USA HISTORY

The poem, The White Man’s Burden, by Rudyard Kipling, represents the belief that European culture was ____

(A) ** superior to other cultures

(B) misunderstood by Americans

(C) the oldest culture in the world

(D) a replica of Ancient Greek culture

Concept note-1: -As Victorian imperial poetry, “The White Man’s Burden” thematically corresponded to Kipling’s belief that the British Empire was the Englishman’s “Divine Burden to reign God’s Empire on Earth"; and celebrates British colonialism as a mission of civilisation that eventually would benefit the colonised natives.

Concept note-2: -Kipling was a white supremascist and wrote “The White Man’s Burden” urging the United States to take up the “burden” of civilizing “savage peoples” alongside other European powers. It was written in support of America’s attempt to annex the Philippines.

Concept note-3: -Conquest in the poem is not portrayed as a way for the white race to gain individual or national wealth or power. Instead, the speaker defines white imperialism and colonialism in moral terms, as a “burden” that the white race must take up in order to help the non-white races develop civilization.

Concept note-4: -In February 1899, British novelist and poet Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem entitled “The White Man’s Burden: The United States and The Philippine Islands.” In this poem, Kipling urged the U.S. to take up the “burden” of empire, as had Britain and other European nations.