Summary Of The American Pageant By Howard Zinn

The author wrote this book to summarize the Revolution Era with a brief description of the pre-revolution; with some analytical arguments and opinions incorporated within the book. Morgan takes into prospective the actual motives behind the founding fathers' decision during the Revolution, which he claims to have been driven by their personal benefits. This shows as slavery was not eliminated even though a fundamental basis of the revolution was human equality. Morgan aimed to make an easily accessible outline of the Revolution Era, backed with several documents which critical to the outline; such as, The Constitution of the United States and the Articles of Confederation. He also devoted several pages outlining important dates mentioned throughout the book.

The nature of the American War for the Independence has different historians views, some of them say that the revolution brought many changes to society , and others historians take a opposite view, they say that this revolution does not brought major changes in American. For Howard Zinn the war for independence was not a social Revolution ,He Argue that the American revolution had little positive impact on the everyday lives of most Americans, Zinn stated that most of the leader of the revolution were member of the colonial elite who wished to preserve their wealth and power. On the other hand, For Gordon S. Wood Zinn the war for independence was a social Revolution. He argues that American Revolution was a transforming event that greatly

Gordon Wood’s Radicalism of the American Revolution is a book that extensively covers the origin and ideas preceding the American Revolution. Wood’s account of the Revolution goes beyond the history and timeline of the war and offers a new encompassing look inside the social ideology and economic forces of the war. Wood explains in his book that America went through a two-stage progression to break away from the Monarchical rule of the English. He believes the pioneering revolutionaries were rooted in the belief of an American Republic. However, it was the radical acceptance of democracy that was the final step toward independence. The transformation between becoming a Republic, to ultimately becoming a democracy, is where Wood’s

Howard argued American Revolution as an effort of members of colonial elites to “create consensus of popular support for their continued rule” and to hold back the rebellions against them (Zinn 243). The rebellions stood up against rich colonial elites and the colonial leadership turned their anger against England. In addition, during the revolution differences occurred between upper and lower classes. The indentured servitude increased during revolution and nothing was done by revolution to end it. The revolution according to Zinn led to a “…substantial body of support, a national consensus…that even with the exclusion of ignored and oppressed people, could be called America” (Zinn 255). The declaration of independence was for life, liberty and happiness of rich white males. The poor white workers, women, black slaves, menial farmers were in the same old condition even after the revolution. The revolution merely

1. From the perspective of Native Americans, the Spanish and English empires in America had more similarities than differences. Assess the validity of this generalization.

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 the essay written by Gary Nash, he argues that the reason for the American Revolution was not caused by the defense of constitutional rights and liberties, but that of “material conditions of life in America” were not very favorable and that social and economic factors should be considered as the driving factor that pushed many colonists to revolt. The popular ideology which can be defined as resonating “most strongly within the middle and lower strata of society and went far beyond constitutional rights to a discussion of the proper distribution of wealth and power in the social system” had a dynamic role in the decisions of many people to revolt. The masses ideas were not of constitutional rights, but the equal distribution of wealth

The reality of the American Revolution was that it occurred out of greed and not to strictly obtain independence and freedom from the chains that bind them to England. In 1776, some important people from the English colonies integrated and they discovered that “by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empire.” Through the process, they would then be able to decrease the amount of possible rebellions as well as make a consensus of popular support to create "a new, privileged leadership." Those important people were the Founding Fathers of the United States and according to Zinn, they were not that different from the elites of England. Like other elites, the Founding Fathers wanted to oppress the lower class for their own personal gains. In order for their plans to be effective, they needed the lower classes to support them

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?

While all of the above social, cultural and economic circumstances were playing out and laying the groundwork for the American Revolution, several important political developments came to fruition in the concluding half of the 18th century that sealed the certainty of the American Revolution and made it inevitable. These developments, namely, the relative strengths of the local and colonial governments at the time, the betrayal of the colonies by the British Crown after King George’s War, and the end of Salutary Neglect, proved to present insurmountable odds to the colonists.

The American Revolution, when 13 American colonies waged war against the most powerful country in the world, Great Britain, for their independence. Soldiers who fought in the war and risked their lives to gain the freedom we have today, is just one of the many prime examples of prevailing hardships in battle. George Washington proved to be exemplary just like many others heroic patriots, like Henry Knox and Nathaniel Greene, when triumphing over the British soldiers with what little strength they had and defeating them. Their victory was more than enough proof on why they deserved independence. David McCullough’s 1776, describes and educates us about events which happened before the war and foreshadows up to the revolution. We learn about the hardships thrown at George Washington and the Continental army whose intentions switched from equal rights to complete emancipation. Battles throughout the Revolutionary War, like the Battle of Bunker Hill, are well known, but McCullough shows the reader how the Continental army continues to strive on even when victory is not in their favor.

Howard Zinn's writing discusses the American Revolution, putting military actions in social and cultural context. On one hand, forming a militia quickly was possible because so many colonists were armed. On the other hand, the new nation soon started forcing sailors to join the war, which had been one

Slavery is an institution that has existed since ancient times. To argue over its immorality is irrelevant, as its ethical and moral implications are blatantly evident. However, to say that the main cause of disdain of the institution from the North stems from its immorality is inherently incorrect, due to the fact, that as previously stated, slavery has existed since ancient times, perforce its immorality could not simply be the main cause of hatred toward this withstanding system from the North. Nevertheless, it goes without saying that their disgust toward the peculiar institution (a common name used to refer to slavery) is related to its ethical implications. However, the question still

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.

The American Revolution is defined as the political turbulence that took place towards the end of eighteenth century when thirteen colonies in America united to attain freedom from the British Empire (Clifford, 2005). The union of the thirteen colonies is now known as the United States of America. According to Clifford (2005), the American Revolution occurred because of a series of political, intellectual, and social transformations in the American government and society, which is known as the American Enlightenment. The American Revolution created a variety of opportunities for the American slaves to attain freedom (Waldstreicher, 2004). Slaves were provided with an opportunity to escape their thralldom by being recruited