...During the early 1900’s, Americans were caught up in the idea of imperialism, or extending their influence to other countries using military force. Mark Twain’s essay, The War Prayer, was written during this time, but argued against the popular philosophy of imperialism. Twain’s essay was too controversial and Harper’s Bazaar believed it was not suited for the public to read, so it went unpublished until after his death and after the idea of imperialism had lost its fervor. Twain’s essay discusses imperialism and its consequences. Twain uses two very different characters, a priest and a stranger, to contrast pro-imperialism and anti-imperialism. Ultimately, Twain’s essay reveals to readers that praying for success in war is also praying for the defeat of another nation. Twain reveals the brutality of imperialism in The War Prayer through effective use of irony, purposeful word choice, and a powerful final sentence. The War Prayer uses irony to convey Twain’s theme, as it takes place in a church. Members of a town gather every Sunday at church to pray for their soldiers. Their prayers mention their hopes to “drown the thunder of the guns with the shrieks of their wounded,” and “go forth from the sweet peace of our beloved firesides to smite the foe.” The prayers of the townspeople wish for no mercy on the enemy, however, they are said in the very place they are taught to love all people, a church. Twain’s setting is ironic because the people pray for destruction in...
Words: 748 - Pages: 3
...argued that the turn to imperialism by the United States in the late nineteenth century was of a piece with expansionist policy that dated back to the founding of the nation. Many of the justifications were similar, including a civilizing mission, expanding economic opportunities, competition with foreign powers, and others. Additionally, the anxieties that resulted from the closing of the frontier (most famously expressed in Frederick Jackson Turner's 1893 essay The Significance of the Frontier in American History) are often cited as driving forces for continued expansion as a way of maintaining American vitality in a modern world. Yet imperialism marked a major departure from previous US policy. For more than a century, political leaders had emphasized American isolation from the problems of the world. By mid-century, however, the desire for new markets for United States manufactured goods had resulted in increasing involvement in foreign affairs. The United States became an imperialist power for reasons of wealth, land, and power in the late eighteenth century. Though ideologically convincing, the imperialist policies that the US followed proved to be unsuccessful in a number of instances. From 1890 to about 1911, many Americans held the strongest of reservation either in favor or against United States imperialism. Thus, the debate over imperialism is split into two categories: Imperialists and anti-imperialists. The debate surrounding imperialism was indeed one of the greatest...
Words: 1430 - Pages: 6
...From the years 1898 to 1900, both the supporters and the opponents of the Spanish-American War believed that their belief on imperialism reflected the presumption of American identity through the political and economic policies of the time as well as the literature written about the social aspects of imperialism. The advocates for imperialism in the late nineteenth century supported their beliefs in a variety of ways. Most notably, they backed up their views by stating it was their god given right to become a dominating world power. In 1899, Rudyard Kipling wrote a poem titled The White Man's Burden: The United States and the Philippine Islands. The poem was about how god gave white people the task of enlightening those of different culture. Senator Albert Beveridge referenced this idea when he stated, ¨Fellow Americans, we are God´s chosen people¨(Document 4). The American people honestly believed they were better...
Words: 757 - Pages: 4
...Globalization is a political, economic and cultural process and technology is one of the drivers which has accelerated this process of globalization. As a result the impact of globalization is more pervasive and research has examined this impact of globalization process on cultures and cultural identity. This review examines and evaluates the research made by two groups, cultural imperialism group and anti cultural imperialism group. These groups have opposing views regarding the consequences of globalization on cultures. According to the cultural imperialist group, globalization can have a homogenizing effect on culture, whereas the anti imperialist group sees it as a hybridized effect. Recent studies (Morris, 2002; Arnett, 2002; The UN, 2003) have analyzed the process of homogenization and hybridization from different prospectives; therefore, there are some different views about this process. Morris (2002) who belongs to the anti cultural imperialist group makes a valid argument that no culture is pure because all cultures interact with each other and she is of the view that exchange of cultural elements is multidirectional. Morris explains the process of hybridization by claiming that cultures are resilient. This is because they absorb and adapt foreign cultural elements to suit local circumstances. Therefore, she argues that some cultural elements which were once considered foreign, now become part of the deep structure and they are considered as traditional cultural...
