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A People's History of the United States: A Critical Examination of Howard Zinn's Masterpiece
Have you ever felt the history you learned in school was…incomplete? Like a puzzle with crucial pieces missing? Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States challenges the traditional narrative, offering a perspective that centers the experiences of those often left out: the marginalized, the oppressed, the forgotten. This in-depth analysis explores Zinn's groundbreaking work, examining its impact, controversies, and enduring relevance in today's world. We'll delve into its key themes, explore its strengths and weaknesses, and ultimately consider its lasting contribution to our understanding of American history.
Understanding Zinn's Revolutionary Approach
Zinn's book isn't just a history textbook; it's a counter-narrative. Instead of focusing solely on presidents and political figures, it prioritizes the stories of ordinary Americans – the workers, the enslaved, the Indigenous peoples, the women – whose voices have traditionally been silenced or minimized in mainstream historical accounts. He argues that a true understanding of American history requires acknowledging the struggles, triumphs, and perspectives of those who have actively resisted oppression throughout the nation’s history.
#### The Power of the Bottom-Up Perspective
The book's strength lies in its bottom-up approach. Zinn meticulously weaves together the narratives of various groups, demonstrating how their experiences shaped the course of American history. This approach dramatically alters the traditional top-down, celebratory narrative often presented in standard textbooks. Instead of focusing solely on the accomplishments of the powerful, Zinn highlights the ongoing struggle for equality and justice that has defined the nation's past.
#### Key Themes Explored in A People's History
Indigenous Peoples and Colonization: Zinn dedicates significant space to the devastating impact of European colonization on Native American populations, detailing the systematic displacement, violence, and cultural destruction that occurred. He challenges the romanticized view of westward expansion, revealing the brutality and injustice inherent in the process.
Slavery and its Legacy: The book provides a harrowing account of slavery in America, going beyond the economic aspects to expose the profound human cost and its lasting impact on American society. Zinn highlights the resistance movements, both large and small, that emerged from within the enslaved community.
Labor Movements and the Struggle for Workers' Rights: A significant portion of the book is dedicated to the history of labor movements in America, tracing the struggles of workers for better wages, safer working conditions, and the right to organize. He emphasizes the often-violent clashes between workers and employers, highlighting the importance of collective action in achieving social change.
The Civil Rights Movement: Zinn’s analysis of the Civil Rights Movement showcases the courage and perseverance of activists in the face of systemic racism and state-sanctioned violence. He meticulously documents the strategies employed, the victories achieved, and the ongoing fight for racial equality.
War and American Foreign Policy: The book critically examines America's involvement in various wars, highlighting the human cost and the often-contradictory justifications used to justify military interventions. He challenges the celebratory narratives surrounding American military victories, revealing the complex realities and devastating consequences of war.
Criticisms and Counterarguments
While A People's History is widely lauded for its groundbreaking approach, it's not without its critics. Some accuse Zinn of presenting a biased and overly negative view of American history, emphasizing the negative aspects while overlooking positive achievements. Others argue that he selectively uses historical evidence to support his pre-conceived notions, omitting details that might contradict his narrative.
It’s crucial to acknowledge these criticisms. While Zinn provides a compelling counter-narrative, it's important to read his work critically, comparing his account with other historical interpretations. No single narrative can encompass the totality of American history, and understanding the diverse perspectives and interpretations is essential for a complete understanding.
The Enduring Legacy of A People's History
Despite the criticisms, A People's History remains a powerful and influential work. It has inspired countless students and activists, prompting a re-evaluation of traditional historical narratives and encouraging a more inclusive and nuanced understanding of the American past. Its enduring relevance lies in its ability to challenge dominant narratives, encouraging critical thinking and prompting further investigation into the often-overlooked aspects of history. Zinn's legacy is not just a book, but a call to action, urging readers to actively engage with history and work towards a more just and equitable future.
Conclusion
A People's History of the United States is not just a history book; it’s an experience. It forces a confrontation with the uncomfortable truths of American history, reminding us that the narrative we’ve been taught might be incomplete, biased, or even downright wrong. While it’s crucial to engage with critical perspectives on its methodology, the book's impact on historical scholarship and social activism remains undeniable. By centering the voices of the marginalized, Zinn provides a crucial lens through which to understand the ongoing struggle for justice and equality in America.
FAQs
1. Is A People's History suitable for all ages? While accessible in its writing style, some content might be disturbing or upsetting for younger readers due to its graphic depiction of violence and oppression. Parental guidance is recommended.
2. How does A People's History differ from other American history textbooks? Unlike many traditional textbooks, A People's History prioritizes the experiences of marginalized groups, challenging the conventional narratives that often celebrate the actions of powerful figures while overlooking the struggles of ordinary people.
3. Has A People's History been challenged or banned in any schools? Yes, the book has faced challenges and bans in some schools and educational institutions due to its critical perspective on American history and its potentially controversial content.
4. What are some alternative books offering similar perspectives on American history? Books like An American Sunrise by Rebecca Solnit, They Were Her Property by Stephanie Jones-Rogers, and works by historians like Nell Irvin Painter offer similar critical analyses of different aspects of American history.
