Zinn's Writing Style Analysis

However, opposing historians address this fact through varying degrees of approval. In A Patriot's History of the United States, Schweikart and Allen do not mention any of Columbus’ faults, and refer to the massacre of Aztecs by Cortés and his men as a “stunning victory” (Schweikart ) in order to preserve their goal in retelling history from a patriotic standpoint. Because Schweikart and Allen choose to ignore the undeniable brutalities and damage inflicted on native people and societies, they fail to recognize the importance of addressing these issues as a root of racial intolerance. On the other hand, Zinn’s documentation provides a far more in-depth description of the injustices faced by the native and states, “Even allowing for the imperfection of myths, it is enough to make us question, for that time and ours, the excuse of progress in the annihilation of races, and the telling of history from the standpoint of the conquerors and leaders of Western civilization” (Zinn). As a social activist, Zinn’s primary focus is calling out flawed systems and actions within history, but by doing so, he disregards the positive outcomes of European exploration. Conversely, Mintz points out numerous advantages from exploration, pointing out that “Columbus's voyage of discovery… contributed to the development of the modern concept of progress”

1. Zinn’s main purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States is to show history from the viewpoint of others.

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

Howard Zinn not only introduced a new perspective on Christopher Columbus, but he changed the way I viewed things. I never knew how much killings, and torture was put upon the natives in the searching of the “New World”. I learned how the hero I thought Columbus was, in reality was more like a villain. He didn’t

Though a vast majority of students learn about Columbus’ great conquests and celebrate him as a hero, very few know of the horrible atrocities he caused when he first landed in America. While considered a hero by most in the United States, Zinn argues that people should think twice about Columbus’ actions, and question whether his behavior to the Indians was necessary. In quotes one and five, Zinn clearly depicts his thoughts on the atrocities done by Columbus and other colonists to the natives living in America.

2. Zinn's thesis for pages 1 to 11 is to tell the arrival of Columbus as it really happened from the point of view of the Indians. He doesn't try to hide the things that Columbus and other Europeans did to the Indians and talks about how the Indians were not inferior as the Europeans had thought they were.

So far, it has become very clear that Zinn and Johnson view history in almost completely different viewpoints. Johnson comes from a conservative background with an Oxford degree while Zinn, was more of an activist from a Jewish immigrant background. Johnson has pride in America and almost always sugarcoats major events to keep his country looking great, much like what we learn in our current high schools. However, Zinn shows us the left out facts of our American history and his novel is referred to as an anti-history book. Both authors make significant points and it’s great to have both sources available for comparison as well as chance to see both sides of the story.

One of the biggest things people look for in a story is an emotional connection that will draw them in and can make them feel as though they are seeing things in a whole new light. Howard Zinn undoubtedly attempts to force an emotional connection to his reader in the first chapter of his 1980 textbook “A People’s History of the United States”. In this chapter, Zinn tells his reader about how Europe was unremittingly asperous toward the rest of the world, particularly in the Americas in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. While trying to make his point, though, Zinn uses a gratuitous amount of emotion in his work and very little fact and logic. Zinn’s work also features a large amount of bias to further his argument by severely manipulating his evidence and completely

In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed west and found himself on the shores of a new world. His mission was to secure new land for Spain. Other European countries heard of his findings, they too crossed the ocean in hopes of securing new opportunities in this newly discovered land such as fur trading and gold mining. Little did they know that a community of indigenous people had already settled in this land thousands of years before. The Europeans decided to negotiate with the natives in order to set up their own communities in the land but the Native Americans held beliefs about society and religion that were far different from their European peers. Europeans thought the Indians to be “Noble Savages, gentle and friendly, but uncivilized, brutal, and barbaric” (citation). They could not see past their own

A Peoples History of the United States was written by Howard Zinn. Zinn’s main purpose for writing this book was to give a precise and detailed exposition of American History from the victim’s point of view. “I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves…” He wants to uncover hidden episodes of the past, be skeptical about the government and even talk about the cruelties the victims put on each other because of their oppressors. He wants to understand why the oppressors killed the victims and how these victims felt and what actions they took. Zinn wants to tell history’s greatest achievement from the point of view of the people who get slaughtered, robbed, taunted and anything else that happened to the victims while

In the chapters 11 and 12 of A People's History Of The United States, Zinn’s underlying point is the corruption within our own government and the problem of American Imperialism, especially during times of war. In order to support these points, Zinn highlights various points in history and stories that relevant to the topic.

Zinn’s subjective history comes from his empathy towards the Native Americans and the lack of acknowledgement the Native Americans received throughout history. In fact, the lack of acknowledgement the Native Americans received throughout history is the reason why Zinn choose to write a subjective history novel about the way they have been treated through out American history. For example, every year in October we celebrate Columbus Day, a day where Americans celebrate a heroic explorer and consequently forget about all the bloodshed. Most people tend to overlook the bad in situations and just focus on the good and Columbus Day is the perfect example of this. Also in schools most history classes only talk about how Columbus “discovered” America and nothing more leaving out whole chunks of history. This is why its important for historian’s like Zinn to use subjective history. By using subjective history it often allows different voices to be heard that often are not heard. In the case of Howard Zinn’s novel A People’s History of the United States he uses subjective history to help show the world that while Columbus did change the course of history the way he in which he did barbaric, as well as to educate people on the hardship and struggle Native Americans have gone through for

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

Writing a book with an uncommonly taught perspective, Zinn tried to verify his take on U.S history. There are inserts from various documents, such as diaries, ledgers, and newspapers used as supporting documents to his claim,

This book has proven to be an enlightening read. It both teaches and inspires. Howard Zinn has offered us a perspective of the real story of American history heretofore unavailable to us – history from the perspective of real people – immigrant laborers, American women, the working poor, factory workers, African and Native Americans.