Words: 1108 - Pages: 5
...Apologetics of Imperialism argues that China’s economic and social disruptions are caused by imperialism. However, when one examines the evidence chosen and rhetoric of both sides, one may realize the faults in Nathan’s essay which are not shown in Esherick’s. Esherick, as opposed to Nathan, delivers his arguments and defends his stance in a well-rounded manner along with wise usage of his evidence–forming a more crystalized and convincing argument. The two sides disagree on the fundamental question of whether imperialism brought harm or benefits to China in three aspects: effects on the economy, effects on politics, and the results of imperialism. Nathan focuses on the economic benefits foreign trade has brought, while undermining the arguments that his opponents made (in this case, mainly James Peck and Issac’s arguments.) Nathan explains that “it is difficult to establish a negative relationship between the foreign presence and the success of Chinese enterprise.” He attributes the failure of the Chinese industrialization process to the “failure of that sector as a whole to develop,” and states that the problem can “hardly be explained by the depressing effect of foreign treaty port enterprise on Chinese treaty port enterprise.” He responds that the net drain of wealth is inherently inevitable since “China’s national debt per capita and her foreign trade per capita must have been among the lowest in the world.” He also points out that “the distorting impact of imperialism on China’s...
Words: 2278 - Pages: 10
...Manila Know: Teddy Roosevelt George Dewey 4. Why did Commodore Dewey have such an easy victory over the Spanish fleet at the Philippines? The Confused Invasion of Cuba Know: Rough Riders Teddy Roosevelt San Juan Hill 5. Describe the fighting in Cuba. America's Course (Curse?) of Empire Know: Anti-Imperialist League 6. What were the arguments for and against the annexation of the Philippines? Makers of America: The Puerto Ricans 7. How has U.S. citizenship caused Puerto Ricans to be different from other immigrants? Perplexities in Puerto Rico and Cuba Know: Insular Cases General Leonard Wood Walter Reed Platt Amendment Guantanamo 8. Describe American treatment of Cuba after the Spanish-American War. New Horizons in Two Hemispheres 9. What were the outcomes of the Spanish-American War? "Little Brown Brothers" in the Philippines Know: William Howard Taft Benevolent Assimilation 10. In what way do the Philippines show the good and bad sides of American imperialism? Hinging the Open Door in China Know: Boxer Rebellion 11. Was American involvement in China beneficial to China? Makers of America: The...
Words: 426 - Pages: 2
...CROSSING BORDERS IN THE NEW IMPERIALISM (published in Colin Leys and Leo Panitch (eds), Socialist Register, London: Merlin, 2004) Bob Sutcliffe In words which seem uncannily relevant today, two mid-nineteenth century fugitives (in today’s language asylum seekers) wrote that “the bourgeoisie has through its exploitation of the world-market given a cosmopolitan character to production and consumption in every country”[i]. This cosmopolitanization (or in today’s vocabulary globalization) turned out to be neither as continuous nor as complete as they expected. By the beginning of the following century other emigrant followers of these two men began to argue that the full economic integration of world capitalism would be prevented by strife between the industrialized countries. Imperialism in this sense seemed to mean that globalization would be a task for post-capitalist society. This appeared to be confirmed by the following half century of war, protectionism and deep economic crisis until, in the middle of the twentieth century, cosmopolitan capitalism made its big comeback. Globalization is more than anything else the feature of today’s capitalism which leads many to argue that there is a new imperialism, or even that imperialism has been replaced by something else (for instance, by “post-imperialism” or by “Empire”). The real newness of the present is, however, debatable. In trying to discern the character of an age, it is tempting to argue that everything...
