European Imperialism And Joseph Chamberlain's The True Conception Of Empire

In the late nineteenth century countries were expanding quickly overseas, and into Africa and Asia. The Europeans outwardly justified their actions as a need for resources, trade, and cheaper manufacturing, but they also believed that colonization was good for civilizing the “lesser peoples” of the world and fulfilled the mother country’s need for power and prestige. Europeans believed that a strong country needed a good supply of industrial materials, to be ahead of other countries in size of empire, and people to either work for them or serve in their army. Some of the biggest reasons that Europeans attempted to colonize overseas were cheaper manufacturing and material, workforce, and trade. With the new industrial revolution there was …show more content…
In Joseph Chamberlain’s speech, The True Conception of Empire, he talks about how owning colonies helps the empire to its mission. The colonies began as a way to make profit, but after the War of Independence the value of the colonies became one of unity. It had become the empire’s duty to show how it brought the people “Happiness and prosperity” and Chamberlain believed that colonization brought safety and security to the new members of the British Empire. He dismisses the bloodshed and death of the natives as a circumstance; that it was necessary to the growth of the empire. William Rathbone Greg wrote that the British saw the colonies as showing the prestige and imperial dignity of the vast British Empire, which some felt was not necessarily a good thing. Cecil Rhodes wrote in Confession of Faith about patriotism and how the colonies aided the British Empire in national pride. He also believed that the natives in the colonies had become new British citizens and England had lost millions of citizens to the Americas. He went as far as claiming that the British were the “finest race in the world” and firmly believed that the more of the world the British owned the better-off the world was. He dreamed of the whole world being part of the British Empire and scorned at the idea of British immigrating to other countries. In Fabi’s essay supporting the expansion of Germany he talks about the effect on the German people. He believed that expansion would increase the “spirit of the people” and aid the country in developing in further ways. Expansion made a country great, and Fabi saw England as the greatest world power due to their imperial expansion; believing it to be “the ultimate proof of the solid power”. Imperialism carried the mother country to more supremacy and historical