A People's History of American Empire
Encyclopedia
A People's History of American Empire is a 2008 graphic
history by Howard Zinn
, Mike Konopacki
, and Paul Buhle
. The book combines material from Zinn's history book A People's History of the United States
and his autobiography You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train with new material from other sources, most notably George Lipsitz
's A Rainbow at Midnight: Labor and Culture in the 1940s and Jim Zwick's Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War. Various historic subjects are covered as well as Zinn's own history of involvement in activism and historic events. The book was the last of Zinn's books that was published within his lifetime.
The book's story is based around a frame story
of Zinn giving a speech at an anti-war
rally. Through it, he talks about past acts of imperialism
by the U.S. government, as well as acts of resistance to it both inside and outside of the country. During the story, comparisons are made between the American government's past actions and recent ones, often appearing in boxes marked as "Zinnformation."
and his anger at President George W. Bush
for reacting in a way that Zinn saw as ahistorical
(this article was "The Old Way of Thinking," which appeared in Progressive Magazine). He goes on to criticize the military actions in the War in Afghanistan
that led to the deaths of civilians. The chapter ends with Zinn giving a speech at an anti-war
rally, which becomes a speech on America's past acts of imperialism.
Chapter I, "The Internal Empire," starts by covering the Wounded Knee Massacre
, narrated by survivor Black Elk
. It goes on to cover the Robber Barons
(specifically J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller
, Jay Gould
, and George Pullman
); strikes during 1892 such as the Copper Miners Strike, the New Orleans General Strike, the Railroad Switchmen's Strike
, and the Steelworkers' Strike; the 1894 Railroad Strike
against the Pullman Palace Car Company and Eugene V. Debs
involvement in it; the Monroe Doctrine
and the Open Door Policy
; the invasion of Hawaii in 1893; and the 103 interventions carried out in other countries by the U.S. between 1798 and 1895, including Japan (1853–54), Nicaragua (1853–54), Uruguay (1855), Argentina (1853–54), and Angola (1860).
Chapter II, "The Spanish-American War," is about the events of the Spanish-American War
. Various people who were involved in the events of the war and those leading up to it are discussed, such as Antonio Maceo Grajales
, Maximo Gomez
, Jose Marti
, Clemencia Arango. Other topics covered include the media hype for the war created by William Randolph Hearst
's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer
's New York World
(which led to the concept of yellow journalism
); the explosion of the USS Maine
, which the two newspapers blamed on the Spanish; the actions of labor unions, which supported the Cuban rebels but not U.S. intervention; the Black 25th Infantry and its experience with racism at the hands of the Rough Riders
; the poisoning of soldiers by spoiled meat packaged by Armour and Co.; and the takeover of Cuba by the U.S. and subsequent creation of the Guantánamo Bay military base.
Chapter III, "The Invasion of the Philippines," covers the events of the Philippine-American War
. It begins with explaining how the end of the Spanish-American War resulted in the U.S. gaining the former Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and explains that William McKinley
believed he had to take over the Philippines from its native people in order to "civilize and Christianize" them. Afterwards, it shows the struggles of Emilio Aguinaldo
in trying to keep control of the Philippines for its own people. Other topics and individuals covered include George Dewey
, Fermin Jaudenes
, Fort San Antonio de Abad, the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, the battle of Santa Mesa, William Jennings Bryan
, Albert J. Beveridge
, Henry M. Turner, W.E.B. Du Bois
, Littletown Waller, the shootings at Samar
, Elihu Root
, Theodore Roosevelt
, the use of the water cure in the war, Leonard Wood
, the Moro Crater massacre
, Mark Twain
, and the Anti-Imperialist League.
