A People's History of the United States

A People’s History of the United States is a book about the history of the United States of America from the very beginning. It was written in 1980 by Howard Zinn. Zinn is a historian, political scientist, and a social activist. I think this a very good book to read because it not only tells about the history of the United States but it give the real truth about things that have never been discussed before. The book starts off at the very beginning of America. Some of the topics discussed range from Christopher Columbus’ travels to Hernando Cortes adventures. From there it talks about slavery and such. The book is written in a time line of history. It starts from the beginning and then goes on. In history there are many conflicts. Some that were discussed were about how Christopher Columbus Day has always been a celebration. After reading this book, you may have a different view on him. It then tells about the conflicts of slavery and gives very vivid details about the conditions that slavery really consisted of. This book is the real deal. It gives you the straight facts and information about history that you never knew about. Even though A People’s History of the United States was written in 1980 and may be considered an older book, it is still a good read. The realness of the book and how it gives so much information about history that is not taught in schools is what makes this book so great. It is a very important book and it should be read by others to understand the true history. I believe the reasons the book was/is popular still hold true because it is about history. It is telling the real truth about history. History will never become a subject that is forgotten. My judgement and evaluation on A People’s History of the United States is that the quality of writing was very strong. It shows strength in its vivid details and the choice of words that were used. One of my favorite quotes from the book is a piece quoted from the Virginia slave code. It says: “Whereas many times slaves run away and lie hid and lurking in swamps, woods, and other obscure places, killing hogs, and committing other injuries to the inhabitants...if the slave does not immediately return, anyone whatsoever may kill or destroy such slaves by such ways and means as he…shall think fit…If the slave is apprehended… it shall…be lawful for the county court, to order such punishment for the said slave, either by dismembering, or in any other way…as they in their discretion shall think fit, for the reclaiming any such incorrigible slave, and terrifying others form the like practices…” That quote is one of my favorites because it is so descriptive. Another one of my favorites is a quote by writer J. Saunders Redding as he describes the arrival of a ship in North America. It says: “Sails furled, flag drooping at her rounding stern, she rode the tide in form the sea. She was a strange ship, indeed, by all accounts, a frightening ship, a ship of mystery. Whether she was trader, privateer, or man-of-war no one knows. Through her bulwarks black-mouthed cannon yawned. The flag she flew was Dutch; her crew a motley. Her port of call, an English settlement, Jamestown, in the colony of Virginia. She came, she traded, and shortly afterwards was gone. Probably no ship in modern history has carried a more portentous freight. Her cargo? Twenty slaves.” That quote is another one of my favorites because it is also very descriptive. It paints a clear picture of the truth about what used to really happen. That to me is a very strong strength. In conclusion, my overall thoughts about the book are very positive. It has changed the way I look at history. It has showed me that there is a whole lot more truth about history than just what is taught in schools. One particular thing it has made me realize is that history is a lot more gruesome and violent than I originally thought. It also has given me a different perspective of Christopher Columbus. I do not see him the same as I once did. A People’s History of the United States was really an eye opener about giving the real truths about history.

