Lauren+M.+-+PA+-+SP12

Occupation/Background Info:

Josiah Strong was a Congregational Clergyman and social reformer. He was born on January 19, 1847 in Naperville, Illinois. His life wasn’t action packed until in 1885 when he published the book //Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis//. After that he really became a social figure for the Anglo-Saxons and also a General Secretary of the Evangelical Alliance for the United Sates ( a bunch of Protestant missionary groups).

Position on Issue:

Josiah Strong was an imperialist and definitely a racist. He believed because America was the top country in the world that we needed to be in control of as much land as possible. In fact he once said, “//It seems to me that God, with infinite wisdom and skill, is training the Anglo-Saxon race for an hour sure to come in the worlds future. The lands of the earth are limited, and soon will be taken. Then will the world enter upon a new stage in its history- the final competition of the races. Then this race of unequaled energy, with the majesty of numbers and the might of wealth behind it- the representative of the largest liberty, the purest Christianity, the highest civilization... will spread itself over the earth//”//.// He was the author of the book //Our Country: Its Possible Future and Its Present Crisis//. His overall goal was to convince Anglo-Saxons to “civilize and Christianize” the western states of America. The goal of the book was to convince the Anglo-Saxons to spread their great knowledge onto the inferior races out in the west because the Anglo-Saxons were the most superior race known to man as well as the Greeks, Romans, and Egyptians. Josiah said that this would benefit the uncivilized and help the American economy. He was one of the founders of the Social Gospel movement. The goal of the group was to apply Protestant principals to America to solve problems like immigration, industrialization, and urbanization. He felt a role of responsibility fall on him to civilize the western Americans and eventually the world. He also felt like his mission in life was to spread the belief so that “social sins” would no longer exist. His work was said to have “influenced support for imperialistic United States policy among the American Protestants”. He thoroughly believed that all races could change and be improved so Christ would recognize them. Anglo-Saxon had two main ideas. One was civil liberty and the other was pure spiritual Christianity. When we gained the Philippines he stated that it was our duty to keep this country because the people where just not capable of ruling it themselves. If the United States had left he thought it would be either turned to anarchy or worse yet to a foreign country.

Points of Interest in the topic:

- Very religious - Believed America was superior to every other country and wanted to spread knowledge. - Didn’t want other countries to be able to imperialize “America’s” land. - Josiah firmly believed that not only was our country superior but the best race as compared to the “pure” country races. - Greedy - Pretended to care about how the Philippines were run but only truly wanted the land for America. - As his idea of Anglo-Saxon became more popular he gained more interest in becoming the face of annexation between the west side of America and the rest

Works Cited:

Chimes, Michael. "Imperialism." //Spanish American War//. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .

“Josiah Strong - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." //Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia//. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .

“Justification for Imperialism." //Learn Social Studies and American History//. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. .

Gain", a "desire for economic, and sheer love of power. "Voices for Imperialism: Josiah Strong and the Protestant Clergy." //Information Technology Services//. Web. 8 Feb. 2012. <http://spider.georgetowncollege.edu/ht