Words: 9964 - Pages: 40
...How far do you agree that neither the U.S. nor the USSR intended to cause the Cold War? Historians have many different viewpoints of who is responsible for the Cold War. The post revisionist group is integrated by the ones who support the fact that neither the U.S nor the USSR was responsible. Meanwhile, countering this argument there are two more groups, the first one is called the Orthodox view who blame the USSR and the second one is the Revisionist view who blame the U.S. The historical position known as the Orthodox places the responsibility for the Cold War on the Soviet Union and its expansion into Eastern Europe. Their main argument is based on Soviet expansionism; they said Stalin had an aggressive policy towards Eastern Europe. For example, the Salami tactics were a way of expanding and securing communist control over Easter Europe by initially establishing a broad alliance of anti-fascists with Moscow as the Central government. Moreover, the most important event which confirmed this aggressive policy of the Soviet Union towards expanding and securing control over East Europe is the Berlin Blockade, were Stalin ordered the cut of railways, roads and canal access to the sectors of Berlin under Allied control. His aim was to force the western powers to allow the Soviet zone to supply Berlin, thereby giving the Soviets practical control over the entire city. Furthermore, the Kennan telegram warned the U.S of the Soviet expansionists ideas and that they fed communism...
Words: 793 - Pages: 4
...the Civil War and Reconstruction in setting the stage for the great industrial growth and development in the late 19th century. The second theme is the impact of industrialization in late 19th century America--economically, politically, socially, and culturally. A third theme centered on the emergence of an aggressive America foreign policy that in general sought to export American values and ideas so as to bring order to the international scene. The fourth major theme is the rise of progressivism in the first two decades of this century. Like the unions and Populists before them, the Progressives responded to the tremendous impact of industrialization and corporate capitalism on American society, however with much more success. A fifth theme centers on the American entrance into World War I and the war's impact on American society and politics. A sixth theme is the conflict over values and power in American society. Different groups (African-Americans, KKK, nativist/anti-immigrant, socialists, women, etc) with their own unique visions of what American society should be came into conflict over whose vision should predominate. A final theme is emergence of a powerful, welfare state in the form of the New Deal which finally addressed in a large-scale and systematic effort the negative consequences inherent in capitalism and industrialization. Below are some questions that should help you prepare for the first midterm. These are not the actual questions that will appear on the...
Words: 1041 - Pages: 5
...According to Orwell’s depiction of Imperialism as one of his main themes in the story, which can be found all over the story at many points, it causes tensions between the natives, it affects both sides, it promotes immorality to gain the oppressors needs, and it makes people such as the officer take decisions that they ought not to in their daily lives. For example Orwell states that “the British Raj as an unbreakable tyranny...prostate people”, and he goes on in the same paragraph mentioning the “bayonet into a Buddhist priest’s guts”. “feelings like these are normal by the products of imperialism ask any anglo indian official” Imperialism also promotes racism, prejudice, and resentment. The oppressors continues to break rules and disregards rights in order to stay in power and to show control of the land and people. This increases resentment in natives as shown in the story that even though the elephant does not have any strength the officer wants to make sure that it dies, “lands a bullet after a bullet to put the beast to end”, meaning the oppressor wants to make sure that enough damage is done to those oppressed that they are completely broken and have no ways to resent or to retaliate. Even though the elephant stood their and was calm the officer still made the decision of shooting it basing on the “yellow faces” as he mentions would have thought of him as weak or fool if he hadn’t shot the elephant. This certainly shows that the oppressor would do anything in his power...
Words: 2021 - Pages: 9
...discourse that analyze, explain and respond to legacies of colonialism and imperialism, to the human consequences of controlling a country and establishing settlers for economic exploitation of native people and their land. The term postcolonialism addresses itself to historical, political, cultural and textual branches of colonial encounter between West and Non-West dating from 16th century to present day. Postcolonialism is thus a name for a critical theoretical approach in literary and cultural studies but it also designates a politics of transformational resistance to unjust and unequal forms of political and cultural authority which extends back across 20th century and beyond. The two very different traditions of Postcolonial thinking — the theoretical Post-Structuralist and Practical Political are thus linked in so far as some of the key concepts in postcolonialism. Postcolonialism therefore refers to those theories, texts, political strategies that engage in such questioning that aim to challenge structural inequalities and bring about social justice. It is often helpful to view Postcolonialism in comparative framework alongside political practices, with which it shares key objectives and expressions: Feminism. It is possible broadly speaking to trace three main historical and cultural genealogies (families) of contemporary Postcolonial critical practices; there is, first, the shaping force of anti-colonial and non-Western national liberation struggles by Marxist revolutionaries...
