ipl-logo

How Did Zinn Characterize Columbus?

1901 Words8 Pages

1. Zinn had stated that many historians have so far heavily relied on biased views that are influenced by ideological choices on what to present and emphasize in portraying history. However Zinn is not to ‘accuse, judge, condemn Columbus’, but to question against the ‘easy acceptance of atrocities as a deplorable but necessary price to pay for progress.’ In other words, Zinn is challenging the prevalent, stereotypical story telling of the American history by demoting the exaggerated heroism, and telling it from the victims and the lessor’s perspective. 2. Zinn first characterizes Columbus by emphasizing his self-proclaimed greed and barbaric tactics he used to dominate and enslave the Indians. He does not glorify what Columbus has done or …show more content…

One of the earlier motives that caused Columbus to oppress the indigenous people were the tiny gold ornaments some of the Arawak’s wore. This made Columbus to take some of the natives as prisoners and insist them to inform where gold was. Later, he got eventually coarser in treating the Indians, due to the gold mask presented to Columbus by al local chief in Hispaniola and the innocent, trusting characteristics of the natives that shared anything they could possibly share. 6. Both Cortes and Pizarro had few similar reasons that lead them to exploration, including gold, the most important, slaves, new agricultures, and establishing capital for the early capitalist states of Europe. They also had similar tactic where they destroyed each town as whole with advanced technologies, resulting to reduce the native population heavily. 7.The Powhatan’s statement reveals the overall qualities that the natives value. This statement shows that although stealing, in force, is an option, the natives would very rather settle with peaceful arrangements and love. It also reprimands the selfish characteristics of the invaders and reveals that if without violence they would’ve willingly provided the supplies that English needed in order to settle

Show More
Related
168 Words | 1 Pages

In the book Zinn, The author gives a point of view of Christopher Columbus that is usually not given. Most of the time the story of Christopher Columbus is told from a historian point of view. They usually tell you of his mission, and of the three ships that he takes in order to find gold and other new riches. Zinn informs us that he is not the hero that, that we all think that he is. It shows us that he tortured, abused, and overwhelmingly embarrasses the Arwark Indians.

Read More
880 Words | 4 Pages

The Natives believed that the Europeans are “edgy, rapacious, and remotely maladroit.” Sure enough, the settlers in Jamestown kenned little about farming and found the environment baffling. It was conspicuous that the colonists needed the avail of the Natives. Despite their inexperience the English dominated the Indians. From “the beginning the Virginia Company indited that the relationship would ineluctably become bellicose: for you Cannot Carry Your Selves so towards them but they will Grow Discontented with Your habitation.”

Read More
877 Words | 4 Pages

Colonial America laid the foundation for the complicated country we call the United States. Historians debate many questions about that critical time period before the thirteen colonies declared and won independence from Great Britain. One of the most interesting questions is: What was the most significant major event preceding the founding of the nation? There is no ‘correct’ answer to this question. There are many possible responses, but the facts show that some arguments are stronger than others.

Read More
749 Words | 3 Pages

He authored a four-book biography of Columbus and portrayed him as a brave American hero. “Columbus was a man of great and inventive genius. His ambition was lofty and noble, inspiring him with high thoughts and an anxiety to distinguish himself by great achievements. His conduct was characterized by the grandeur of his views and the magnanimity [nobility] of his spirit.” Instead of writing, that Columbus was devastating to the newly found nation and that he sought to take over, cultivate and civilize the Natives.

Read More
944 Words | 4 Pages

The first chapter of both A​People’s History of the United States (​Zinn, 1980) and​A Patriot’s History of the United States​(Schweikart and Allen, 2004) tells the story of the discovery of the New World. Beginning with the landing of Columbus in the Bahamas, these accounts are told from two separate perspectives. Zinn often refers to the telling of history as a tale between victims and executioners, saying that in the “inevitable taking of sides which comes from selection and emphasis in History” he prefers to stand on the side of the victim, whereas Schweikart and Allen tend to stand behind the executioner. Much of A​Patriot’s History​is spent arguing the accuracy of the number of natives murdered by invading European entities, attempting to minimize the blame reflected on these executioners.