5. Where can I find reliable resources to further research the topics discussed in A People's History? Academic journals, university archives, and reputable historical organizations offer extensive primary and secondary sources for deeper exploration of the historical events and figures mentioned in Zinn's book.
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2003-02-04 Since its original landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has been chronicling American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official version of history taught in schools -- with its emphasis on great men in high places -- to focus on the street, the home, and the, workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of -- and in the words of -- America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As historian Howard Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles -- the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality -- were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States, which was nominated for the American Book Award in 1981, features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. Revised, updated, and featuring a new after, word by the author, this special twentieth anniversary edition continues Zinn's important contribution to a complete and balanced understanding of American history. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Voices of a People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, Anthony Arnove, 2011-01-04 Here in their own words are Frederick Douglass, George Jackson, Chief Joseph, Martin Luther King Jr., Plough Jogger, Sacco and Vanzetti, Patti Smith, Bruce Springsteen, Mark Twain, and Malcolm X, to name just a few of the hundreds of voices that appear in Voices of a People's History of the United States, edited by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. Paralleling the twenty-four chapters of Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Voices of a People’s History is the long-awaited companion volume to the national bestseller. For Voices, Zinn and Arnove have selected testimonies to living history—speeches, letters, poems, songs—left by the people who make history happen but who usually are left out of history books—women, workers, nonwhites. Zinn has written short introductions to the texts, which range in length from letters or poems of less than a page to entire speeches and essays that run several pages. Voices of a People’s History is a symphony of our nation’s original voices, rich in ideas and actions, the embodiment of the power of civil disobedience and dissent wherein lies our nation’s true spirit of defiance and resilience. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of American Empire Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, Paul Buhle, 2008-04-01 Adapted from the bestselling grassroots history of the United States, the story of America in the world, told in comics form Since its landmark publication in 1980, A People's History of the United States has had six new editions, sold more than 1.7 million copies, become required classroom reading throughout the country, and been turned into an acclaimed play. More than a successful book, A People's History triggered a revolution in the way history is told, displacing the official versions with their emphasis on great men in high places to chronicle events as they were lived, from the bottom up. Now Howard Zinn, historian Paul Buhle, and cartoonist Mike Konopacki have collaborated to retell, in vibrant comics form, a most immediate and relevant chapter of A People's History: the centuries-long story of America's actions in the world. Narrated by Zinn, this version opens with the events of 9/11 and then jumps back to explore the cycles of U.S. expansionism from Wounded Knee to Iraq, stopping along the way at World War I, Central America, Vietnam, and the Iranian revolution. The book also follows the story of Zinn, the son of poor Jewish immigrants, from his childhood in the Brooklyn slums to his role as one of America's leading historians. Shifting from world-shattering events to one family's small revolutions, A People's History of American Empire presents the classic ground-level history of America in a dazzling new form. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Truth Has a Power of Its Own Howard Zinn, 2019-09-03 American history told from the bottom up by Howard Zinn himself—and the perfect all-ages introduction to his eye-opening viewpoint, published on Zinn’s hundredth birthday Truth Has a Power of Its Own is an engrossing collection of conversations with the late Howard Zinn and “an eloquently hopeful introduction for those who haven’t yet encountered Zinn’s work” (Booklist). Here is an unvarnished, yet ultimately optimistic, tour of American history—told by someone who was often an active participant in it. Viewed through the lens of Zinn’s own life as a soldier, historian, and activist and using his paradigm-shifting A People’s History of the United States as a point of departure, these conversations explore the American Revolution, the Civil War, the labor battles of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, U.S. imperialism from the Indian Wars to the War on Terrorism, World Wars I and II, the Cold War, and the fight for equality and immigrant rights—all from an unapologetically radical standpoint. Longtime admirers and a new generation of readers alike will be fascinated to learn about Zinn’s thought processes, rationale, motivations, and approach to his now-iconic historical work. Zinn’s humane (and often humorous) voice—along with his keen moral vision—shine through every one of these lively and thought-provoking conversations. Battles over the telling of our history still rage across the country, and there’s no better person to tell it than Howard Zinn. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History for the Classroom Bill Bigelow, Howard Zinn, 2008 Presents a collection of lessons and activities for teaching American history for students in middle school and high school. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the Civil War David Williams, 2011-05-10 “Does for the Civil War period what Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States did for the study of American history in general.” —Library Journal Historian David Williams has written the first account of the American Civil War as viewed though the eyes of ordinary people—foot soldiers, slaves, women, prisoners of war, draft resisters, Native Americans, and others. Richly illustrated with little-known anecdotes and firsthand testimony, this path-breaking narrative moves beyond presidents and generals to tell a new and powerful story about America’s most destructive conflict. A People’s History of the Civil War is a “readable social history” that “sheds fascinating light” on this crucial period. In so doing, it recovers the long-overlooked perspectives and forgotten voices of one of the defining chapters of American history (Publishers Weekly). “Meticulously researched and persuasively argued.” —The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2012-11 The Abridged Teaching Edition of A People's History of the United States has made Howard Zinn's original text available specifically for classroom use. With exercises and teaching materials to accompany each chapter, this edition spans American Beginnings, Reconstruction, the Civil War and through to the present, with new chapters on the Clinton Presidency, the 2000 elections, and the War on Terrorism. