Zinn Critique

Howard Zinn’s unique perspective on American history and the beloved American heroes makes for an interesting story. His book, A People's History of the United States, paints history in a whole new light. While most teachers tell the story of the huge period of depression and under consumption, the side that Zinn shows in the 12th chapter of his book “The Empire and the People”, tells of the differing views of American imperialism in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He also uses other like-minded historians like Mahan, Lodge, Beveridge, Lafeber, Sage, and Foner and historical events such as the Spanish-Cuban-American War, the Teller Amendment, the Monroe Doctrine, and the sinking of the Maine battleship to support his claims. These claims

As an American, one could ashamed of the actions and policies of the US government; unfortunately, much of America’s history has followed the trend of oppression and imperialism started by those first European settlers, who colonized the Americas and supplanted the Native Americans. Hidden in the great American success story, lies a darker history of those who didn’t win, those who never got to write the history books.

Death, can tear anyone apart, but when it's for a cause it can open a family, friends, or even a nation's eyes. When a national icon dies for a cause it can a can make the whole nation take a step back and look at what's really going on. An excellent examples are John F. Kennedy, Martin Luther King Jr, or in this case John Proctor from The Crucible, by Arthur Miller. In this play people are being hanged for an accusation of witchcraft, which is necessary to restore the social justice in Salem. This play can be compared to history, with information about the play itself, and lastly how the tragic hero's death makes a difference in this play.

When we think of the American West, we always envision a land of rugged mountains and vast prairie, on which cowboys ride on horseback and chase after the Indians. This is the definition of the American West as presented on big screens in cinema, where most Americans’ perception of the myth of the American West comes from.

The colonists of Early Jamestown did not know what they were going to experience in the New World, and they were not prepared. This took place from 1607-1611. The colonists arrived in Chesapeake Bay in 1607. They had hopes to find new land. Sadly, out of the 500 colonists that arrived in Jamestown, 80% died.Just between 1609 and 1610, 110 settlers died from famine and disease. In 1607, there was only one surgeon for hundreds of men. Colonists died in early Jamestown because of three main problems. These problems were Starvation, Native American Relations, and Disease. Listen to how almost 350 settlers died in these five years full of hardships.

In order to create his ideal Native American standing within the American Government, which includes the non-indigenous portion of the world acknowledging and understanding Native American issues with the United States and Internationally, Walter R. Echo-Hawk, in his A Context for Understanding Native American Issues, delves into the United State’s past Indian affairs as well as his goals for achieving this ideal. It is important to consider the author’s attitude towards the topic, his desired audience and the devices he used when analyzing the strength of his arguments.

While we read a handful of chapters in Black Elk Speaks, one chapter in particular caught my attention more than the rest. Chapter 21, “The Messiah” was a rather captivating one, in not only its content, but also the unfolding of the previous two chapters that leads up to the content in that of chapter 21. The aspect of chapter 21 that are most captivating to me is the realization of everything that is taking place out west, while Black Elk isn’t present. While these chapters not only give us insight to the Wasichus’ movement west and the treatment to which they displayed towards the Black Hill people, we are also exposed to the individual struggle to which Black Elk himself is overcoming. For his in particular, he’s not only an individual who is suffering from

Exposing students to the real Whitewashing of American history impacts the lives of minorities and Native Americans. “Samantha Manchac is concerned about the new materials.” (lsensee 2015). History books aren’t showing the reality of things to students. History books want to hide what white people did to Africans, Native Americans and other ethnicities. “It’s an attempt to whitewash history.” (Isensee 2015). History books writers want to “soften” the past by rewriting the past by taking out important facts and details.

The way we perceive history are through the eyes of those who write it, but we also have no knowledge if they’re being biased or not. In Frances G. Couvares’ work Interpretations of American History, he talks about historiography and how historians write history. This essay will talk about the providential, the rationalist, the nationalist, and the the professional, the four stages that helped shape how we write American history and the importance it has to historiography.

During one of his powerful speeches, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said “Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race.” Scholars talk of what happened to the Indians as a great tragedy, but never anything further. We deny what happened to the Indians, particularly the Cherokees. During the 1830’s, the United States government set out to remove all Cherokee individuals from their homes and relocate them west. Relocation meant ending up on a land foreign to them, and presented with environmental conditions that posed difficulties for human living. This journey, known as the Trail of Tears, left countless of Indians physically and spiritually dead. The Cherokee did in fact suffer a genocide. With the help of a reputable source explaining the term genocide, along with the explanation of documents written during the time, people discover the undeniable truth that a genocide happened during the Cherokee Removal.

As Marcus Aurelius once said, “Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away”. Time passes by swiftly and soon events, names, and struggles get lost in the depths of history. History becomes a vast pit of several conglomerated dates that soon lack importance or gain importance depending on the present time period. The history of the United States started roughly around 1607 when several pilgrims came to the New World for better opportunities. Now zoom 410 years to present day where our world consists of massive industrialization, expansion of technology, and intricate international affairs. Several events within this time period pass like a river, each event being replaced by another as well as its significance continuing to decrease.

“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives. The argument that seems to be made (how Columbus

Throughout the years, America has gone through many different political changes. Many presidents selected with different plans for our future. Sadly, many of those objectives have failed or came to an end. One system that was put into effect was the Reconstruction. Although, some say it was a failure, there has been some research that labels it a success.

One of the reading done for class was “Persons of Mean and Vile Condition” written by Howard Zinn. In this reading Zinn states what was the Bacon’s Rebellion, how it started and how it ended. In his work, he states his opinion on some issues or happenings, in which I agree.

"There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice" Charles de Montesquieu. These words by Montesquieu seem to fit not only the American Revolution but also the Cherokee Removal. The actions of some of the Cherokee people that refused to give up their ancestral land may support the “uncivilized barbaric savages” claims of the Americans of European ancestry; however, the primary source documents in "The Cherokee Removal" demonstrate a different interpretation of the Cherokee people and their struggles as well as vindicate their actions.