The Most Consequential Book of My Lifetime
The tipping point in the American perspective on it's own history came in the form of a book, a revisionist history book, which was written to be used a text book. The book, written by a true intellectual was titled "A People's History of the United States".
I recall when I was very young in grade school and the Nuns told us about "the Communist Manifesto". After describing the book, Sister Theresa said "If you read it, you run the risk of becoming a convert. I thought about that statement for quite a while. Why should anyone be afraid to read a book? Well Sister Theresa didn't remain a Nun for very long. Not because of her ideas, but because she was the rarest kind of Nun. She was quite attractive and couldn't live the life of commitment. One day long after my childhood impressions, I realized how much the country had changed. A minority view of American history was taking hold in the classroom. US History was less the history as told by Samuel Eliot Morison and more the History according to Howard Zinn. Zinn's approach was to tell history from a worm's eye view, from the point of view of the slave, the natives, the indentured servant or the Chinese immigrants building the railroad.
I knew I had to read his book and I must say it was very compelling. Sorry, Sister Theresa, not enough to convert me, but just enough to make me think about the points Zinn makes. Right from the get-go in Chapter 1 of Volume 1, we get that unflattering view of Columbus. Upon arrival in the new world Columbus made his first contact with the natives.
Columbus wrote in his log of the first native people he encountered in Haiti:
"They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells. They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want."
We then learn of how Columbus actions (directly & indirectly) led to the complete extermination of the 250,000 natives known as the Arawaks. Most of the evidence Zinn depends on comes from a young Priest by the name of Bartolome de las Casas, who transcribed Columbus's journal and eventually began a multi-volume history of the Indies. The stories are all of incredible inhuman treatment. There is an anecdotal story among the tales of mass murder, which is indicative of the level of cruelty:
"Total control led to total cruelty. The Spaniards "thought nothing of knifing Indians by tens and twenties and of cutting slices off them to test the sharpness of their blades." Las Casas tells how "two of these so-called Christians met two Indian boys one day, each carrying a parrot; they took the parrots and for fun beheaded the boys."
Is it any wonder that so many are so outraged at the idea of celebrating "Columbus Day". To read this book, which btw has student exercises at the end of each chapter provides all the insight needed to understand why those who have been educated this way feel as strongly as they do. From Columbus to the Industrial Revolution, it dosen't get much better.
As Americans we accept the terrible transgressions committed throughout our history.
It is etched into our collective conscience.
Howard Zinn had a lot to do with that.
Who is online
53 visitors