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Debunking Howard Zinn Mary Grabar, 2019-08-20 Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States has sold more than 2.5 million copies. It is pushed by Hollywood celebrities, defended by university professors who know better, and assigned in high school and college classrooms to teach students that American history is nothing more than a litany of oppression, slavery, and exploitation. Zinn’s history is popular, but it is also massively wrong. Scholar Mary Grabar exposes just how wrong in her stunning new book Debunking Howard Zinn, which demolishes Zinn’s Marxist talking points that now dominate American education. In Debunking Howard Zinn, you’ll learn, contra Zinn: How Columbus was not a genocidal maniac, and was, in fact, a defender of Indians Why the American Indians were not feminist-communist sexual revolutionaries ahead of their time How the United States was founded to protect liberty, not white males’ ill-gotten wealth Why Americans of the “Greatest Generation” were not the equivalent of Nazi war criminals How the Viet Cong were not well-meaning community leaders advocating for local self-rule Why the Black Panthers were not civil rights leaders Grabar also reveals Zinn’s bag of dishonest rhetorical tricks: his slavish reliance on partisan history, explicit rejection of historical balance, and selective quotation of sources to make them say the exact opposite of what their authors intended. If you care about America’s past—and our future—you need this book. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A Young People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2011-01-04 A Young People's History of the United States brings to US history the viewpoints of workers, slaves, immigrants, women, Native Americans, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people. A Young People's History of the United States is also a companion volume to The People Speak, the film adapted from A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States. Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn in the volumes of A Young People’s History of the United States presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds readers that America’s true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A Patriot's History of the United States Larry Schweikart, Michael Patrick Allen, 2004-12-29 For the past three decades, many history professors have allowed their biases to distort the way America’s past is taught. These intellectuals have searched for instances of racism, sexism, and bigotry in our history while downplaying the greatness of America’s patriots and the achievements of “dead white men.” As a result, more emphasis is placed on Harriet Tubman than on George Washington; more about the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II than about D-Day or Iwo Jima; more on the dangers we faced from Joseph McCarthy than those we faced from Josef Stalin. A Patriot’s History of the United States corrects those doctrinaire biases. In this groundbreaking book, America’s discovery, founding, and development are reexamined with an appreciation for the elements of public virtue, personal liberty, and private property that make this nation uniquely successful. This book offers a long-overdue acknowledgment of America’s true and proud history. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: What's My Name, Fool? Dave Zirin, 2011-02 In Whats My Name, Fool? sports writer Dave Zirin shows how sports express the worst - and at times the most creative, exciting, and political - features of our society. Zirins sharp and insightful commentary on the personalities, politics, and history of American sports is unlike any sports writing being done today. Zirin explores how NBA brawls highlight tensions beyond the arena, how the bold stances taken by sports unions can chart a path for the entire labor movement, and the unexplored political stirrings of a new generation of athletes who are no longer content to just ''play one game at a time.'' Whats My Name, Fool? draws on original interviews with former heavyweight champ George Foreman, Olympic athlete John Carlos, NBA player and anti-death penalty activist Etan Thomas, antiwar womens college hoopster Toni Smith, Olympic Project for Human Rights leader Lee Evans and many others. It also unearths a history of athletes ranging from Jackie Robinson to Muhammad Ali to Billie Jean King, who charted a new course through their athletic ability and their outspoken views. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of Modern Europe William A. Pelz, 2016 From the monarchical terror of the Middle Ages to the mangled Europe of the twenty-first century, A People's History of Modern Europe tracks the history of the continent through the deeds of those whom mainstream history tries to forget. Europe provided the perfect conditions for a great number of political revolutions from below. The German peasant wars of Thomas Muntzer, the bourgeois revolutions of the eighteenth century, the rise of the industrial worker in England, the turbulent journey of the Russian Soviets, the role of the European working class throughout the Cold War, student protests in 1968 and through to the present day, when we continue to fight to forge an alternative to the barbaric economic system. With sections focusing on the role of women, this history sweeps away the tired platitudes of the privileged upon which our current understanding is based, and provides an opportunity to see our history differently. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: The Southern Mystique Howard Zinn, 2012-06-04 Howard Zinn examines the politics of the South and his own experiences there. The South has long been surrounded in mystique. In this powerful volume, drawing on Zinn's own experiences teaching in the South and working within the Southern civil rights movement, Zinn challenges the stereotypes surrounding the South, race relations, and how change happens in history. With a new introduction from the author. