English 377 Web Assignment 4
Visit The Victorian Web's introduction to the British
Empire. In his discussion of the empire during the Victorian
period,
David Cody notes that Darwin's theories were sometimes used to justify
British imperialism, but he suggests that paternalistic and racist
theories
were based on "popular but erroneous generalizations" derived from
Darwin's
ideas. Darwin was opposed to slavery (his family had long been active
against
it), and he rejected the notion that the different races of humans were
different species, arguing that all humans are descendents of a common
ancestor. But Darwin's round-the-world voyage on the Beagle had
convinced him of the superiority of Europeans over "savages," and
generally
of Britain's superiority as an imperial power over other European
nations.
And the Beagle was itself, of course, on an imperial mission,
taking
longitudinal measurements around the southern part of South America for
the purpose of producing better nautical maps for the British Navy and
British mercantile interests.
Look at the paragraph on pp. 44-45, the latter half of the paragraph
on pp. 47-48, and the two paragraphs on pp. 64 of the Origin
in which Darwin discusses the introduction of European species into new
parts of the world. How might the language
(Darwin's choice of words) and conclusions
(the point Darwin is making) of these passages
be used to buttress British imperialism? Be sure to analyze and discuss
all three passages.