White Man's Burden - Book Report/Review Example

Crosby wrote the second and third stanzas of the poem to show the introduction of the American economic and legal system in the Philippine culture aimed to exploit their talents and resources for America's gain. At that time, the establishment of factories and stores has taught Filipinos the inclusion of market economy system in their culture. Under this system, Americans involved in the conquest introduced the virtue of industry and hard work to take advantage of the Filipino's productivity and the value of the legal and penal system to justify their greed and hunger for power.

Perhaps the Americans had been deeply ashamed for their political and military might that they took advantage of other countries to salvage their dignity, according to Crosby. The severity of the political frauds that mess the United States is being reflected in the poem's third stanza. The American ship Maine has been toppled down by the Spaniards because of their defective vigilance. Through the Philippines, a previous colony of Spain conquered; the Americans had already served its vindication to the Spanish.

By exploiting Filipino's cultural and economic orientation, Americans could proudly show the world its influence and power not only during those times but also in the future. Under the banner of civilizing savages and the primitives, Crosby emphasized that they wielded power to "grab everything in sight" in return for their efforts. In his insight, the Americans believe that educating their conquered peoples towards the refinement of their culture entails a great cost. Thus, by "concessions, pensions" and "salaries," their toil in upbringing an infant civilization into a "matured" one can be repaid.

With all these education processes, Americans, as portrayed by Crosby in this poem, upheld its right to flaunt to the world their accomplishments of profiting from the Filipinos by turning these innocent natives into educated brutes. Americans can announce to the world that their wonderful and perfectly crafted money-making and power-building schemes worked well. In fact, the propagandas and educational campaigns to develop a civilization have proven that American imperialism has been successful over the years.

True enough, American influence has shown the world that the "White Man's Burden," though cunningly done, for Crosby, truly pays well.