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 1999-12-01 Presents the history of the United States from the point of view of those who were exploited in the name of American progress |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A True History of the United States Daniel A. Sjursen, 2021-06-01 “Thought-provoking—a must read for [everyone] seeking a firm grasp of accurate American history. —Kirkus (starred review) Brilliant, readable, and raw. Maj. (ret.) Danny Sjursen, who served combat tours in Iraq and Afghanistan and later taught history at West Point, delivers a true epic and the perfect companion to Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States. Sjursen shifts the lens and challenges readers to think critically and to apply common sense to their understanding of our nation's past—and present—so we can view history as never before. A True History of the United States was inspired by a course that Sjursen taught to cadets at West Point, his alma mater. With chapter titles such as Patriots or Insurgents? and The Decade That Roared and Wept, A True History is accurate with respect to the facts and intellectually honest in its presentation and analysis. Essential reading for every American with a conscience. Meticulously researched, Sjursen provides a more complete sense of history and encourages readers to view our country objectively. Sjursen’s powerful storytelling reveals balanced portraits of key figures and the role they played. Sjursen exposes the dominant historical narrative as at best myth, and at times a lie . . . He brings out from the shadows those who struggled, often at the cost of their own lives, for equality and justice. Their stories, so often ignored or trivialized, give us examples of who we should emulate and who we must become. —Chris Hedges, author of Empire of Illusion and America: The Farewell Tour |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: "Exterminate All the Brutes" Sven Lindqvist, 2021-03-30 Now part of the eponymous HBO docuseries written and directed by Raoul Peck, “Exterminate All the Brutes” is a brilliant intellectual history of Europe’s genocidal colonization of Africa—and the terrible myths and lies that it spawned “A book of stunning range and near genius. . . . The catastrophic consequences of European imperialism are made palpable in the personal progress of the author, a late-twentieth-century pilgrim in Africa. Lindqvist’s astonishing connections across time and cultures, combined with a marvelous economy of prose, leave the reader appalled, reflective, and grateful.” —David Levering Lewis “Exterminate All the Brutes,” Sven Lindqvist’s widely acclaimed masterpiece, is a searching examination of Europe’s dark history in Africa and the origins of genocide. Using Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness as his point of departure, the award-winning Swedish author takes us on a haunting tour through the colonial past, interwoven with a modern-day travelogue. Retracing the steps of European explorers, missionaries, politicians, and historians in Africa from the late eighteenth century onward, “Exterminate All the Brutes” exposes the roots of genocide in Africa through Lindqvist’s own journey through the Saharan desert. As he shows, fantasies not merely of white superiority but of actual extermination—“cleansing” the earth of the so-called lesser races—deeply informed the colonialism and racist ideology that ultimately culminated in Europe’s own Holocaust. Conquerors’ stories are the ones that inform the self-mythology of the West—whereas the lives and stories of those displaced, enslaved, or killed are too often ignored and forgotten. “Exterminate All the Brutes” forces a crucial reckoning with a past that still echoes in our collective psyche—a reckoning that compels us to acknowledge the exploitation and brutality at the heart of our modern, globalized society. As Adam Hochschild has written, “Lindqvist’s work leaves you changed.” |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: The Indispensable Zinn Howard Zinn, 2012-12-11 A “well-chosen anthology of the radical historian’s prodigious output,” from A People’s History of the United States and lesser known sources (Kirkus Reviews). When Howard Zinn died in early 2010, millions of Americans mourned the loss of one of the nation’s foremost intellectual and political guides; a historian, activist, and truth-teller who, in the words of the New York Times’s Bob Herbert, “peel[ed] back the rosy veneer of much of American history to reveal sordid realities that had remained hidden for too long.” A collection designed to highlight Zinn’s essential writings, The Indispensable Zinn includes excerpts from Zinn’s bestselling A People’s History of the United States; his memoir, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train; his inspiring writings on the civil rights movement, and the full text of his celebrated play, Marx in Soho. Noted historian and activist Timothy Patrick McCarthy provides essential historical and biographical context for each selection. With a foreword by Noam Chomsky and an afterword from Zinn’s former Spellman College student and longtime friend, Alice Walker, The Indispensable Zinn is both a fitting tribute to the legacy of a man whose “work changed the way millions of people saw the past,” and a powerful and accessible introduction for anyone coming to Zinn’s essential body of work for the first time (Noam Chomsky). |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the World Chris Harman, 2017-05-02 Building on A People’s History of the United States, this radical world history captures the broad sweep of human history from the perspective of struggling classes. An “indispensable volume” on class and capitalism throughout the ages—for readers reckoning with the history they were taught and history as it truly was (Howard Zinn) From the earliest human societies to the Holy Roman Empire, from the Middle Ages to the Enlightenment, from the Industrial Revolution to the end of the twentieth century, Chris Harman provides a brilliant and comprehensive history of the human race. Eschewing the standard accounts of “Great Men,” of dates and kings, Harman offers a groundbreaking counter-history, a breathtaking sweep across the centuries in the tradition of “history from below.” In a fiery narrative, he shows how ordinary men and women were involved in creating and changing society and how conflict between classes was often at the core of these developments. While many scholars see the victory of capitalism as now safely secured, Harman explains the rise and fall of societies and civilizations throughout the ages and demonstrates that history moves ever onward in every age. A vital corrective to traditional history, A People's History of the World is essential reading for anyone interested in how society has changed and developed and the possibilities for further radical progress. