Analysis Of Howard Zinn 's ' The Mind Behind Dozens Of Books '

Howard Zinn is a professor of political science in Boston University and Gordon S. Wood is a history professor at Brown University. These two historians viewed the nature of American Revolution from two opposite different perspectives. Zinn viewed the American Revolution as an effort to preserve America’s status; while Wood looked at Revolution as an event that incorporated sense of equality among all Americans. Zinn was able to present the argument better as evidences he provided to support his argument seemed to make more sense and were closer to reality.

Whether by means of seizures or monetary acquisition, colonists procured the lands of Native Americans, which furthered their demise. With the European arrival at Jamestown, colonists simply established a settlement on Indian land without giving them any consideration. Over time, as colonists’ population

His other authority comes from Mark Twain, who he informs us was “called a ‘traitor’ for criticizing the U.S. invasion of the Phillipines” (160). Zinn quotes Twain when he says “‘[we] have thrown away the

"Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power (Lincoln). When young, it is taught that the Founding Fathers worked tirelessly to free our country from the British. Later it is learned that history is not so straight forward and that human flaw plays a central role when it comes to the themes of history. Not everything that occurs in history is an accident nor is it as honest as it would be liked. So when Howard Zinn asserts that, “Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land,

A case in which Zinn exemplifies that large pieces of history are commonly overlooked in order to glorify the good of outcomes is in the “heroic” story of Columbus arriving to the Americas. He voices that “when we read the history books given to children in the United States, it all starts with heroic adventure-

The major distinctions of the Zinn’s and Schweikart’s personal assumptions, beliefs and values are their experiences that have lead them to their analytical thought processes and views on culture, society, and government. Zinn had harsher views because of his experiences with the police in New York’s Times Square. Zinn wants to be a balance, to opposing views and is a social activist. Schweikart is a strong patriotic conservative that believes the left wing creates myths.

History will always be seen from different points of view. A German would view the Holocaust in a different light than a Jew would. American history in particular has several different viewpoints. Howard Zinn wrote A People’s History of The United States showing the view of the minorities: Native Americans, African Americans, women, and low class workers. Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen together wrote A Patriot’s History of the United States, writing for the conservatives. Although the two share similarities, they also have glaring differences.

In the first chapter of Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, there are mulitple important themes distinguishable from the text. The first is that people of power take advantage of the giving and kind, for when the Arawaks gave Spanish explorers goods, they took them as slaves. Also, that it is best to tell history from the side of the victim, because views from the higher power (Government, conquerors, leaders, etc) do not emphasize the struggles of the lesser. They also only tell history in their own interest, glossing over their cruelty and painting themselves in a heroic light. Finally, and maybe most importantly, is that if sacrifices must be made for progress, the decision to do so must be in the hands of those being

In the process, this paper also takes on critical views of Zinn and either disagrees with, or reconciles them to argue for why Zinn’s lofty status in American history is well-deserved. Zinn was among a select handful of people in the past century who have most effectively, and lastingly, taught so many of us to critically rethink our understandings of the structures in which we operate, the true value of those structures, and our roles within them. For this, his legacy becomes undeniable.

Debate has existed in the world for hundreds of years, developing at the beginning of humanity but more publicly in the early eighteenth century. Humans love to argue their point of view with others in order to determine the “correct” viewpoint on various matters. Throughout the world, many approach a debate with opinions formulated from different outlooks on life. Perceptions of a situation establish themselves based on where and how a person was raised. When elaborating on historical events, more often than not, two passionate sides emerge, those who focus on injustices and freedom and those who look at events focused on traditional values. After examining two takes on colonial America it is obvious that Howard Zinn focuses on injustice

The strengths of “Historian as Citizen” lie in Zinn’s practicality. For example, one of the things he advocates for is acting in spite of oppressive

Howard Zinn’s problem with objectivity was that it is impossible to achieve without some type of biases. Zinn shows through three different examples the Ludlow massacre,

What is history? Dictionary.com refers to it as “a continuous, systematic narrative of past events as relating to aparticular people, country, period, person, etc., usually written as a chronological account; chronicle:”The book in question did not alter the narrative of the past, and in reality, all it did was offer a new perspective on events that had already since finished. The origin of this book, in fact, seemed to be that it was written simply to prove a point,

History is the study of human experience through the time of written documents, has a much shorter time span. Written records go back to the 5,000 years ago in western Asia.

According to brainy quotes, David McCullough an american author and historian once said, “History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are” (“History Quotes”). David Mccullough is saying that history is about us, it’s a part of everyone, it’s a part of who we are. Howard Zinn says that history is about the future it’s about us. Though some might see that his interpretations are saying that our history doesn’t matter and isn’t about us today. Because Zinn reveals that we need to see all sides of history because it is about our future, which evokes the idea that history is about us today.