Howard Zinn And Christopher Columbus : The Mistreatment Of Native Americans

The history of the Americas is a debatable topic, many sources are unsure of what has exactly occurred. The sources that were read all show opposing viewpoints; the Europeans had mistreated the Native Americans, the Europeans were unaware of their actions, and the Native Americans were capable to fight off the Europeans. Although all sources provide key points, the third source shows evidence and strong points that prove to be a reasonable argument. Though the history is uncertain, what is known about the Americas is that the Europeans had rediscovered the Americas, which the Native Americans had been harboring and living off of the land before the Europeans even found the land. This had caused a conflict between both groups leading to the end of the Native Americans and Europeans taking over the Americas.

Despite bearing some similarities, the differences between how the textbook and Howard Zinn describe Christopher Columbus are pronounced. The textbook writes their text from the Christopher Columbus viewpoint unlike Howard Zinn text where he writes from the viewpoint of the victims. The textbook was also less detailed about the actions of Columbus (but still wrote about his deceitful actions) than Howard Zinn’s A Peoples History of the United States. For example, the textbook talks about how Columbus first came to the Bahamas, he forced the Arawaks to search for gold, “If they had gold the Spaniards seized it; if they did not, the Europeans forced them to search for it.” The text doesn’t describe Columbus actions like Howard Zinn did, “This

Columbus has always been portrayed as an enlightened, peaceful explorer who “discovered” a new world, and became friends with the native people. Howard Zinn’s view on Columbus’s encounter with the natives is an entirely different perspective. Zinn describes Columbus as a man who is willing to torture and kill others to be able to accomplish what he wants; in this case he wanted to obtain gold and other resources to take back with him to Spain.

Zinn first refers to the author Morrison and how he deals with who Columbus really was. Instead of “[lying] outright about the past” or “[omitting] facts, which might lead to unacceptable conclusions,” Morrison tells the

Native Americans had inherited the land now called America and eventually their lives were destroyed due to European Colonization. When the Europeans arrived and settled, they changed the Native American way of life for the worst. These changes were caused by a number of factors including disease, loss of land, attempts to export religion, and laws, which violated Native American culture.

In 1492, the Spanish and English discovered America and the both searched for new areas to take claim so they can settle and make new colonies for the new world up until around 1790. The Spanish were the first successful country to establish wealth and gain from the new world and it was because of their interest in using these colonies for mostly for trade. Although the Spanish and English had an increasingly large grasp over the new world, Africans, other European countries, and Native Americans could not stop fighting so they could band together to fight the higher powers, meanwhile America was trying to become it's own nation, Even though all of the less powerful cultures wanted freedom (Dutch, Native Americans, Germans, Scot-Irish, Africans, Scots, and French) all except the Africans got it because it was a lot harder to figure out who was really a slave if you were white but a lot easier if it was only Black. Even though the odds were not in their favor, The less powerful ethnic groups could not join together and fight the Anglo-Americans , Spanish, and English mostly because of the majority of people were Protestant, cultural pluralism, and of course, Anglo conformity. Native Americans didn’t have much to worry about besides the the struggles of their everyday life up until 1492 when Christopher Columbus arrived. Most people think of Native Americans to be one or very few groups of people, but in reality it was a lot more complex that that. Natives had differences

There were a large amount of Native Americans before the arrival of Europeans. Before reading 1491 by Charles C. Mann, I believed that there were only a small amount of people in the Americas. According to Henry F. Dobyns, the “Western Hemisphere held 90 to 112 million people”, which was more than the amount of people living in Europe.

Before Europeans ever ventured to North America, the land had been populated by Native American nations that had their own distinct cultures and social structures. Native Americans had trade routes and established complex relationships between tribes. They were not merely heathens waiting to be civilized by the Europeans. Yet, Europeans would use those justifications to lay claim on their land.

Zinn’s thesis focused primarily on the devious Christopher Columbus. He wrote that Christopher Columbus wasn’t a real hero. He was power hungry and obsessed with finding gold. He was dishonest and deceitful to his crew. “The first man to sight land was supposed to get a yearly pension of 10,000 maravedis for life, but Rodrigo never got it. Columbus claimed he had seen a light the evening before. He got the reward.” He was also a cruel man, abusing the inhabitants of the land which he explored. The Arawaks were friendly and welcoming to these European men with overwhelming hospitality and their belief in sharing, but Columbus abused their kindness. He took them by force and used them as slaves, took all their gold and then killed them.” As soon as I arrived in the Indies, on the first Island which I found, I took some of the natives by force in order that they might learn and might give me information of whatever there is in these parts.” Columbus wrote this about his experience when he first arrived to the Bahama Islands. This shows that he did not care for the people; instead of returning back the hospitality he used unnecessary

It has been thought for many years that the Americas were a vastly unpopulated land until Columbus came. However new evidence disputes this previously thought notion. Archeologist, who have been studying the remains of Native American culture, have found evidence suggesting that the Indians were in the Americas for much longer and in greater numbers than what was believed. This new evidence shows us the impact the Europeans had on the New World and gives us insight into what the Americas were like before the Europeans and what they may have been had the Europeans never settled here.

d.) Zinn’s basic criticism about historian Samuel Eliot Morison’s book is that throughout the entire book, Morison states that Columbus was a terrible person who

Regarding the article, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, Dr. Howard Zinn argues that there is another perspective to consider as to Christopher Columbus’ adventures. Dr. Howard Zinn’s position is that history books have omissions of slavery, death and innocent bloodshed that accompanied the adventures of Christopher Columbus. In the following statements Dr. Howard Zinn describes his perspective; “The writer began the history, five hundred years ago, of the European invasion of the Indian Settlement in the Americas. That beginning, when you read Las Casas- even if his figures are exaggerations (were there 3 million Indians to begin with, as he says or 250,000, as modern historians calculate) is conquest, slavery, and death. When

After most of their population had been decimated, the remaining Indians were forced into slave labor that worked them to exhaustion. If they refused to work, they would lose their lives. When Columbus first arrived, he viewed the Indians as ignorant, and easily conquered. His first encounter with the Arawak tribe occurred when the two sides exchanged certain items. During this time, Columbus noted how the tribe possessed no iron, beared no arms, and used feeble spears made out of cane. This led to his idea that it would only require 50 men to subdue them all, and force them to do whatever he wished. From Columbus’ point of view, he was thinking as a great explorer that would conquer and use an entire race of people to establish a new civilization,

In every story that we’ve the main issue is the mistreatment of the people and how one group is superior than the other. In the book “A Young People’s History of the United States.” by Howard Zinn the author speaks about Christopher Columbus and the relationship he had with the Native Americans. Columbus treated the Native Americans dreadfully because he thought he was better and that he had the right to do what he did. Instead of working with the people like he was suppose to he mistreated them and made them want to leave their own land.

The Americas were conquered not discovered. Although Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, the continent was already inhabited by its indigenous people. Once Europe realized