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ZINN CHAPTER 1: Study Questions
Part I -- pp. 1-11
“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”
- According
to Zinn, what is his main purpose for writing
A People’s History of
the United States?
- What
is Zinn’s thesis for pages 1-11?
-
According to Zinn, how is Columbus portrayed
in traditional history books?
- Why
does Zinn dispute Henry Kissinger’s statement,
"History is the memory of states?"
- What
is Zinn’s basic criticism of historian
Samuel Eliot Morison’s book,
Christopher Columbus, Mariner?
- What
major issues does Bartolome de las Casas bring
up regarding Spanish
expeditions in the Caribbean?
- Identify
one early and one subsequent motive that drove
Columbus to
oppress indigenous peoples.
- What
was the ultimate fate of the Arawak Indians?
ZINN CHAPTER 1: Study Questions
Part II – pp. 11-22
“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress”
- What
was the significance of Quetzalcoatl?
- Compare
the strategies and motives underlying the conquest
of the Aztecs by
Cortez, and the conquest of the Incas by Pizzaro.
- What
were the major causes of war between the Powhatans
and the English
settlers?
- Discuss
the significance of Powhatan’s statement,
"Why will you take by force
what you may have quietly by love?"
- Explain
Governor John Winthrop’s legal and biblical
justifications for seizing
Indian land.
- Explain
the main tactic of warfare used by the English
against the Indians.
- According
to Roger Williams, how did the English usually
justify their attacks
on the Indians?
- What
ultimately happened to the estimated 10 million
Indians living in North
America at the time of Columbus’ arrival?
- Evaluate
the statement, "If there are sacrifices
to be made for human
progress, is it not essential to hold to the
principle that those to be sacrificed
must make the decision themselves?"
- How
does Zinn attempt to prove that the Indians
were not inferior? Provide
examples.
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