To a great extent, popular culture influenced and even controlled Britain’s Empire expansion in the 19th century. Novels, magazines, toys and songs all promoted the new colonial world, publicizing it as nothing had ever been before. Children, boys especially, were targeted by the large number of colonial manufactured material. The Boys Own Paper, released 12 times a year, was extremely popular with articles about science, history, sports and crafts. Parents greatly approved of the moral tone of this paper which encouraged the use of violence especially in a historical extent.

Other popular children’s book authors included Charles Kingsley, George Alfred Henty and Robert Michael Ballantyne, all of who wrote adventure novels. Juvenile fiction such as ‘The Settlers and the Savage: A Tale of Peace and War in South Africa’ by Ballantyne, showed stereotypical images involving the chivalric English soldier defeating the ‘savage’ African with their superior guns. Henty particularly turned violence into adventure in his novels; by showing images of the heroic and well mannered Englishman he helped to create the ideal soldier, an important asset for the expansion and maintenance of the British Empire. War was presented as a ‘rite of passage’ and the characters usually reveled in the excitement of battle.

Children’s toys were also used to promote the ideal soldier and in 1893 William Britain and Sons created the first hollow-cast lead alloy figurines. This new method of manufacture allowed for mass-production and soon a series of famous British regiments were being sold nation wide. By the early 1900s the company was selling more than 5 million toy soldiers a year.

Popular culture was not only aimed at children. With the rate of education in Britain increasing and the improvements made to the printing press, literature was suddenly available for all. Writers and intellects published their views towards the colonies and the ‘savage natives’. In a paper written by Herbert Spencer called ‘The Primitive Man’, he claimed that aggression and violence were only seen in primitive cultures as it was a survival instinct not needed in the more advanced British society. While ‘White Man’s Burden’, a poem by Rudyard Kipling, described the burden placed on the white man to civilize the ‘inferior’ races.

Of all the known races during the 19th century it was the Australian indigenous population that was considered to be the most savage and inferior of all. When classifying societies depending on their apparent level of civility, the Aboriginals were placed last. One such report, declared that they were “the Lowest Class of Human beings”. Evaluations such as this were based around English standards of architecture and agriculture, none of which the British saw the Aboriginals having achieved. Even the settlers, such as Daniel Paine who lived in New South Wales, believed these reports to be true and he himself wrote, “[the Aboriginals] are the most irrational and ill formed Human beings on the Face of the Earth”. (It is now known that the Aboriginals have the longest surviving culture, and had adapted to the harsh Australian bush in a way that allowed them to live in harmony with their surroundings for 40,000 years.)

The type of language used in popular culture was also important when supporting the colonial power. Emile Benveniste, a French structural linguist stated “The whole history of modern thought… in the western world are connected with the creation and handling of a few dozen words.” These could include words such as civilize, superior, inferior, savage and barbarian. Anyone not civilized, had to be converted, again the idea of ‘White Man’s Burden’.

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Take up the White Man’s burden– The savage wars of peace– Fill full the mouth of Famine And bid the sickness cease; And when your goal is nearest The end for others sought, Watch sloth and heathen Folly Bring all your hopes to nought. -Rudyard Kipling

Further Reading:
The Empire of Civilization, the Evolution of an Imperial Idea by Brett Bowden
Warrior Nation: Images of War in British Popular Culture by Michael Paris

About the Author
Charlotte Gardner, a guest blog writer, is currently studying archaeology at the Australian National University. In her spare time she likes to read and write about eccentric historical moments. Her love of old buildings and older stories was sparked when she visited Italy. One of Charlotte’s greatest wishes is that in a few thousand years her skeleton will be dug up by an archaeological investigation team and put on display in a national museum. You may contact Charlotte via email at: charlotteg86@gmail.com.

Tags: 1893, 19th century juvenile fiction, 19th century popular culture, Aboriginals, Australia, Australian Settlers, Bootleg kits, British Empire and the ideal soldier, british pop culture, Charles Kingsley, Cigar Barrel Humidors, Daniel Paine, Emile Benveniste, George Alfred Henty, Herbert Spencer, Metal Model kits, New South Wales, Oak Barrels, Robert Michael Ballantyne, rudyard kipling, savage natives, The Boy's Own Paper, The Primitive Man, The Settlers and the Savage: A Tale of Peace and War in South Africa, war as rite of passage, white man's burden, William Britain and Sons