Free The Civil War Essay Example

Zinn Howard is a playwright, historian, as well as social activist. Zinn was an Air Force bombardier and shipyard worker before joining college. Zinn received Ph.D. from CU (Columbia University). Howard has taught at Boston University and Spelman College; moreover, has received a Lannan Literary Award, the Thomas Merton Award, the Upton Sinclair Award, and the Eugene V. Debs Award.
Chapter One, "the Indians, Columbus, and Human Progress" discusses early civilization of Native American within N. America as well as the Bahamas, slavery, and the genocide executed by the Christopher Columbus crew, as well as the violent or brutal colonization by settlers. Themes entail the Arawaks, the Aztecs, Pizzarro, Hernando Cortes, Bartolome de Las Casas, the Pequot, Powhatan, Metacom, the Narragansett, the Iroquois, Metacom, and King Philip's War.
Chapter Two, “Drawing Color Line” discusses early African Americans slavery as well as servitude of underprivileged British people within the 13 colonies. Zinn reveals of the techniques through which racism was falsely created to impose the economic system. Zinn posits that racism is artificial since there are documented camaraderie instances as well as cooperation between white servants and black slaves in opposing and in escaping from their subjugation.
Chapter Nine, "Emancipation without Freedom, Slavery Without Submission" discusses slave's rebellions, the civil war, the abolition movement, as well as the impact of these occurrences on African-Americans. According to Zinn, the large-scale brutality of the war employed to halt slavery rather than the small-scale brutality of the rebellions since the latter can have extended beyond anti-slavery, leading to a movement opposing the capitalism system or structure. Zinn argues that the war may limit or restrict the freedom given to African-American by permitting the state management on how such freedom was achieved or gained.
Chapter Ten "The Other Public War" discusses the Anti-Rent group, the Molly Maguires, the Dorr Rebellion, the 1837 Flour Riot. Moreover, the Lowell girls group, the emergence of labor unions, as well as other class struggles focused on many depressions in the 19th C. Zinn explains the misuse of regime power by firms as well as the efforts by employees to oppose or rebel those abuses.
Chapter Eleven, “Rebels and Robber Barons” discusses the increase of industrial firms, for example, the banks and railroads as well as their transformation or conversion to dominant institutions of the nation, with corruption leading to both industry as well as state. Moreover, Zinn discusses the popular individuals and movements that rejected corruption, for example, the Edward Bellamy, Knights of Labor, the Haymarket martyrs, Alexander Berkman, Socialist labor Party, the Homestead strikers, Eugene V. Debs, the Farmers' Alliance, Emma Goldman, the Populist Party, and the American Railway Union.
According to the revisionist American history, descriptions of national unity as well as advance are a smoke screen differentiating the ceaseless conflict from the masses they exploit and oppress. Zinn shares similar opinion with the latter crowd in chronicling struggle of Indians against Europeans, struggle of black’s against racism, struggle of women against patriarchy, as well as struggle of workers against capitalists. Zinn perceives the universal suffrage, collective bargaining, affirmative action, Bills of Rights, not as fundamental (although imperfect) extensions of freedom, though as strategic concessions by elites to contain and defuse extra revolutionary voting; impulses, in fact, is insidious of the power. It is regrettable that Zinn disregards two centuries concerning democracy, national interest, and patriotism as pretense and mere slogans since the history Zinn recounts is the fight of downtrodden persons to achieve these ideals for personal gain.