Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
History 135
OBJECTIVE A PAPER
the effect that settlers in North America had on the natives. The effects are
predominantly the spread of disease, whereas in the Zinn essay, the disease
complicated forms of government, hunted, and lived off the land. Tools for
their tilling of the soil, harvesting of crops, hunting and fishing. Yet, the
The atrocities spoken of in the Zinn essay are hard to fathom, essentially
long-term for the Natives, I also believe Howard Zinn is very likely
also, that Zinn mentions the only source in many cases of what happened on
"vehement critic of Spanish cruelty" [Zinn, 35]. It is never good form to rely
on a single source for the accurate retelling of an event, especially one you
naves, willing to share any and all of their possessions with the newcomers.
would stop at nothing to further their own fortunes, or satisfy their most
primitive desires. Columbus reports that the natives "are so naive and so
free with their possessions that no one who has not witnessed them would
believe it. When you ask for something they have, they never say no."
[Zinn, 34]. Why then was it necessary to run two Indians through with
swords, when they refused to trade for the number of bows and arrows
culture or craft, why would Columbus even need to trade for their weapons?
In a way, Zinn does not do the American Indians any favors. In his portrayal
rebellion.
tales -- everything but recognition" [NoN, 11]. It tells of how smoothly his
first voyage across the Atlantic was, and how he must have assumed he was
the courageous explorer. The quotes from Columbus included are carefully
genocide.
It has been my experience that, in history, nothing is ever as cut and dry
as right and wrong, or good and evil. Zinn very clearly does not agree, and
has chosen to paint Columbus and his men as the "bad guys", and the
Native Americans as the "good guys". The textbook on the other hand
that the truth of the early encounters between the European explorers and
contained in the textbook and the content in the Zinn essay. In either
situation, the encounters were obviously not a profitable prospect for Native