Charles Darwin And Imperialism
         England went through dramatic changes in the 19th century.  
 English culture, socio-economic structure and politics where largely 
 influenced by the principles of science.  Many social expressions 
 occurred due to these changes.  Transformations which categorized this 
 time period could be observed in social institutions; for instance: the 
 switch from popular Evangelicalism to atheism, emergence of feminism and 
 the creation of new political ideologies (Liberalism, Conservatism and 
 Radicalism).  These are just a few of the changes that took place. All 
 of this social alteration can be attributed to the importance of 
 science.  The English people began to trust more in empiricism and 
 logical thought than in faith and glory of the empire .  One who 
 contributed greatly to this transformation was Charles Darwin. In his 
 two most famous works, The Origin of Species and The Decent of Man, 
 Darwin introduces the concept of "the survival of the fittest" and 
 "natural selection". 
         The Darwinian ideas introduced into English society justified a 
 great number of political policies and social movements.  England at the 
 turn of the century was still a largest power in the international 
 system.  The English  perceived, through the justification of Darwinism, 
 they were fit to be the imperial hegemon in the world.  The issue this 
 essay will deal with is Imperialism and how Darwinism justified its 
 practice. Darwin argued in his work, The Decent of Man, "When civilised 
 nations come into contact with barbarians the struggle is short except 
 where a deadly climate gives its aid to the native race. . . the grade 
 of civilisation seems to be a most important element in success in 
 competing nations."(Darwin, Decent of Man, p. 297).
         In this observation, Darwin connotated superiority to civilized 
 nations.  In this same work, he referred to the indigenous people as 
 "savages, barbarians and tribal men".  This immediately transfers a 
 condescending attitude toward the "uncivilised people".  Darwin 
 classified them as tribes while the English and other Aryan cultures 
 were a race.  
         These claims of basic inequality gave the English the 
 "jurisdiction" philosophically, to exploit the colonies to a greater 
 level than previously attained.  The drive to "Christianize" the 
 colonies was abandoned, politically.  The view shifted from "owing the 
 primitive world" education and Christianity, to a more self-interested 
 "we English are naturally better".  Therefore, the we  should be 
 exploiting you, because, that is why you are here.
         Charles Darwin had a tremendous amount of influence on the 
 scientific community and the English population. It can be seen that 
 Darwinism played a large part in justifying  the imperial behavior of 
 England.  Darwin's studies on nature and the behavior of animals had 
 unlocked "Pandora's Box" in a manner of speaking.  He studies reveal how 
 close to nature humanity really is.  The English empire quickly saw 
 themselves as a dominant predatorial species of the world.  
         In conclusion, the English empire used Darwinian concept to 
 justify the on-going process of imperialism.  Charles Darwin's ideas 
 elevated the ego's of the English people to over-estimate themselves 
 socially and globally.  The affects of Darwinism can be seen throughout 
 the spectrum of social interaction both in the animal kingdom and human 
 society.
 
 