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States (10th Anniversary Edition) Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2023-10-03 New York Times Bestseller Now part of the HBO docuseries Exterminate All the Brutes, written and directed by Raoul Peck Recipient of the American Book Award The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples Today in the United States, there are more than five hundred federally recognized Indigenous nations comprising nearly three million people, descendants of the fifteen million Native people who once inhabited this land. The centuries-long genocidal program of the US settler-colonial regimen has largely been omitted from history. Now, for the first time, acclaimed historian and activist Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz offers a history of the United States told from the perspective of Indigenous peoples and reveals how Native Americans, for centuries, actively resisted expansion of the US empire. With growing support for movements such as the campaign to abolish Columbus Day and replace it with Indigenous Peoples’ Day and the Dakota Access Pipeline protest led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States is an essential resource providing historical threads that are crucial for understanding the present. In An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States, Dunbar-Ortiz adroitly challenges the founding myth of the United States and shows how policy against the Indigenous peoples was colonialist and designed to seize the territories of the original inhabitants, displacing or eliminating them. And as Dunbar-Ortiz reveals, this policy was praised in popular culture, through writers like James Fenimore Cooper and Walt Whitman, and in the highest offices of government and the military. Shockingly, as the genocidal policy reached its zenith under President Andrew Jackson, its ruthlessness was best articulated by US Army general Thomas S. Jesup, who, in 1836, wrote of the Seminoles: “The country can be rid of them only by exterminating them.” Spanning more than four hundred years, this classic bottom-up peoples’ history radically reframes US history and explodes the silences that have haunted our national narrative. An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States is a 2015 PEN Oakland-Josephine Miles Award for Excellence in Literature. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2015-11-17 THE CLASSIC NATIONAL BESTSELLER A wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future. –Howard Fast Historian Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States chronicles American history from the bottom up, throwing out the official narrative taught in schools—with its emphasis on great men in high places—to focus on the street, the home, and the workplace. Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, it is the only volume to tell America's story from the point of view of—and in the words of—America's women, factory workers, African-Americans, Native Americans, the working poor, and immigrant laborers. As Zinn shows, many of our country's greatest battles—the fights for a fair wage, an eight-hour workday, child-labor laws, health and safety standards, universal suffrage, women's rights, racial equality—were carried out at the grassroots level, against bloody resistance. Covering Christopher Columbus's arrival through President Clinton's first term, A People's History of the United States features insightful analysis of the most important events in our history. This edition also includes an introduction by Anthony Arnove, who wrote, directed, and produced The People Speak with Zinn and who coauthored, with Zinn, Voices of a People’s History of the United States. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, 2010-01-26 “It’s a wonderful, splendid book—a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future.” —Howard Fast, author of Spartacus and The Immigrants “[It] should be required reading.” —Eric Foner, New York Times Book Review Library Journal calls Howard Zinn’s iconic A People's History of the United States “a brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those…whose plight has been largely omitted from most histories.” Packed with vivid details and telling quotations, Zinn’s award-winning classic continues to revolutionize the way American history is taught and remembered. Frequent appearances in popular media such as The Sopranos, The Simpsons, Good Will Hunting, and the History Channel documentary The People Speak testify to Zinn’s ability to bridge the generation gap with enduring insights into the birth, development, and destiny of the nation. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the U.S. Military Michael A. Bellesiles, 2012-09-11 In A People's History of the U.S. Military, historian Michael A. Bellesiles draws from three centuries of soldiers' personal encounters with combat—through fascinating excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, as well as audio recordings, film, and blogs—to capture the essence of the American military experience firsthand, from the American Revolution to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Military service can shatter and give meaning to lives; it is rarely a neutral encounter, and has contributed to a rich outpouring of personal testimony from the men and women who have literally placed their lives on the line. The often dramatic and always richly textured first-person accounts collected in this book cover a wide range of perspectives, from ardent patriots to disillusioned cynics; barely literate farm boys to urbane college graduates; scions of founding families to recent immigrants, enthusiasts, and dissenters; women disguising themselves as men in order to serve their country to African Americans fighting for their freedom through military service. A work of great relevance and immediacy—as the nation grapples with the return of thousands of men and women from active military duty—A People's History of the U.S. Military will become a major new touchstone for our understanding of American military service. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the Supreme Court Peter Irons, 2006-07-25 A comprehensive history of the people and cases that have changed history, this is the definitive account of the nation's highest court featuring a forward by Howard Zinn Recent changes in the Supreme Court have placed the venerable institution at the forefront of current affairs, making this comprehensive and engaging work as timely as ever. In the tradition of Howard Zinn's classic A People's History of the United States, Peter Irons chronicles the decisions that have influenced virtually every aspect of our society, from the debates over judicial power to controversial rulings in the past regarding slavery, racial segregation, and abortion, as well as more current cases about school prayer, the Bush/Gore election results, and enemy combatants. To understand key issues facing the supreme court and the current battle for the court's ideological makeup, there is no better guide than Peter Irons. This revised and updated edition includes a foreword by Howard Zinn. A sophisticated narrative history of the Supreme Court . . . [Irons] breathes abundant life into old documents and reminds readers that today's fiercest arguments about rights are the continuation of the endless American conversation. -Publisher's Weekly (starred review) |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Failure to Quit Howard Zinn, 2002 A selection of Howard Zinn's most popular and accessible essays on history and politics. In this lively collection of essays, now with a new afterword, Zinn discusses a wide range of historical and political topics, from the role of the Supreme Court in U.S. history to the nature of higher education today. