Howard Zinn: Postcolonization Of Native Americans In The United States

Vincent Zhang

Mr. Lifland

AP US History

8/15/15

Howard Zinn Chapter Reading

Chapter 1

The prevailing opinion is that European explorers came to the America’s to peacefully colonize and gradually begin mutually beneficial relationships with the native people. However, Howard Zinn proves that the majority of explorers could not coexist with the native tribes, as the conquerors slowly stole their land, and did not return the initial hospitality most of the natives had showed to them. Therefore, the European colonizers blatantly ignored the rights of the Native Americans and acted with violence towards them. In order to conquer the natives, the colonizers “set fire to the wigwams of the village” and “ [destroyed] their crops” (Zinn).

However, Zinn disapproves this notion, by using statistics and facts to show that the wealth was concentrated among a few select individuals, while the vast majority of common people lived in poor and unsatisfactory conditions. When discussing the issue of money, Zinn states that in 1770, “the top 1 percent of property owners owned 44 percent of the wealth” due to their control of the colonies and their political power (Zinn). This naturally incensed the vast majority of the middle and lower class, as rebellions became more commonplace and violent, during the 17th and 18th century. Zinn also describes the conditions the poor lived in, as saying that it was quite common for shelters “built for one hundred poor, [to house] over four hundred”, which shows how one can understand their plight, as while they struggled to make a living, the rich plantation owners sat back and let the hard work of their slaves and servants make them rich (Zinn). Eventually, the upper class realized that their huge gap in wealth would eventually cause problems in maintaining control over the people. And so, by giving certain liberties to the poor, and using racism to separate slaves and Native Americans from white colonists, the upper class therefore managed to control the formerly unruly population until the American Revolution. In this chapter, the historical thinking skill of argumentation is prominent. Zinn uses this skill to argue his point that the vast majority of the American colonists were poor, by presenting many valid statistics and descriptions. He uses many first-hand accounts from colonists who lived at the time, to show the plight of the poor. Also, the author links the idea of poverty and rebellion, to show how colonists became increasingly violent due to their political leaders not