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A People's History of the United States

Howard Zinn

Howard Zinn

A People's History of the United States

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23min

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Howard Zinn’s modern history of the United States of America is told through the eyes of the poor, the underprivileged, and the oppressed. These people built the country from the ground up with their toil, their blood, and their taxes, but their stories are almost never told in the history books we read in school. From the landing of Columbus to the Clinton presidency, Zinn tells the compelling and exciting story of the events that have shaped modern American society, which we often accept as unchangeable and set in stone. The first edition of the book was published in 1980, and was then republished in 1995, 1998, and 2003, when new chapters were added on more recent history. Zinn’s book is a timeless classic, which is a crucial read for anyone wanting to understand the mechanisms of power that continue to shape Western society.

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Analysis and key concepts

01.

The official history on the conquest of the Americas, and the Native Americans, is one-sided and overlooks most of the atrocities that were committed in the one-track minded pursuit of financial gain

02.

The instability of the years leading up to the revolution, and the subsequent Constitution, was exploited and never truly resolved

03.

Expansionism towards Mexico served the interests of the upper classes and land speculators

04.

Slavery, abolitionism, and civil war

05.

The rise of the private railway, banking and economic monopolies

06.

Foreign expansionism, from Cuba and Hawaii to the Philippines, exploited and weakened the poor, and favoured trade, which only benefitted a powerful few

07.

There were frequent reforms during the years of progressivism at the beginning of the 20th century, but in most cases, they were enacted to prevent unrest and insurrection, rather than to change the system

08.

The prosperity resulting from America’s entry into the war was not distributed equally, and those with the most capital reaped the greatest profits

09.

Most Americans – capitalists, communists, Democrats, Republicans, the poor, the rich, and the middle class – all agreed that the Second World War was a people’s war

10.

Quotes

11.

Take-home message

01. The official history on the conquest of the Americas, and the Native Americans, is one-sided and overlooks most of the atrocities that were committed in the one-track minded pursuit of financial gain

When Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas, the first Native American culture that he encountered was that of the Arawak Indians who, like most of the continent’s inhabitants, were welcoming, generous, and good-hearted. This was in stark contrast to the Western culture of the time, which was dominated by the power struggles and greed of popes and absolute monarchies. In his reports to the Spanish court, Columbus himself said that these people held absolutely no regard for the concept of private property, and were unfamiliar with any form of malice.

Columbus’ priority was to find gold. Due to his pressing financial commitments, he turned to the Spanish crown to fund his expedition, and he was under obligations to repay his investors in the form of gold and spices. The growing Turkish influence in the Mediterranean meant that Spain needed to find an alternative ocean route to Asia, and Columbus would also receive a percentage of the earnings and a noble title.

He was unable to find gold immediately, so he decided to bring back what was available: people. In 1495, he returned to the old continent with a cargo of 500 Native Americans to sell as slaves. Of these, 200 died during the journey, and many more died after arriving in Europe as a result of the conditions in which they were forced to live. Meanwhile, in the Americas, the Indians were forced, under threat of amputation, to collect as much gold as possible, even though this was an extremely scarce resource in those more distant lands. Once it became clear that there was no gold, the Indians were sold into slavery, and were worked at such a brutal pace that the population of Haiti plummeted from around 250,000 people at the time of its discovery in 1492, to about 50,000 just over two decades later in 1515.

The most graphic and realistic accounts were written by Spanish bishop, Bartolomé de Las Casas, who reported cases of genocide, as well as widespread suffering, powerlessness, division of families, physical exhaustion, occupation, slavery, and death. The author maintains that this is the real history of the European invasion of American Indian territories, and that the version written in most Western texts overlooks, distorts, or downplays the truth.

02. The instability of the years leading up to the revolution, and the subsequent Constitution, was exploited and never truly resolved

03. Expansionism towards Mexico served the interests of the upper classes and land speculators

04. Slavery, abolitionism, and civil war

05. The rise of the private railway, banking and economic monopolies

06. Foreign expansionism, from Cuba and Hawaii to the Philippines, exploited and weakened the poor, and favoured trade, which only benefitted a powerful few

07. There were frequent reforms during the years of progressivism at the beginning of the 20th century, but in most cases, they were enacted to prevent unrest and insurrection, rather than to change the system

08. The prosperity resulting from America’s entry into the war was not distributed equally, and those with the most capital reaped the greatest profits

09. Most Americans – capitalists, communists, Democrats, Republicans, the poor, the rich, and the middle class – all agreed that the Second World War was a people’s war

10. Quotes

11. Take-home message

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Many useful tips to:

  • Discover a new way of interpreting modern history.
  • Understand the deeply rooted interdependence between power and inequality in social dynamics.
  • Analyse history from a new perspective.

Born in 1922, Howard Zinn was a historian and activist. He was the son of Jewish immigrants, and grew up in Brooklyn until he joined the Air Force during World War II and fought in Europe. He later returned to the United States of America, and received a doctorate in History at Columbia University. He was a respected researcher, who described his ideological stance as somewhere between anarchism, socialism, and democracy. He was also a staunch pacifist, and was among the first to speak out publicly against the war in Vietnam. Zinn was also a tireless advocate for the protection of human rights. He was married for sixty-four years, and passed away in 2010.

Publishing house:

Harper Perennial

Year:

2015

Pages:

784

ISBN:

978-0062397348