Whenever one speaks about the history and creation of the United States it is often given a particular spectacular and glorious appearance, unless the individual speaking about the subject is Howard Zinn. Unlike the traditional textbooks seen in public schools that are always praising the greatness of America and ignoring the oppression forced upon different social classes; Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States gives readers a brief idea about the lives of those lesser known and it speaks for those that were voiceless. Zinn’s characterization of the United States’ history certainly holds truth to the reality of life back then but the extent of its validity is limited due to the evident bias from the author’s own point of view. …show more content…
It begins with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the Greater Antilles in the Fall of 1492. Zinn inserts diary entries and analysis to describe how Columbus, who was working for the Spanish crown and inspired by Marco Polo, lands in America and inhumanly captures Native Americans in hopes of finding valuable goods to trade and most importantly, gold, so that he may return to Europe; Zinn later goes into details about the pain and horrors of slavery, racism through surprising statistics and facts, and the American revolution with shocking …show more content…
Zinn tells fascinating stories that are constantly excluded out of the common history school textbook and sheds a light on those who were often left in the darkness. Zinn boldly rejects the false objectivity that fills too many textbooks and he openly declares his ethical and political allegiances. If the book was every inept at times, its sweeping energy paved the way for later generations of scholarly students to explore these issues in more detail. Zinn analyzes American history by presenting various perspectives to his readers in an insightful manner which is a truly brilliant milestone for the history of the American people from the point of view of those whose plight has been largely omitted or ignored. This new way of examining history is crucial for all AP history students to comprehend and use as their own tool whenever they look at any type of history, not only American. Whenever a student reads a historical text they should always be conscious of the viewpoint of the author and the subject of the text. For there will always be a different interpretation of the same topic as long as it comes from a different perspective. Zinn does a magnificent job of showing the reader a whole new viewpoint to American history, which all AP history students should take note of and
Zinn also exposes that Bartolome has always been devoting his life to help the Indians to get rid of tyranny from alien invaders like Spain. He thinks tyranny is unjust and cruel to Indian people, and they should not deserve it.
Boyer, Paul S. The Enduring Vision: A History of the American People. D.C. Heath and Company, Mass. © 1990
Brinkley, Alan. The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York: McGraw-Hill, 2010. Print.
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States: 1492-present. New York: HarperCollins, 2003. Print.
Joseph J. Ellis is an American historian, and professor on the founding period of the United States. He is also the author of seven books including, “American Sphinx” and “Founding Brothers”. Both of which have won him a National Book Award and a Pulitzer Prize, in respecting order. His book, Founding Brothers, was written for the general audience, more so students, scholars and anyone else interested in learning about how this country was constructed by our Founding Fathers. Ellis explores the great efforts each and every one of them put forth into this country. This book is a monographed oral history, because it is about one subject (the post-revolutionary time period of the United States) and it is of a sequence of events that occur in that certain time period. Ellis’ book is about a series of history events
In 1492, Christopher Columbus was a self-made man who worked his way up to being the Captain of a merchant vessel. He gained the support of the Spanish monarchs, Ferdinand and Isabella, for an expedition to the Indies. With the support of the Spanish monarchy, he set off to find a new and faster trade route to the Indies. Upon the arrival of his first voyage, Columbus wrote a letter to Luis de Santangel, a “royal official and an early supporter of his venture,” in February 1493 (35). The epistle, letter, entitled “Letter to Luis de Santangel Regarding the First Voyage” was copied and then distributed in Spain before being translated and spread throughout Europe. The Letter is held in such regard with the people as it is considered the first printed description of the new world. Through his description of the nature of the islands, Columbus decided the future fate of the islands. His description of the vast beauty of the nature around him, declares both the economic and nationalistic motivations for colonizing the new world.
America is a nation that is often glorified in textbooks as a nation of freedom, yet history shows a different, more radical viewpoint. In Howard Zinn’s A People's History of the United States, we take a look at American history through a different lens, one that is not focused on over glorifying our history, but giving us history through the eyes of the people. “This is a nation of inconsistencies”, as so eloquently put by Mary Elizabeth Lease highlights a nation of people who exploited and sought to keep down those who they saw as inferior, reminding us of more than just one view on a nation’s history, especially from people and a gender who have not had an easy ride.
The United States was a recently forged nation state in the early 1800’s. Recently formed, this nation state was very fragile and relied on the loyalty of its citizens to all work collectively toward the establishment and advancement of the nation states. Many members of the nation state gave great sacrifices, often their lives, to see that the united states was a successful and democratic. However, the United States, was fundamentally a mixing pot of all foreign people (excluding marginalized Native Americans). This early 1800 's flow of new “Americans” continued as people sought new opportunities and escaped religious or political persecution and famine. One notable
“When Worlds Collide the Untold Story of the Americas after Columbus.” Red Hill Productions. Pbs.org, 2010.Web. 30 April 2014.
Gorn, Elliot J., Randy Roberts, and Terry D. Bilhartz. Constructing the American Past: A Source Book of a People’s History. 7th ed. Vol 2. New Jersy: Pearson Education Inc., 2011. Print.
In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. However, even after centuries later, little is truly known of the mysterious voyage and findings of the new world.1 By examining “Letter from Columbus to Luis Santangel”, one can further contextualize the events of Columbus' exploration of the New World. The letter uncovers Columbus' subtle hints of his true intentions and exposes his exaggerated tone that catered to his lavish demands with Spain. Likewise, The Columbian Voyage Map read in accordance with the letter helps the reader track Columbus' first, second, third, and fourth voyage to the New World carefully and conveniently. Thus, the letter and map's rarity and description render invaluable insight into Columbus' intentionality of the New World and its indigenous inhabitants.
The term “America” does not have one but many definitions that various people have come up with through out the centuries. Some believe America is everything they could hope for and some have believed that it is not what it seems. Frederick Douglas’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July and Michael Rogin’s text Political Repression in the United States are two pieces of historic evidence that show what each individual imagined America as. Although both pieces have similarities, they have differences as well not only in their ideas but their writing style and content as well.
A People’s History of the United States, written in 1980 by Howard Zinn, approaches history from a new perspective. Aware that the conquerors write the history books, Zinn wants to show history from the point of view of the victims, those who did not come out as winners. Chapter one covers Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress. He writes about the native people on the Bahama Islands saying, “[they] were remarkable (European observers were to say again and again) for their hospitality, their belief in sharing” (Zinn 1). He quotes Columbus saying, “‘[the Indians] are so naïve and so free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no. To the contrary,
As the first chapter in this long analytical book, chapter one serves as the foundation for the rest of the novel, with a basic premise that “history textbooks make fool out of the students.” It shows how portrayal of historical figures and events in the best light for the reputation of United States leads to biased and distorted historical education.
This book is written from a perspective foreign to most Americans. Historically, American students are taught from a single perspective, that being the American perspective. This approach to history (the single perspective) dehumanizes the enemy and glorifies the Americans. We tend to forget that those on the opposing side are also human.