The Zeitgeist: A Flawed Approach To History

This paper deals with ways history can be interpreted and influences different interpretations have on society and individuals. This is explored through

History is something we constantly refer to progress ourselves as humans, we learn from our mistakes and continue to strive from our successes. But who is to say what is a horrible mistake or a courageous act of valor? That which was documented about what happened so long ago, was done by a person who spread the story or wrote it down from their perspective. Howard Zinn’s argument that there is no such thing as impartial history clearly illustrates that when history is recorded there is always two sides to the story, that things are either left out or kept in to sway the reader to one side or the other. “Everyone is biased, whether they

happens to be on the screen. We even see them in the millions of ads

A person who views history as the actions of individuals is what brought about history believes in personality views, whereas a person how believes the culture and intellectual environment of a particular history era believes in the naturalistic history (Goodwin p. 10)

24.The bonus army was a group who supported the patman bill which was to have veterans be complimented for their war time, however reacted by providing food and supplies to them out of respect. But after the law was voted down, hoover told the bonus army to disband all but a thousand people did not leave. Ending the government hearing them forcefully leave. Many were injured and two people were shot at

“The arc of American history almost inevitably moves toward freedom. Whether it 's Lincoln and the Emancipation Proclamation, the expansion of women 's rights or, now, gay rights, I think there is an almost-inevitable march toward greater civil liberties.” -James McGreevey

Historians analyze facts and sources to discover and understand the mysteries of the past. Based on the sources, a historian’s perspective is influenced a great deal. They also include their own points of view from their own research, influencing their thinking. With different sources and different perspectives, disagreement is bound to rise. Variation in history results in multiple ideological frameworks. Howard Zinn was a historian, author, and social activist who grew up in a poor Russian family in Jewish Brooklyn. He was an industrial worker and labor activist who was incredibly politically involved resulting in trouble with the law. Zinn’s experiences have influenced his views in history as shown in one of his famous works, A People’s

In Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History” he tells history from the point of the view of the common people instead of from the political elites and government officials. He believes that there is always more than one side to every story. He wrote this book so that he could tell the truths about what happened behind the scenes of historical events and to share his own opinion as well. In chapter 16 Zinn talks about World War II and the oppositions with the war.

This specific Zeitgeist took place during the 1970s and deals with one searching for their self identity. During this time, people were losing and searching for who they were, and it brought several thoughts about self identity into this period. This Zeitgeist connected to the cultural trends because it was common for people to move to large cities, such

In this paper, I will be outlining the costs and benefits of social and technological fixes, and then I will be assessing the use of social and technological fixes of air pollution through the use of automobiles.

In, A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, on page eight the author states that “a historian's distortion [of history] is more than technical, it is ideological;”. I found this statement to be true in a number of ways. It is impossible to account for every detail of history that occurred because there is too much to account for and because no one person ever knows the whole story. This allows for a margin of error when condensing history into a book. Authors can write about the same time period, but the contents can vary heavily depending on what the author deems important or unimportant and what perspective they were taught and side with. With these factors history can be told a multitude of different ways as shown in The

The essay “Historian as Citizen” by Howard Zinn presents a call to action for historians everywhere. To start, he analyzes the delicate need for balance that comes with studying history, how historians can use patterns of the past to judge contemporary events, but must not overlook the “universe of tricks” outside that realm. Next, he argues we must also transcend the present and act as if we are freer than logic may suggest. Finally, Zinn delves into the negative aspects of society’s long-established blame game and submits his proposed solution. Through this text, Zinn seeks a drastic shift in focus from antiquity to activism— for historians to stop merely scrutinizing old facts but instead use them as tools with which to examine human nature and build a better tomorrow.

History is the foundation of everyone alive and deceased. Everyone in this world leaves a piece behind and marks the world in their own way. In history, important people who have done horrible and good things in this world have been recorded and displayed to children in schools. I mostly agree with the “The Politics of History by Howard Zinn” because it displays the fact that nearly every event in history has been done with a motive and has had consequences. A quote from Zinn’s work represents this is, “History is not inevitably useful.

Similarly Redgum emphasizes the influence of personalised memories, how it represents events and challenges the misconceptions of history. Redgums song “I was only 19” conveys the ability memory has to facilitate and validate history. Furthermore Redgums draws on the audience’s previous historical knowledge to demonstrate the capability memory has to validate history. Redgums deliberate inclusion of historical locations such as “Vung Tau” and “Puckapunyal recollected as a component of personal memory authenticates the events actually occurring. The lyrics “ANZAC legend didn’t mention the mud and blood and tears”, specifically utilised by Redgums advocates the concept of memory challenging history, reminiscently demonstrated by baker, “You read,

they felt regarding historical events: “Your mind, your body, and your spirit don’t know what