants of other regions. Communications were made possible by telegraph lines, and city inhabitants were shielded from cholera and typhoid by water systems. Native Americans who were literate and had received training in European norms and values were employed by colonial police forces and bureaucracies. The colonising nations usually gained the most from such changes, even though they may have eventually helped the inhabitants of the colonised country. For example, they altered society by doing away with conventional jobs. For example, railway lines in areas like Africa stretched simply from the interior to the shore, not linking population centres as European railroads did. This allowed raw materials intended for American and European companies to be transported to waiting ships.