Social Darwinism: What Caused The Political Forces Of Imperialism

During the late 19th century and early 20th century there was a great want for more lands. This was caused by the industrial revolution. Many people also became very proud of their own countries and believed that they needed to spread their greatness. The most powerful political force was Social Darwinism, the most powerful economic force were wanting resources that they can use, the most powerful social forces were missionaries. Social Darwinism is what drove the political forces of imperialism. Social Darwinism is referred to as the “survival ofthe fittest” but between countries. According to Document 1 the reason that social darwinism was introduced and used, was because schools used to teachers about Darwin’s theory from an evolutionary standpoint but then people started to use it as a reason to support their country for being the “fittest” or greatest. Government officials even started to believe in this and say that God is what made them the most fit to “fix” certain people, this was
This want for new materials was responsible for the economic force of imperialism. Many countries wanted to get the “tropical produce” that the tropics had in store for them, as seen in document 3. This allowed the countries that gained control of tropical regions to open new markets with the new materials or to upgrade their current technologies with the materials that they found. With this came a scramble for new and undiscovered lands, such as Africa. The europeans have traded with Africa for some time but now that they know what resources they have that are of need to their own people they went after Africa. You can see what Africa looks like after the scramble in document 10. The need or want for more materials and resources is what drove the economic force of imperialism because some lands had what the powerful countries needed or