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of Poverty in America Stephen Pimpare, 2011-06-07 In A People's History of Poverty in America, political scientist Stephen Pimpare brings the human lives and real-life stories of those who struggle with poverty in America to the foreground, vividly describing life as poor and welfare-reliant Americans experience it, from the big city to the rural countryside. Prodigiously researched, A People's History of Poverty in America unearths rich, poignant, and often surprising testimonies—both heart-wrenching and humorous—that range from the early days of the United States to the present day. Pimpare shows us how the poor have found food, secured shelter, and created community, and, most important, he illuminates their battles for dignity and respect in the face of the judgment, control, and disdain that are all too often the price they must pay for charity and government aid. In telling these hidden stories, Pimpare argues eloquently for a fundamental rethinking of poverty, one that includes both a more nuanced understanding of the history of the American welfare state, and a meaningful—and truly accurate—new definition of the poverty line. Hailed by Kirkus Reviews as an “illuminating history of America's poor” and a “useful counter against those who blame the poor for their bad luck,” A People's History of Poverty in America reminds us that poverty is not in itself a moral failure, but our failure to understand it may well be. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Howard Zinn on History Howard Zinn, 2011-06-14 Howard Zinn began work on his first book for his friends at Seven Stories Press in 1996, a big volume collecting all his shorter writings organized by subject. The themes he chose reflected his lifelong concerns: war, history, law, class, means and ends, and race. Throughout his life Zinn had returned again and again to these subjects, continually probing and questioning yet rarely reversing his convictions or the vision that informed them. The result was The Zinn Reader. Five years later, starting with Howard Zinn on History, updated editions of sections of that mammoth tome were published in inexpensive stand-alone editions. This second edition of Howard Zinn on History brings together twenty-seven short writings on activism, electoral politics, the Holocaust, Marxism, the Iraq War, and the role of the historian, as well as portraits of Eugene Debs, John Reed, and Jack London, effectively showing how Zinn’s approach to history evolved over nearly half a century, and at the same time sharing his fundamental thinking that social movements—people getting together for peace and social justice—can change the course of history. That core belief never changed. Chosen by Zinn himself as the shorter writings on history he believed to have enduring value—originally appearing in newspapers like the Boston Globe or the New York Times; in magazines like Z, the New Left, the Progressive, or the Nation; or in his book Failure to Quit—these essays appear here as examples of the kind of passionate engagement he believed all historians, and indeed all citizens of whatever profession, need to have, standing in sharp contrast to the notion of objective or neutral history espoused by some. It is time that we scholars begin to earn our keep in this world, he writes in The Uses of Scholarship. And in Freedom Schools, about his experiences teaching in Mississippi during the remarkable Freedom Summer of 1964, he adds: Education can, and should, be dangerous. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn, Kathy Emery, Ellen Reeves, 2003 Presents the history of the United States from the point of view of those who were exploited in the name of American progress. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of World War II Marc Favreau, 2011 Presents interviews, photographs, letters, oral histories, stories, eyewitness accounts, and excerpts from historical writings from different perspectives on a wide variety of topics related to the Second World War. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: The Zinn Reader Howard Zinn, 2011-01-04 No other radical historian has reached so many hearts and minds as Howard Zinn. It is rare that a historian of the Left has managed to retain as much credibility while refusing to let his academic mantle change his beautiful writing style from being anything but direct, forthright, and accessible. Whether his subject is war, race, politics, economic justice, or history itself, each of his works serves as a reminder that to embrace one's subjectivity can mean embracing one's humanity, that heart and mind can speak with one voice. Here, in six sections, is the historian's own choice of his shorter essays on some of the most critical problems facing America throughout its history, and today. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States for Young People Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, 2019-07-23 2020 American Indian Youth Literature Young Adult Honor Book 2020 Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People,selected by National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) and the Children’s Book Council 2019 Best-Of Lists: Best YA Nonfiction of 2019 (Kirkus Reviews) · Best Nonfiction of 2019 (School Library Journal) · Best Books for Teens (New York Public Library) · Best Informational Books for Older Readers (Chicago Public Library) Spanning more than 400 years, this classic bottom-up history examines the legacy of Indigenous peoples’ resistance, resilience, and steadfast fight against imperialism. Going beyond the story of America as a country “discovered” by a few brave men in the “New World,” Indigenous human rights advocate Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reveals the roles that settler colonialism and policies of American Indian genocide played in forming our national identity. The original academic text is fully adapted by renowned curriculum experts Debbie Reese and Jean Mendoza, for middle-grade and young adult readers to include discussion topics, archival images, original maps, recommendations for further reading, and other materials to encourage students, teachers, and general readers to think critically about their own place in history. