Analysis of A People’s History of the United States by...

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. A Peoples History of the United States, originally published in 1980, as a work of non-fiction by the political scientist and American historian, Howard Zinn. Zinn seeks to show us American history through the eyes of common, everyday people rather the views of biased historians. A Peoples History is included in high school and college curriculum across the United States and is a favorite of American†¦show more content†¦The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants, the political leader’s men, the military figures men. The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status.† In Chapter 6 of his book, Zinn casts his view onto the new United States embroiled in facing the changing role of women. While women of the outer classes - blacks, Indians and immigrants - most directly faced oppression, women of the moneyed and upper classes also began to organize for political rights. Zinn goes on to look at the post-Reconstruction period utilizing letters and journals of those who lived through this time. The issue of black civil rights, abandoned by the North, left the southern states free to establish racial segregation without social resistance. This policy would continue the legacy of racial discrimination in the South for nearly another century. Terror groups such as the Ku Klux Klan formed to enforce segregation. In looking at more contemporary issues, Zinn utilizes interview records and other hard documentation to show us the real stories. For example, the government moved slowly to end segregation, fearful of a change of the face of American power. We see how two of America’s favorite presidents, Eisenhower and Kennedy, did little to change the system during their administrations. Lyndon Johnson pushed for passage of the Civil Rights Bill of 1964. This was viewedShow MoreRelatedThe Patriot s History Of The United States1589 Words   |  7 PagesAfter the Civil War, the United State began to experience an industrial growth that was unparalleled to any nation. There were new advancements among America’s transportation, manufacturing and agriculture industries. While an economic growth was occurring in the nation, the national government was inactive, almost forgotten between all the new innovations achieved during the late 19th century. 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Through the identification and discussion of these differencesRead MoreA People s History Of The Us1758 Words   |  8 Pageslearned that investigating the past, through the histories that many historians have written and left us as a legacy, is where we can find the causes of many events that occur in our present. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the different perspectives on Christopher Columbus of historian Howard Zinn, as well as the impacts created by the arrival of Columbus to â€Å"The New World† in the history of the United States. Zinn’s book, A People’s History of the US, reveals to us the truth about ColumbusRead MoreThe European Domination Of Native Americans3308 Words   |  14 Pages Many prominent historians argue a clash between culture and religious philosophy was the primary cause of conflict between European settlers in North America and Native Americans. However, a closer analysis of American history suggests otherwise. 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