Howard Zinn Summary

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“In 1492, Columbus sailed the ocean blue. He had three ships and left from Spain; He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.” This isn’t the exact rhyme since there are different versions, but this is one of the most commonly used rhymes.” This paper will be on how Howard Zinn shines a light on his unique perspective of the interactions between Columbus and the Arawak’s in the first chapter of “A People’s History of the United States.” One of the main reason Columbus wanted to go on an expedition was to become wealthy. He purely wanted to find gold and spices. Zinn mentions that if Columbus succeeds on his expedition he would receive three rewards. The rewards are a new title as Admiral of the Ocean Sea, he would receive ten percent of any…show more content…
Zinn had put pieces of his description in the chapter “Hispaniola is a miracle. Mountains and hills, plains and pastures, are both fertile and beautiful ... the harbors are unbelievably good and there are many wide rivers of which the majority contain gold.... There are many spices, and great mines of gold and other metals....5” Columbus had also spoke about the Indians being naïve and open with their property. To help convince the king and queen to send extra support Columbus added a little religious talk “Thus the eternal God, our Lord, gives victory to those who follow His way over apparent impossibilities.6” This had led to his second…show more content…
Learning there was no gold Columbus went on a “slave raid7”. At this point of the expedition, turning the Arawak’s into slaves seemed to be the only mission going for Columbus. Zinn makes a slight point, Columbus tried to use religion to help justify his actions. Zinn quotes from Columbus’s journal “Let us in the name of the Holy Trinity go on sending all the slaves that can be sold.8" The Arawak’s numbers had rapidly decreased. By 1550 the Arawak’s numbers had gone from two hundred and fifty thousand to five hundred totals. Zinn presents the arawaks as open and welcoming people, once the arawaks noticed columbus’s ships arrival, they had swam out to greet them and to inspect the new comers. Zinn writes of the Arawak’s as kind and gentle people, a little naïve and very open with their possessions. Upon Columbus’s initial meeting with the Arawaks Columbus writes in his journal: “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.9” Zinn compares the arawaks to the Indians that had already been on the mainland, Zinn does not say what tribe they were from, but their hospitality,
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