Words: 1124 - Pages: 5
...Exam 2: Chapter 28-32 Atlantic revolutions (American, French, Haitian, Latin America) Rise of nationalism Industrialization Global transitions: the americas, the ottoman empire, Romanov Russia, Qin China, Japan. Global empires. Atlantic Revolutions: In the early modern period (1450-1750. Period of early European exploration and contact. It caused the establishment of european commercial empires. Primary tributary, it focused on trade, and some settler comics. This caused there to be “nation-states”, in tern proto-industrialization in europe (innovation) Europe started into three major processes: Revolution, (and nationalism) Industrialization Imperialism Lastly the Rise of the “nation-state” Age of Enlightenment (1650-1780’s) There were plenty of forward thinkers. Each was moving toward science as the new way of thinking. They used the application of universal laws of the natural world to social world. They valued ration over revelation. The government was as a contract. The ideas of Freedom, equality and sovereignty were held as the highest. The belief was to move forward in progress. French Revolution (1789-1799) The aim was to abolish the monarchy that was in france, it ultimately failed. It was far more radical than the American, but still failed. Mostly because they had no idea how to run a government. Whereas the Americans had some knowledge about their own rule. Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) Declared himself emperor and attempted to bring...
Words: 3255 - Pages: 14
...Essay Title: Is Global Civil Society an answer to War? Introduction War is not a modern phenomenon but as old as human existence itself. Wars are not like natural calamities or phenomenon but are very much part of human existential dynamics that seeks both peace and ability to survive acknowledging its natural competitive behaviour which unlike realist assumptions is conditioned and not natural. However, realism has dominated the field of international relations since the end of World War 11. It dominates political thinking, with exclusive emphasis on the state as the primary actor in world politics. Realists display a very overt pessimistic view of human nature, advocating with religious conviction that selfish human nature drives international relations into conflicts subjugating state to resort to organized violence and wars in order to gain upper hand and to always resort to wars to resolve international conflicts. Thus resulting in a system framed to maximize state’s military power in a predominantly anarchical environment. As a distinct school of thought, Realism emphasizes separation from domestic to international with little or no democratic structures within its sphere. Consequently, warfare has remained an institutionalized social order against the predatory behavior of others and consequently a legitimate instrument of survival. Moreover, growth in the size of armies and the development of weapons technology has led to an increase in the frequency of wars resulting...
Words: 3354 - Pages: 14
...During the late 19th century, there were very different opinions on how the US should function as a global power. Some believed that the US should be a nation with ideals similar to “Conquer and Civilize” when dealing with smaller surrounding countries seeking independence. Other people, sometimes involved in some of the progressive reform movements, felt that the US should not become an Imperialist nation, stating that we broke away from one so why become another. Either way that Imperialism was viewed, its discourse greatly shaped the US leading into the 20th century. During the 1890s America began to expand its economies and thus needed new markets. Because of the treaties we created with other nations and the wars we participated in- the Spanish American War- we had an isolationist attitude; not exactly the best attitude for dealing with foreign affairs. After the war when we “claimed” the territories that we had fought in, Americans had mixed feelings. Of those who agreed, there were a few reasons on it would be good to participate in the war and what...
Words: 1199 - Pages: 5
...Soviet-Yugoslav relations (1955); the ‘Geneva spirit’ based on east-west summit diplomacy and Khrushchev’s visit to the USA in 1959. Developments which sustained Cold War tensions during the period might include: US attitudes towards communism in the 1950s (domino theory, ‘roll back’, Eisenhower doctrine); Soviet concept of peaceful coexistence based on long-term victory of communism; the impact of the Hungarian Rising (1956) and the launch of Sputnik (1957); the U2 spy plane incident (1960) and the issue of Germany (1958-1961). At Levels 1 and 2 simple or more developed statements will provide either only simple or more developed statements about peaceful coexistence with either only implicit reference to the extent tensions were eased or argument based on insufficient evidence. At Level 3, students should provide some sustained analysis related to the extent tensions were eased but the detail may be hazy in places and/or the material unbalanced chronologically or thematically. At Level 4, there will be sustained analysis of US-Soviet relations under peaceful coexistence with some attempt to reach a reasoned judgement on ‘how far’. At Level 5, ‘how far’ will be central in an answer which will be well informed...
Words: 7464 - Pages: 30
