jankp's Full Review: Howard Zinn - A People's History of the United Sta...
If you’re thinking that Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States sounds like a fun, patriotic read that will lull you with the assurance that America has a wonderfully democratic government with a peaceful mission, you’d better read the following passage from the book.
…Against the reality of that desperate, bitter battle for resources made scarce by elite control, I am taking the liberty of uniting those 99 percent as “the people.” I have been writing a history that attempts to represent their submerged, deflected, common interest. To emphasize the commonality of the 99 percent, to declare deep enmity of interest with the 1 percent, is to do exactly what the governments of the United States, and the wealthy elite allied to them--from the Founding Fathers to now--have tried their best to prevent. (James) Madison feared a “majority faction” and hoped the new Constitution would control it. He and his colleagues began the Preamble to the Constitution with the words “We the people…,” pretending that the new government stood for everyone, and hoping that this myth, accepted as fact, would ensure “domestic tranquility.” (pp 631)
This, then, is “a history disrespectful of governments and respectful of people’s movements of resistance.” From the year 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered what became America through bloody overthrow of the ’Indians’ to 2003 under George W. Bush, the book is a daunting 688 pages, which doesn’t include the selected bibliography, notes and interviews with him. Zinn, born and raised in the slums of Brooklyn, came to my attention when I watched the 2004 documentary about him, You Can’t Be Neutral On A Moving Train, and learned about People’s History that was first published in 1980 and has been added on to three more times.
Both Democrats and Republicans are shown to be made of the same cloth. They have all supported the growth and monopoly of big business to the detriment of anything or anyone who got in the way, including the vast majority of Americans, the environment, the Constitution, civilians in many other countries, and any foreign leader not chosen by the U.S. government. The American media has mostly helped the illusion that Democratic and Republican presidential candidates are giving us a choice for a change in leadership and that wars and military interventions have just causes, if we even hear about them, that is. Zinn stunned me by discussing how Japan was roundly provoked by us to attack Pearl Harbor, that Kennedy invaded Cuba on the sly only to have to turn around when Cubans didn’t want to overthrow Castro, that Nixon kept bombing of Cambodia secret (as did Ford) and it just goes on and on.
Zinn loves his history. Having received a Ph.D from Columbia University, he’s taught history and political science at Spelman College (for black women) and Boston University, and has been a visiting professor at the University of Paris and the University of Bologna. He’s received the Thomas Merton award, the Eugene V. Debs award, the Upton Sinclair award and the Lannan Literary award.
Zinn has quite an extensive list of books or magazines he constantly referred to in People’s History and one film I’m anxious to find called Spirit of 㥔 that the government tried to sue. This history may be slanted as he admits, but it’s certainly not just his perspective. For example, he talks about the activists not well-known and quotes from their letters. I was particularly amused by Lucy Stone, a resister in 1847 active in the peace society and antislavery work, taught ’colored’ kids, organized a debating club for girls and got married, but kept her name. She was Mrs. Stone, heh.
This book has 25 chapters that take us through much of the history of the United States that really doesn’t have much good to say about its presidents, not even Abe Lincoln or George Washington. It’s backed up with research, though, and is disappointing to read, but now I know that there’s proobably more weighing on presidents’ minds than moral considerations. There’s keeping the Union together and preserving the privileged life they’re accustomed to.
Not only was I shocked by the massacres approved by presidents throughout history, leaving behind incredible devastation and misery, but that Congress has been ineffective to control the war-mongerers and the public too has either gone along with it patriotically or have had their resistance suppressed. I’m incensed that America was built up by black slaves and poorly-paid white workers who constantly rebelled or ran away, even if it meant death. Zinn also delves into the women’s movement, the Indian’s struggles, the socialist challenge, the communism scare. The CIA and FBI are not left out. Zinn realizes he hasn’t paid as much attention to some people, like gays and Latinos and Latinas, perhaps because, he says, he has a stronger connection to the East Coast and to his own sexual orientation, but he suggests several books about their history.
A People’s History of the United States kept me reading way past my bedtime several nights in a row. It’s not a complete history, by any means, and is often disturbing to read, but it should be noted that it's a people's history, making it idealogical and not balanced or very critical. Its strength is in showing the indomitable spirit of Americans that is something Zinn loves and wants to leave with us. I too believe we can make a difference if we all put our minds to it.
General Biography & Autobiography - Open-minded readers will prophet from Professor Zinn's account, and historians may view it as a step toward a cohe...More at Barnes and Noble
Known for its lively, clear prose as well as its scholarly research, A People's History of the United States is the only volume to tell America's stor...More at HotBookSale
In 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, the wo...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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