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of England Arthur Leslie Morton, 2014 |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train Howard Zinn, 2018-09-18 If you’re both overcome and angered by the atrocities of our time, this will inspire a “new generation of activists and ordinary people who search for hope in the darkness” (Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor). Is change possible? Where will it come from? Can we actually make a difference? How do we remain hopeful? Howard Zinn—activist, historian, and author of A People’s History of the United States—was a participant in and chronicler of some of the landmark struggles for racial and economic justice in US history. In his memoir, You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train, Zinn reflects on more than thirty years of fighting for social change, from his teenage years as a laborer in Brooklyn to teaching at Spelman College, where he emerged in the civil rights movement as a powerful voice for justice. A former bombardier in World War II, he later became an outspoken antiwar activist, spirited protestor, and champion of civil disobedience. Throughout his life, Zinn was unwavering in his belief that “small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world.” With a foreword from activist and scholar Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor, this revised edition will inspire a new generation of readers to believe that change is possible. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of the Vietnam War Jonathan Neale, 2001 Presents an overview of the Vietnam War from the perspective of those on both sides of the battlefront, as well as those in the United States. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Bitterly Divided David Williams, 2010-04-16 The little-known history of anti-secession Southerners: “Absolutely essential Civil War reading.” —Booklist, starred review Bitterly Divided reveals that the South was in fact fighting two civil wars—the external one that we know so much about, and an internal one about which there is scant literature and virtually no public awareness. In this fascinating look at a hidden side of the South’s history, David Williams shows the powerful and little-understood impact of the thousands of draft resisters, Southern Unionists, fugitive slaves, and other Southerners who opposed the Confederate cause. “This fast-paced book will be a revelation even to professional historians. . . . His astonishing story details the deep, often murderous divisions in Southern society. Southerners took up arms against each other, engaged in massacres, guerrilla warfare, vigilante justice and lynchings, and deserted in droves from the Confederate army . . . Some counties and regions even seceded from the secessionists . . . With this book, the history of the Civil War will never be the same again.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review “Most Southerners looked on the conflict with the North as ‘a rich man’s war and a poor man’s fight,’ especially because owners of 20 or more slaves and all planters and public officials were exempt from military service . . . The Confederacy lost, it seems, because it was precisely the kind of house divided against itself that Lincoln famously said could not stand.” —Booklist, starred review |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Blood Crazy Simon Clark, 2014-10-28 It is a quiet, uneventful Saturday in Doncaster. Nick Aten, and his best friend Steve Price – troubled seventeen year olds – spend it as usual hanging around the sleepy town, eating fast food and planning their revenge on Tug Slatter, a local bully and their arch-enemy. But by Sunday, Tug Slatter becomes the last of their worries because somehow overnight civilization is in ruins. Adults have become murderously insane – literally. They're infected with an uncontrollable urge to kill the young. Including their own children. As Nick and Steve try to escape the deadly town covered with the mutilated bodies of kids, a group of blood-thirsty adults ambushes them. Just a day before they were caring parents and concerned teachers, today they are savages destroying the future generation. Will Nick and Steve manage to escape? Is their hope that outside the Doncaster borders the world is 'normal' just a childish dream? Blood Crazy, first published in 1995, is a gripping, apocalyptic horror from Simon Clark. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: The Immigrants Howard Fast, 2010-03-01 A most wonderful book...there hasn't been a novel in years that can do a job on readers' emotions that the last fifty pages of The Immigrants does.—Los Angeles Times The first book in bestselling author Howard Fast's beloved family saga, The Immigrants is a transcendent work of historical fiction. In this sweeping journey of love and fortune, master storyteller Howard Fast recounts the family saga of roughneck immigrants determined to make their way in America at the turn of the century. Quick to ascend from the tragic depths of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Dan Lavette becomes the head of a powerful shipping empire and establishes himself among the city's cultural elite. But when he finds himself caught in a loveless marriage to the daughter of San Francisco's richest family, a scandalous love affair threatens to destroy the empire Dan has built for himself. The first novel of a compelling family saga, The Immigrants is fast-paced, emotional historical fiction that captures the wide range of relationships across Immigrant America during the tumultuous defining events of the early twentieth century. NOW A MOTION PICTURE |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Howard Zinn Speaks Howard Zinn, 2012 Howard Zinn--there was no one like him. And to hear him speak was like listening to music that you loved--lyrical, uplifting, honest.--Michael Moore Zinn's speeches . . . are a joy and an inspiration.--Marisa Tomei Collected here for the first time, Howard's speeches come to us at the moment when we need them most: just as a global network of popular uprisings searches for what comes next.--Naomi Klein Howard Zinn was one of the great orators of the twentieth century and illuminated our history like no other historian. He rarely spoke from notes, and yet could weave rich historical narratives that inspired and captivated audiences. He could grab the attention of even the most jaded students and charm listeners with his sharp humor and personal, engaging style. Many of his speeches have never been published in book form. This first ever collection of his speeches will be an invaluable resource for new generations to continue to discover his work, as well as the millions he moved and informed in his lifetime. Howard Zinn wrote the classic A People's History of the United States. The book, which has sold more than two million copies, has been featured in the film Good Will Hunting, and has appeared multiple times on The New York Times best-seller list. Anthony Arnove wrote, directed, and produced The People Speak with Howard Zinn, Chris Moore, Josh Brolin, and Matt Damon, and co-edited, with Howard Zinn, Voices of a People's History of the United States. