Howard Zinn History

Howard Zinn, the author, said, “History is important. If you don 't know history, it is as if you were born yesterday. And if you were born yesterday, anybody up there in a position of power can tell you anything, and you have no way of checking up on it.” History is a compilation of past events which affect society to this day. Howard Zinn emphasizes the importance of understanding the past and making interpretative claims of history. His written account, A People’s History of the United States, portrays events in history at the time of the Europeans discovery of North America to the 2000 Election. The author approaches each account in liberalism and analyzes history thoroughly. In the content, experiences of ordinary people, Native Americans,

In 1619, Virginians needed workers to grow corn and tobacco. Black slaves were sold in Virginia, Caribbean, and South America. The slaves were overpopulated due to their communal property and ability to sustain themselves properly. Europeans and Africans bought slaves to enhance their civilization. Overall, the black slaves were treated poorly and bundled aboard the slave ships. A slave said, “In such a place the sense of misery and suffocation is so great, that the blacks are driven to frenzy.” Even though whites and blacks were slaves, they were treated unequally and unfairly. Eventually, racism developed in society and white people was considered superior over the blacks. The blacks and whites were separated due to their skin color. The black slaves endeavored to escape from their owners to search for their family. Howard Zinn said, “And one of these conditions would be the elimination of that class exploitation which has made poor whites desperate for small gifts of status, and has prevented that unity of black and white necessary for joint rebellion and reconstruction. Will the reconstruction of society occur? Racism is a systematic form of oppression that exists today. The United States is the great experiment of democracy in which all races in society are able to live peacefully. However, many people are incapable of accepting one’s race which leads to the great experiment as a

Sir William Berkeley, the Virginia governor, divided land among the Indians and the white settlers. The white settlers resided east of the Blue Ridge Mountains and the Indians lived on the western frontier. However, the white settlers invaded the Indian’s territory. Nathaniel Bacon recruited a small armed force to settle the lands among them. The Virginians were more superior to the Indians and granted more territory. Similarly, in Europe, proprietors seized people’s lands and they were forced to settle in a new country. People became indentured servants and rebelled against their abuse. Howard Zinn said, “The country therefore was not born free, but born slave and free, servant, master tenant and landlord, poor and rich.” (pg 50) As the years progressed, the population of servants increased and whites joined the militia to safeguard their society from the blacks. Blacks faced inequality and injustice in society. Howard Zinn said, “Those upper classes, to rule, needed to make concessions to the middle class, without damage to their own wealth or power, at the expense of slaves, Indians, and poor whites. This bought loyalty.” Why don’t the proprietors negotiate the land with the middle class in Europe? The proprietors confiscated their land for money and possessions. Howard Zinn described the land owner’s plan as inefficient and incompetent. Instead of compromising, the proprietors spent