Summary Of Howard Zinn And The American Pageant

Following the many policies and taxes being passed in the new world came the American Revolution. It’s by far the sole most important war victory America has ever had. It marked not only freedom and independence from Britain, but it also was a victory for mankind and the age of new thoughts, ideals, and practices. The revolution also established a political structure for America that is still effective today. Great Britain outmatched America both militarily and financially but a combination of events happening in America’s favor precipitated one of the greatest victories in world history.

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.

Howard Zinn’s argument on the nature of the American War for Independence was the war for independence was not a social revolution. Instead, he argues the colonial elite used the war for their own personal gain in power and status. The wealthy and powerful found a strategy to maintain and even increase their social and political status by leading the war against England and the courtiers associated with England.

In chapter four of A History of the United States by Howard Zinn, he explored the condition and state of the English colonies concerning the American Revolution. He implored on how the American Revolution successfully supplanted the tyrannical system of England with the same kind of tyranny. He continued expanding on all components of the American Revolution such as what led to the rebellion and dissatisfaction of the people and how after the American Revolution, nothing had really changed other than who became the current puppet master.

2. By assigning both, The People’s History of the United States, and A Patriot’s History of the United States, it allows us to take a look at two different views of American history. Howard Zinn, the author of The People’s History of the United States, seems to tell the story from the view of those not in power, like those in slavery, women, and Native Americans. Conversely, the authors of A Patriot’s History of the United States, Larry Schweikart and

4. What was the Revolutionary movement, at its core, really all about? Was it about the amount of taxation, the right of Parliament to tax, the political corruption of Britain and the virtue of America, the right of a king to govern America, or the colonies’ growing sense of national identity apart from Britain? Was the Revolution truly a radical overturning of government and society—the usual definition of a revolution—or something far more limited or even conservative in its defense of traditional rights?

Zinn’s book also has a more pessimistic feel focusing on the negatives of certain events and the damage the event caused such as the slave trade as a materialistic form of cheap labor, On the other hand Schweikart and Allen’s book appeals heavily to the patriot’s with glorified version of historical events such as the genius of the founding fathers in creation of the constitution, and choosing to undermine or ignored some of the

The American Revolution, today, is seen as a memorable event in history. It was a war against Britain for the independence of the thirteen colonies that began in 1775. Before the American Revolution began, there was a lot of conflict between the colonists and British authorities. The British raised revenue by establishing Acts such as the Stamp Act of 1766. The colonists were against it and tried revolting against Britain, leading to the Boston Massacre in 1770 of British soldiers shoot colonists and killing a few men. The colonists also retaliated against the taxations by dressing up as Indians and throwing tea into the ocean. Parliament began establishing acts known as the intolerable acts, which led to the revolution. In The Shoemaker and the Tea Party by Alfred F. Young, the author introduces and describes the life of a shoemaker, George Robert Twelves Hewes, and the events he was a part of leading up to and after the American Revolution. He shows the different meanings of the Revolution to people according to their perspective and view on society. The Excerpt from “Accounts of George Robert Twelves Hewes as Told to James Hawkes” by James Hawkes is a secondary source of what Hewes has told Hawkes about his memories of the Boston Massacre. Michael D. Hattem, however, gives a more contemporary view on the American Revolution in his article, “The Historiography of the American Revolution.” Though the course of history, the meaning of the American Revolution and the events

Many historians throughout the history of our young nation have debated whether to characterize the American Revolution as radical or conservative, and the argument still continues to this day. Both arguments have points that are valid and convincing. The book the radicalism of the American Revolution written by Gordon wood, and the book the ideological origins of the American Revolution by Bernard bailyn are two examples of this argument. Gordon wood argues that the American Revolution was much more than a fight for American independence, but rather a radical sudden move that not only changed the political ideology of the colonies, but that also had a great social impact on how people lived and thought of themselves as members of society and where the entire way of life and society were changed

The American Revolution, one of the most significant events in our world’s history, has established a huge impact on not only life back in the eighteenth and nineteenth century but our society today. The Acts of Parliament highly benefited the British but did not afford those same rights to the colonists until the formal issuing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, 1776, in which colonial freedom was granted. The most controversial issue is which group caused it; a result of propaganda by the colonists. Multiple acts and protests contributed to this war, three influential ones being the Stamp Act, Boston Massacre and the Boston Tea Party.

After reading a chapter of The American Pageant by David Kennedy, and a chapter of A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, both discuss the beginning of the revolution in the colonies. Zinn approaches the information with great detail and analysis of the colonial revolution. Kennedy does not succeed in this, he often contradicts himself, and lacks detail and analysis. Zinn does a terrific job of giving analysis and detail into the positive and negative effects of the Revolution. Zinn has the greater chapter, detailing the beginning of the revolution. Zinn’s chapter gives a detailed view of the beginning of the revolution, through the struggle to begin the revolution, explaining “no taxation without representation”, and the struggle between rich and poor.

The American Revolution, which occurred approximately from 1765 to 1786, is also known as the American Revolutionary War and the U.S. War of Independence, for good reason. The conflict rose from rising tensions amid the people of Great Britain’s thirteen American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown. Clashes between Britain’s troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict, and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. The American Revolution had tremendous consequences, and was not simply a victory of arms on the battlefield, but also a feat of economic and political ideals, and vital societal changes. This huge period of history set into motion greater changes in American life and created a country, demonstrating just how this revolutionary age in time more than earned its name. This battle of independence waged by the American colonies against Britain influenced political ideas and revolutions around the globe, as a young, largely divided nation won its freedom from the greatest military force of its time.

Both Readings C and D have very different attitudinal approaches towards the European “discovery” of America. The authors look at the history of writing in different ways and often disagree. Reading C, A People’s History of the United States, 1492-present, by Howard Zinn, expresses how Europeans tortured and killed millions of Indians for inadequate reasons and how he does not see why these atrocities should be ignored. Reading D, A History of the American People, by Paul Johnson, expresses how America’s founding was a great adventure and does not often mention the Indians murdered, but how witty and amazing the discovery of America actually was. The authors’ opinions differentiate many times throughout the story. Two of the many times their

It is easy to interpret the American Revolution simply as a struggle for freedom. The magnanimous phrases of the Declaration of Independence have embedded in our hearts and minds glorious images of the Founding Fathers fighting for the natural rights of man. The American Revolution, however, also had a darker side to it, the side of self-interest and profit. The signers of the Declaration represented various classes – the working class, the wealthy land owners and merchants, the intellectuals, and the social elite. Each of these strata had its own set of expectations and fears, which lent a new dimension to the cause of the Revolution. The pressure of these internal, and often overlapping groups, combined with the oppressive external

Zinn once remarked, “Objectivity is impossible and it is also undesirable. That is, if it were possible it would be undesirable, because if you have any kind of a social aim, if you think history should serve society in some way; should serve the progress of the human race; should serve justice in some way, then it requires that you make your selection on the basis of what you think will advance causes of humanity” (Flynn). It is pretty clear to the reader that Zinn believes that socialism and Communism are systems that advance the cause of humanity, and that America is a reactionary, terrorist state; those beliefs form the foundation of his tendentious and error-ridden book.