Below is a detailed about the influence of Anglo Saxonism on the American Imperialism and its indirect correlation. Let us discuss more below.
How did Anglo Saxonism help foster American Imperialism?
What was the basic premise of Anglo-Saxonism and how did it relate to imperialism?
‘Anglo Saxonism’ is referred to as the actions of the Anglo Saxon people, a tribe that inhabited England in the early 6 AD to 11 AD. Their characteristics, way of life, beliefs and values are far different from the other tribes of the century. Their sense of justice, laws and expansion strategies are studied and written about in many pieces of literature.
According to the theory of Social Darwinism, the Anglo Saxon and Teutonic (Germanic) race possessed racial superiority. By Anglo Saxon, here it included the British as well as the Americans as the British once colonized America and had a large influence on the American race. The Anglo Saxons expanded from the Scandinavian islands to the regions in England and occupied the empire.
In a similar way in the modern world, the British Empire expanded to almost all territories. The Americans expanded to colonizing the people in the Pacific islands. The Germans extended too and rose to great power. This was influenced by the Anglo Saxonism in the Anglo Saxon era. According to Darwin’s theory of Social Darwinism, these nations possessed high racial superiority and that social progress was seen best in individuals from these races.
The US believed that they needed to expand their territories so as to stay strong and acquire new markets. They also implemented pan Americanism which was the idea of the Latin nations and the United States working together. The US spread their culture and expanded toward the west colonizing Puerto Rico, Guam, the Philippines, Hawaii. They brought about political philosophy in these areas.
Social Darwinism became popular in the late 20th century in the United States and other countries. Social Darwinists argued that natural classification of human beings into classes of upper and lower was due to a natural sense of inequality amongst human beings. Most of this is also based on Laissez Faire conservatism.
Walter Bagehot in England and William Graham Sumner in America were the two social Darwinists of the time. They viewed societies as an organism and promoted the survival of the fittest in the modern world. According to the theory the British, the Americans, and the Germans qualified as ‘fittest’ out of the category and the ‘survival’ referred to social progress and improvement.
