Subjects:
better titled A Proletarian’s History of the United States. In the first
three chapters Zinn looks at not only the history of the conquerors,
rulers, and leaders; but also the history of the enslaved, the
oppressed, and the led. Like any American History book covering the time
period of 1492 until the early 1760’s, A People’s History tells the
story of the “discovery” of America, early colonization by European
powers, the governing of these colonies, and the rising discontent of
the colonists towards their leaders. Zinn, however, stresses the role of
a number of groups and ideas that most books neglect or skim over: the
plight of the Native Americans that had their numbers reduced by up to
90% by European invasion, the equality of these peoples in many regards
to their European counterparts, the importation of slaves into America
and their unspeakable travel conditions and treatment, the callous
buildup of the agricultural economy around these slaves, the
discontented colonists whose plight was ignored by the ruling
bourgeoisie, and most importantly, the rising class and racial struggles
in America that Zinn correctly credits as being the root of m
. . .
Zinn says that “selection, simplification, [and] emphasis” (8) are
necessary to the historian, but he chooses to take a different stance in
his writings. I prefer to tell the story of the discovery of America from the
viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the
slaves, of Andrew Jackson as seen by the Cherokees, of the Civil War as
seen by the New York Irish. While most history books focus on the dominating Europeans, Zinn
focuses on the dominated Native Americans, who Zinn holds to be at least
as advanced as their European masters. Before resorting to Africans, the colonists had tried to
subdue the Indians, but that idea failed before it was created. At the end of chapter
three, tension is mounting, pitting the Americans against the English
and the workers against the rich. This example may
seem extreme, but both men were directly responsible for the deaths of
millions on innocent civilians and caused sheer terror and panic among
millions of other people. Needless to say, the colonists won, but it was at the expense
of several dozen of their own and thousands of Pequots. Citizens were put into work houses for debt and occasionally
rioted against the wealthy. Nathaniel Bacon led a
revolution against Virginia governor William Berkeley and his
conciliatory Indian policies. To state
the facts, however, and then bury them in a mass of other information is
to say to the reader: yes, mass murder took place, but it’s not that
important. had to declare a kind of
martial law, organize them into work gangs, and force them into the
fields for survival. any of the
problems that we as a nation have today.
Essay's Topics
All research is for reference purposes only.