Research Paper On The White Man's Burden

Shannon McComas

HIST122 D002 Fall 2016

Professor Robert Busek

January 15, 2017

The White Man’s Burden, 1899 Analysis

A famous poet that became known during the World War 1 phase in history was Rudyard Kipling. Rudyard Kipling became a famous British poet for his writings in the “The White Man’s Burden, 1899” (Hunt, 2012). Rudyard would push his memoirs to encourage the United States to benefit from the bringing western civilization to those liberated from Spain. The name “The White Man’s Burden” came from the American/Spanish war (Hunt, 2012). Rudyard was raised in an English colony in Bombay, India. He was becoming aware of the superior power that the British government had created. Rudyard began to see the “white man” as having a superior attitude toward lesser cultures (Hunt, 2012).

His words as shown “No tawdry rule of kings, but toil of serf and sweeper. The tale of common things. The ports ye shall not tread, Go mark them with your living, and mark them with your dead” (Kipling,

“To veil the threat of terror, and check the show of pride” (Kipling, 1899). Shows the ego-centric perception that the Europeans created in their superior mindset. Rudyard Kipling would use this to promote the same influence on the American counter parts throughout wars. The poet shows that the European society could easily see other races as a threat to the white man and their views. Rudyard Kipling would promote memorials for soldiers that were killed on the or along the western forefront, as his own son was killed in the war (Hunt, 2012). Rudyard Kipling would promote this for rich and poor soldiers that gave their lives for the same causes. Rudyard Kipling would not differ between the rich and the poor when it came down to allowing people to claim their grief from the death of the family member that was a soldier (Hunt,