Activity 8

Name: Honeylette Valdueza Date: May 26, 2022

Name of Instructor: Prof. Ludivena Lagrio
Class Schedule: MTH (2:30-4:00)

B. POEM ANALYSIS.

What does Rudyard Kipling mean by “the White Man’s burden”? What are some of the
advantages, according to Kipling, that colonial person received under the European role? What evidence
can you find in the poem to indicate that colonial peoples were opposed to European rule? (20 pts).

THE WHITE MAN’S BURDEN

The United States and the Philippine Islands

Take up the White Man’s burden –

Send forth the best ye breed –
Go bind your sons to exile
To serve your captives’ need;
To wait in heavy harness
On fluttered folk and wild –
Your new-caught, sullen peoples,
Half devil and half child.

Take up the White Man’s burden –

In patience to abide,
To veil the threat of terror
And check the chow of pride;
By open speech and simple,
An hundred times made plain.
To seek another’s profit,
And work’s another gain.

Take up the White Man’s burden-

The savage wars of peace –
Fill full mouth of Famine
And bid the sickness cease;
And when your goal is nearest
The end for others sought;
Watch Sloth and heathen Folly
Bring all your hope to nought . . . .

Take up the White Man’s burden –

Ye dare not stoop to less –
Nor call to loud on Freedom
To cloak your weariness;
By all ye cry or whisper,
By all ye leave or do,
The silent, sullen peoples
Shall weigh your Gods and you. . . .

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Follow-up questions:

How did President McKinley’s views resemble those of Kipling? From what have you read in the
texts, were Kipling’s and McKinley’s views representative of most Americans at that time?
 The poem The White Man's Burden represents the Western and European worlds that deals
with the non-western hemispheres in the context of Imperialistic Expansion. It highlights the moral
responsibility of white-raced people to educate and save the natives from their uncivilized ways
and the repercussions that may follow. The author emphasized what are the aims that Americans
should strive for and what the natives should gain from the poem like stopping famines, ending
the sickness and diseases, and managing the tribes’ ferocity through education. Some evidences
includes the lines, “Your new-caught, sullen people, half devil and half child,” “By all ye cry or
whisper”, “By all ye leave or do”, The silent, sullen peoples shall weigh your gods and you,”. They
are described as rowdy and persistent in their refusal to accept foreign education, as well as their
refusal to cooperate with colonizers who want to educate them.
 It was with President Mckinley Benevolent Assimilation proclamation, he stated that the United
States is only friends seeking native approbation as part of their efforts to colonize and educate
them while respecting their rights. This is consistent with Kipling's idea of their superior race's
noble mission to save the uncivilized, famine-stricken, and ill indigenous or Filipinos. Present in
the line is, "The savage wars of peace—Fill the full mouth of famine, and bid the sickness cease,"
where the author wrote while initially expressing his and America's ideas on "Manifest Destiny,"
which is expanding to the rest of the world and assisting countries in doing so.

SET D. DOCUMENTARY ANALYSIS REVIEW. (10 pts)

The Cooper and Jones Laws provided the first steps towards autonomy and independence by
allowing Filipinos to participate in self-government. Compare the provisions of these two laws and look for
significant changes between them. How did the Jones Law expand Filipino participation in the
government?

 The Cooper Act, also known as the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, is a detailed description of the
provisions that finally led to the Filipinos' independence and self-government. It permitted
Filipinos to extend their Bill of Rights and Civil Rights that gives the them limited power and
administration, the ability to nominate Filipino Commissioners to Washington, and a sense of
independence under US supervision and this act would eventually lead to the election of the
Philippine Assembly, which would represent the chamber of the legislature, with the Nationalist
Party winning a majority of the 80 seats granted. The Jones Law, or Philippine Autonomy Act of
1916 on the other hand sought to provide further independent government and authority, allowing
the having of an Upper and Lower house representatives, a further improvement to the Bill of
Rights, and overall, hastening the development of the country’s path towards an actual Filipino
government.

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