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: A People's History of Detroit Mark Jay, Philip Conklin, 2020-04-17 Recent bouts of gentrification and investment in Detroit have led some to call it the greatest turnaround story in American history. Meanwhile, activists point to the city's cuts to public services, water shutoffs, mass foreclosures, and violent police raids. In A People's History of Detroit, Mark Jay and Philip Conklin use a class framework to tell a sweeping story of Detroit from 1913 to the present, embedding Motown's history in a global economic context. Attending to the struggle between corporate elites and radical working-class organizations, Jay and Conklin outline the complex sociopolitical dynamics underlying major events in Detroit's past, from the rise of Fordism and the formation of labor unions, to deindustrialization and the city's recent bankruptcy. They demonstrate that Detroit's history is not a tale of two cities—one of wealth and development and another racked by poverty and racial violence; rather it is the story of a single Detroit that operates according to capitalism's mandates. |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present Howard Zinn, 2005-08 Presents the history of the United States from the point of view of those who were exploited in the name of American progress |
| a peoples history by howard zinn: Howard Zinn Martin B. Duberman, 2012 A portrait of the life and achievements of the progressive activist, author, and teacher examines his roles as an anti-war veteran, an iconic contributor to the civil rights movement, and dedicated white professor at a historically black college. |
A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn
I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the past's fugitive moments of compassion rather than in its solid centuries of warfare. That, being as blunt as I …
A Peoples History Howard Zinn (PDF) - archive.ncarb.org
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn,2003-02-04 Since its original landmark publication in 1980 A People s History of the United States has been chronicling American …
Peoples History Howard Zinn (book) - interactive.cornish.edu
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn,2003-02-04 Since its original landmark publication in 1980 A People s History of the United States has been chronicling American …
People's History of the U.S. - by Howard Zinn - Dan Leahy
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES By Howard Zinn Chapter One COLUMBUS, THE INDIANS AND HUMAN PROGRESS Who are "the people?" Indigenous native Americans the Arawaks of the Bahamas, Aztecs of Mexico, Incas of Peru and the Powhatans and Pequots of VA and Mass. The people who are not a part of "the memory of the state." (9).
A People's 1. Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress …
"UH, OH. WE MIGHT BE IN TROUBLE" - An Emergency Message from History Is A Weapon (please click) A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES by Howard Zinn Table of …
Chapter 03 - People's History of the United States - Howard …
apter 03 - People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn Persons of Mean and Vile ConditionIn 1676, seventy years after Virginia was founded, a hundred years before it supplied …
Chapter 05 A People's History of the United States - Howard …
Chapter 05 – A People's History of the United States - Howard Zinn . A Kind of Revolution. The American victory over the British army was made possible by the existence of an already …
Howard Zinn, A People’s History - Squarespace
Part 1: New Pyramid of Wealth. In the year 1877, the signals were given for the rest of the century: the blacks would be put back; the strikes of white workers would not be tolerated; the industrial …
Questions to Accompany A People’s History of the United …
Here are discussion questions and selected activities to accompany A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, chapters 1 – 11, and 18. Questions for the remaining chapters …
Howard Zinn A Peoples History Of The United States …
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn,2003-02-04 Since its original landmark publication in 1980 A People s History of the United States has been chronicling American …
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES by Howard Zinn …
Sep 19, 2015 ·
TEACHING WITH Voices of a People’s History of the United …
In 2003, when A People’s History of the United States sold its millionth copy, it was clear that Howard Zinn had pioneered a new way of thinking about American history.
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: 1492-PRESENT
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES: 1492-PRESENT AFTERWORD. Howard Zinn . AFTERWORD. aunted by the magnitude of the project, I wanted to abandon it. Another is that …
Howard Zinn, The People's Historian
Born on 24 August 1922 in Brooklyn, New York, Howard Zinn was the second son of Eastern European Jewish immigrants who worked day and night to put a roof over their head and food …
American historians loathe Howard Zinn's A People's History …
American historians loathe Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States. More than 600 historians who participated in this vote pronounced Zinn's radical history the second "least …
“At the time, I thought creating Israel was a good thing, but in ...
Howard Zinn was the author of A People's History of the United States. What was your Jewish upbringing like? My parents were not very religious. They observed the big holidays—Rosh …
HOWARD ZINN AND THE STRUGGLE FOR REAL HISTORY IN …
history. What Zinn Actually Does Say about Progress in A People's History Chapter by chapter, Zinn's book tells stories of hard-won prog ress in the hard-fought struggles of working people, …
Undue Certainty: Where Howard Zinn's A People's History …
People’s History stretches across 729 pages and embraces 500 years of human history. To examine in detail the book’s moves and strategies, what I refer to as its interpretive circuitry, I …
Using Howard Zinn's 'A People's History of American Empire' …
The introduction of A People s History of American Empire begins with Howard Zinn's personal reflection on the events that took place in the United States on September 11, 2001. In this …
A People's History of the United States - libcom.org
A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES 1492—PRESENT HOWARD …
A People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn
I am supposing, or perhaps only hoping, that our future may be found in the …
A Peoples History Howard Zinn (PDF) - archive.ncarb.org
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn,2003-02-04 Since its …
Peoples History Howard Zinn (book) - interactive.cornish.edu
A People's History of the United States Howard Zinn,2003-02-04 Since its …
People's History of the U.S. - by Howard Zinn - Dan Leahy
A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES By Howard Zinn Chapter One …