History is subjective. It is written and recorded by both regular people and historians, all of whom have their own personal biases, interpretations of events, and beliefs, regardless of how conscious they are of trying to be objective. No account of history escapes this phenomenon. This brings an important question to light: Whose account of history have we been taught? For many of us, especially those of us taught in public schools, it is the version approved by people in positions of power. In A People’s History of the United States, our author Howard Zinn does the opposite, telling history from the point of view of the powerless. It starts with Columbus meeting the Native Americans in the late 1400’s. Many textbooks teach that he discovered new lands and new people and became economic partners with them. Through a European lens, this is true. If we consider this initial meeting through the eyes of the native people, however, we might interpret events differently. Columbus could not have discover America, the continent was already inhabited by millions of indigenous people. Did they trade peacefully? Perhaps at times, but Columbus’ men also enslaved many of the natives and treated them with extreme hostility. This same trend played out repeatedly as more Europeans sailed west and encountered the Native Americans. The Spanish and Portuguese subjugated the people of South and Central America, whilst the English subjugated those in the North. Perhaps we know a bit of this history, and recognize that European-Native American relations were more antagonistic than harmonious. This, again, is only a partial truth, as “more than half the colonists who came to the North American shores in the colonial period came as servants.” Subjugation was not only reserved for the Native Americans, even many white men and women were oppressed by their own European elites. It was a society in favor of the few at the expense of the many. This, more than anything, is the theme of this book. Zinn proposes that the history of The United States is a history of dominance by the elite classes over Native Americans, Blacks, Latinos, Asians, women, those living in poverty, and pretty much anyone without the ability to resist. Not only was this dominance financial, with the elite class keeping the wealth created by the labor class for themselves, but it was often physical and emotional as well. When movements of poor and working class people coalesced and petitioned for more rights and better working conditions, they were often met with imprisonment, violence, and death. The following are statistics from this book that illuminate these trends: In 1770, in Boston, the top 1 percent of property owners owned 44 percent of the wealth. In 1820, 120,000 Indians lived east of the Mississippi. By 1844, fewer than 30,000 were left. Between 1790 and 1860, the number of slaves grew from 500,000 to 4,000,000. In 1877, 100,000 workers went on strike against the railroad companies. In 1886 there were over 1,400 strikes, involving 500,000 workers. In 1914, the income of 44 families making $1 million or more equaled the total income of 100,000 families earning $500 a year. During World War Two, there were 14,000 strikes involving 6,770,000 workers. In 1950, the military had a budget of about $12 billion out of a total US budget of about $40 billion. In 1960, the military budget was $45.8 billion—49.7 percent of the total budget. In 1961, about 200 giant corporations out of 200,000 corporations—one-tenth of 1 percent of all corporations—controlled about 60 percent of the manufacturing wealth of the nation. In 1977, the top 10 percent of the American population had an income thirty times that of the bottom tenth; the top 1 percent of the nation owned 33 percent of the wealth. On June 12, 1982, 1,000,000 people gathered in Central Park, New York City, to express their determination to bring an end to the arms race. In 1990, the average pay of the chief executive officers of the 500 largest corporations was 64 times that of the average worker. By 1999, it was 475 times the average worker’s pay. In 1998, one of every three working people in the United States had jobs paying at or below the federal poverty level (from the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the U.S. Census Bureau). Zinn asserts that the history of The United States is a history of control by the elite class. Consider the founding fathers: They were nearly all lawyers by profession and were “men of wealth, in land, slaves, manufacturing, or shipping.” Forty of the fifty-five men held government bonds, according to the records of the Treasury Department. These men were obviously from the elite class, which begs the question: If they were truly determined to compose a Constitution that ensured equally for all, why were no slaves, women, servants, or men without property allowed to be a part of the writing process? Consider a recent presidential election: In 1980, Ronald Reagan received 51.6 percent of the popular vote while Jimmy Carter received 41.7 percent. These numbers look good until you factor in the reality that “only 54 percent of the voting-age population voted, so that—of the total eligible to vote—27 percent voted for Reagan.” A democracy is supposed to be a system of government in which the people govern themselves by electing representatives from amongst their ranks. However, if half of eligible voters don’t bother to participate and don’t believe in the system, is it really a democracy? The country was thus presided over by a man who was selected by just over one-quarter of the citizenry. In his first term in office, Reagan cut $140 billion dollars in social programs while simultaneously increasing the ‘defense’ budget by $181 billion. He clearly cared more about allocating money for the military industrial complex than for the poor. A People’s History of the United States is a long and methodical book—it covers events from colonial times up to the 2000 presidential election and the “war on terror.” It is a necessary alternative to the versions of history proposed to many of us in school and should be taught in conjunction with them. The question that came to my mind when I finished reading it was this: Is the story of The United States a story about liberal democracy or a story about elite power?

This book is eye opening to say the least. Very good read. I know its a joke to some (good will hunting) but its a really good read and listened to the audio book as well. different perspectives throughout time.

This is an outstanding history of the United States. It will open your eyes to an entirely new perspective. If you have already studied American History ... you owe it to yourself to read this book. So much of what you think that you know is just bunk. This is the work of a serious scholar ... on the Noam Chomsky tier. The book should be made required reading for every American. Be prepared to question all of your core beliefs. BTW - in Good Will Hunting there is a scene in the Psychologist's office ... the Will character looks at the books on the bookshelf ... refers to this book ... saying that it will blow your mind ... he is right.

He was a history professor so clearly knew his stuff but this is a popular history book. So, deliberately light on references and sources. It's a wonderful book, a antidote to nationalism and ignorance. It's shocking in places because the enslavement and destruction of Africans by Europeans was pretty shocking. Like how 2 out of 5 captured Africans died before reaching the ships to be transported. How this affected the places from where the people were stolen in the long term need to be acknowledged, for example. And how slaves were treated in the USA, fantastically brutal, unlike say slavery in ancient Rome. Beautifully written easy to read.

The book provides great insight into the making of the United States, after the landing of Saint Columbus, and covering a very long period-till the presidency of Bill Clinton. The book really tells about the events faced by the common people, in making of the country. Recording the history of a nation requires a lot of research and access to documents and records. There is enough evidence to this end, seeing the size of the book and the background notes and references made. Any serious reader will learn a great deal while studying the book. It can serve as an important reference book for all curious readers. While historic events have made the US a great country, the price paid by its people has been unbelievable. This is a must book for all who want understand history of nation building.

I must give this book five stars, because the accuracy and research behind the book can only be described as first class. The book is a very long and definitely a hard slog but can be recommended to anyone who is interested in history, particularly American history, and is not convinced that he has heard the whole story. From beginning to end, the subject matter is extremely depressing. The author deals with the continuing persecution of non-whites, women and the poor by the rich, white ruling class and the vast sums spent on the military, leaving the poor without the most basic support. Particularly the way the American Indian has been treated over the centuries is intensely disturbing.

Different point of view of america history, someone may be agreed someone else may be not, in my modest opinion the american history is clear, pioneers did a great work, they made america, no matter. God bless USA 🇱🇷