Zinn Chapter 1: pp.1-11 Columbus, The Indian, and Human Progress
1. Zinn’s main purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States is to show history from the viewpoint of others. 2. This is Zinn’s thesis for pages 1-11: These traits did not stand out in the Europe of the Renaissance, dominated as it was by religion of popes, the government of kings, and the frenzy for money that marked Western Civilization and its first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus. 3. According to Zinn, Columbus is portrayed as a holy character that was brave enough to sail into the unknown in traditional history books. 4. Zinn disputes Henry Kissinger’s statement: One in three blacks died on the ship during the trip to America. They were also chained to the floor and were layed on their own waste without being able to move. 6. The Catholic Church did not consider slavery as unlawful or unmoral. 7. The cost of slavery in the Americas was about fifty million dollars. 8. As the plantation system grew, more labor was needed. 9. Many slaves did not accept their fate easily, so many slaves revolted, many attempted to run away, many attempted incidents of sabotage on their masters, and many risked their lives to keep their family together. 10. Slave owners feared poor whites because the poor whites were economically poor, and they were frustrated with the white aristocrats. The poor whites were ready to rebel and in many instances they revolted with blacks.
Zinn Chapter 3: Persons of Mean and Vile Condition
1. This is the thesis of this chapter: As the colonial period progressed, a distinct class structure developed, creating significant class tension between poor and rich whites. 2. The cause of Bacon’s rebellion was because the unhappy farmers in West Virginia were angry that Governor Berkeley and the House of Burgesses seemed to do little to protect the western borders from Indian attacks. 3. The “double motive” of the Virginia government vis-à-vis Bacon’s rebellion was because essentially, the House of Burgesses sought to divide Indians to control them while