Read More
455 Words | 2 Pages

Howard Zinn takes the perspective that Christopher Columbus is not the hero that many people perceive him to be. He views him as a cruel and greedy leader who went to the Americas causes death in his wake for his unquenchable search for gold. Columbus took advantage of the Native Americans because at first they were "so naive and so free with their possessions"() by forcing them to collect gold for him else face the punishment of death. While Columbus may or may have not been as heartless as he is made out to be, he is not truly the one to blame for the harsh treatment of the natives on the Caribbean Islands. Almost every other European (at that time) that could have been in his position would have undoubtedly done the same things as Columbus.

Read More
251 Words | 2 Pages

“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”, chapter one of “A People’s History of the United States”, written by professor and historian Howard Zinn, concentrates on a different perspective of major events in American history. It begins with the native Bahamian tribe of Arawaks welcoming the Spanish to their shores with gifts and kindness, only then for the reader to be disturbed by a log from Columbus himself – “They willingly traded everything they owned… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.” (Zinn pg.1) In the work, Zinn continues explaining the unnecessary evils Columbus and his men committed unto the unsuspecting natives.

Read More
469 Words | 2 Pages

Argumentative Essay Outline I. Claim: Celebration of Columbus Day should be abolished due to Columbus’ harsh treatment toward the Native Americans and fallacies in his exploration. II. Sub-Claims: A) Reason: Columbus’ exploration was not meant to discover America but to conquer and exploit existed American civilizations.

Read More
757 Words | 4 Pages

The day Christopher Columbus step foot in the Americas, he began to manipulate the natives he saw. While they saw him as a potential friend, Columbus saw them as fine slaves that could lead him to what he really wanted － gold. When he found out how naive and friendly they were being with him, he started to take advantage of that fact. He forced them to show him where the treasure was, for his own selfish reasons.

Read More
841 Words | 4 Pages

According to Loewen, few textbooks explained how Columbus was involved in the slavery and the exploitation of Indians. Another error that we have learned in schools about Columbus is that he was the first person to “discover” America. However, this is an error because people from other continents had already reached America before 1492. In fact, we forget

Read More
372 Words | 2 Pages

Christopher Columbus did more than explore the new world. His punishments to the native people included “hacking off hands, noses and ears if the natives protested their forced enslavement to work in gold mines” (Murphy). According to Columbus, if the Native Americans refused to follow the “superior” Europeans’ orders,

Read More
734 Words | 3 Pages

Columbus reportedly traded pieces of his ship for gold, and was given a golden mask by a native chief. He later said in court (believing he had reached India) “There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals…”. After learning of the untapped natural resources and potential for wealth, European nations created an exploration frenzy, with constant voyages to the new world. The nations which sponsored these expeditions would give the explorers a cut of all the gold they found, which helped motivate conquistadors to make the long and treacherous journey to the New World. These explorers knew gold would bring wealth and power to them and their country, in addition to achieving tremendous glory for both.

Read More
957 Words | 4 Pages

Christopher Columbus and Hernan Cortes were both famous Spanish adventurers during the Age of Exploration. When the explorers came upon land, they encountered two different cultures. In 1492, Columbus encountered the Taino people, and in 1520, Cortes encountered the Aztecs. The two cultures that the men encountered were different in more ways than they were similar in regards to how the natives treated the men, what weapons they had and their war-like behavior, their technologically advancements, their housing and architectural structures, and even their religion.

Read More
87 Words | 1 Pages

Christopher Columbus is a man who is known in society simultaneously as a hero and a villain of his time. What if the world had to pick only one, what would it be? Many new studies and scholars believe that Columbus was the villain of his story not a hero as past information would lead us to believe. Past documents were all written from the Europe’s point of view, this would lead to extremely biased documents because Europe was the side to profit unlike the Native

Read More
503 Words | 3 Pages

Some say Christopher Columbus was a hero because he was the explorer that discovered America. In reality, Christopher Columbus had an incredibly negative impact on the world because he enslaved the Native Americans, didn’t help the kind Natives when they got infected by diseases that the Spaniards had brought to America, and killed off most of the Native American population. The tactics he chose to use were violent and destructive by the standards back then and now. First, Columbus treated the Native Americans like uncivilized people by enslaving them and forcing them to work for him although they greeted him and his crew peacefully. ” They could make fine servants,”(document 2) he wrote in his journal,”I took them by force.

Read More

More about How Did Zinn Characterize Columbus?

Related Topics

Open Document