The Bloodshed And Deceit Essay

Zinn’s question was if the bloodshed and deceit were necessary in order for the human race to progress and one might argue that yes, to a certain extent. If the English did not colonize America, maybe America would not be what it is today. The Europeans came here with their tools and influence over the country. The colonist used the bloodshed in order to control the Native Americans, the Africans, and even their own people. They did not want them to rebel therefore, they devised systems in order to manipulate them. Even though they implemented this system the Native Americans and the Africans Indians rebelled against the Europeans. The Europeans would oppress the people, imprisoned and punish them in order to have control over the colonies

The Europeans would kill and hang the people to send a message to the other slaves, not disobey them or they will be punished for it. However, what if they simply did not have slavery period and just paid these people to work the land. That way they would not have the need to ‘rebel’ and get punished for. Another instant were England could have chosen and alternative path, Zinn wrote about England wanted to rid themselves of prisoners and beggars; these people were stripped, beaten bloody and then sent to work out of the country to America. They were sent as indentured servants, perhaps England could have sent them without beating them because traveling to America was punishment enough they were away from their families. There was a lack of food on board and some of them died and thrown

Zinn focused more on the fact that these people were torn from their culture and brought here against their will, to engage in unfavorable conditions. The degree of cruelty these people faced was the point Zinn tried to make. He is not necessarily pointing fingers and saying they should be held accountable, he was emphasizing on the conditions the slaves were facing (chapter 2). But, Johnson argued that America was basically they were corrupted into it (pg. 72) they were not necessarily the cause of the injustice. ‘The Board of Trade Seeks Information on the Slave Trade, 1708’ supports Johnson’s argument in my opinion because it was geared towards the inventory of slaves and the benefits Europe gained from the colonization. Europe just used slavery as a stepping stone to build its empire. America was built on slavery, but every ‘great’ country was developed on this. The question of moving passed the injustice is yes, this country can move past it and look forward to the future however not forgetting what brought us to this