Rudyard Kipling's, "The White Mans Burden" is a definite expression of social Darwinism. During the Industrial Revolution Americans and Europeans Were beginning to Expand into Africa. They justified what they did by social Darwinism, applying science to Racism. The Europeans and Americans felt that they, being the more advanced society needed to rule over and teach the people who were more "primitive" like Africa to civilize them. This idea is what the poem is referring to when it says "The White Mans Burden".

    In the first verse of the poem Kipling is encouraging people to send their best and brightest out to Africa to explore there. The people are hesitant because Africa is mysterious and dangerous. Kipling refers to the Africans as "your new caught sullen peoples, half devil and half child. He's basically saying Whites and Europeans are a superior race and that we need to teach the Africans our way of life so they can be happy. His reference to them being both half devil and half child means that they are half devil because they don't practice Christianity and half child because they must not know any better.

    In conclusion, this poem is urging the European and American people to Expand into Africa. Social Darwinism tells them to go in and rule over the more "primitive" peoples of Africa, teaching them Christianity, curing disease, and civilizing them; All the while trying to make a profit.

Kipling,Ruyard."The white Mans Burden"