Chapter IV, "War is the Health of the State," covers World War I
and the events leading into it. It begins with discussing how the U.S. government used its military power to protect American business interests both within the country and abroad during such events as the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution
and the Ludlow Massacre
. Zinn goes on to explain how the U.S. and European countries entered into WWI to gain imperial power over Africa, the Balkans, Alsace-Lorraine, and the Middle-East, while the U.S. itself also entered to increase patriotism and to weaken the growing popular interest in socialism. Other topics and individuals covered include Woodrow Wilson
, Randolph Bourne
, Robert Lansing
, Bernard Baruch
, William Gibbs McAdoo
, the Lusitania
, the Sykes-Picot Agreement
, the Conscription Act of 1917, the Espionage Act of 1917
, Champ Clark, the American Protective League
, the Industrial Workers of the World
, Camp Funston
, Sheldon W. Smith, Leavenworth Prison, Kate Richards O'Hare
, Alice Paul
, the National Women's Party, and Emma Goldman
.
Chapter V, "Growing Up Class-Conscious," covers Zinn's childhood and teenage years. Zinn begins the chapter by telling about how his community worked together to get through the Great Depression
and their reaction to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti
. He goes on to tell of how he began to understand poverty through reading the works of Charles Dickens
, working with his father as a waiter, and getting involved in a demonstration with some of the communists in his neighborhood. These led to Zinn becoming class-conscious
and abandoning his liberal views for radical ones.
Chapter VI, "World War II: A People's War?"
Chapter VII, "The Cool War"
Chapter VIII, "Children of the Empire"
Chapter IX, "Land of Burning Children"
Chapter X, "The Same Rotting Barrel"
Chapter XI, " Resurgence of Empire"
Chapter XII, "Covert Action and Reaction"
Graphic novel
A graphic novel is a narrative work in which the story is conveyed to the reader using sequential art in either an experimental design or in a traditional comics format...
history by Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn
Howard Zinn was an American historian, academic, author, playwright, and social activist. Before and during his tenure as a political science professor at Boston University from 1964-88 he wrote more than 20 books, which included his best-selling and influential A People's History of the United...
, Mike Konopacki
Mike Konopacki
Mike Konopacki is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.- Background and early career :A 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison Mike Konopacki (1951? - ) is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues.-...
, and Paul Buhle
Paul Buhle
Paul Merlyn Buhle is a Senior Lecturer at Brown University, author or editor of 35 volumes including histories of radicalism in the United States and the Caribbean, studies of popular culture, and a series of nonfiction comic art volumes. He is the authorized biographer of C. L. R...
. The book combines material from Zinn's history book A People's History of the United States
A People's History of the United States
Chapter 7, "As Long As Grass Grows or Water Runs" discusses 19th century conflicts between the U.S. government and Native Americans and Indian removal, especially during the administrations of Andrew Jackson and Martin Van Buren....
and his autobiography You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train with new material from other sources, most notably George Lipsitz
George Lipsitz
George Lipsitz is an American Studies Scholar and a Professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara and the author of The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. He is a lead scholar in social movements, urban culture, inequality, the politics of popular...
's A Rainbow at Midnight: Labor and Culture in the 1940s and Jim Zwick's Mark Twain's Weapons of Satire: Anti-Imperialist Writings on the Philippine-American War. Various historic subjects are covered as well as Zinn's own history of involvement in activism and historic events. The book was the last of Zinn's books that was published within his lifetime.
The book's story is based around a frame story
Frame story
A frame story is a literary technique that sometimes serves as a companion piece to a story within a story, whereby an introductory or main narrative is presented, at least in part, for the purpose of setting the stage either for a more emphasized second narrative or for a set of shorter stories...
of Zinn giving a speech at an anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
rally. Through it, he talks about past acts of imperialism
Imperialism
Imperialism, as defined by Dictionary of Human Geography, is "the creation and/or maintenance of an unequal economic, cultural, and territorial relationships, usually between states and often in the form of an empire, based on domination and subordination." The imperialism of the last 500 years,...
by the U.S. government, as well as acts of resistance to it both inside and outside of the country. During the story, comparisons are made between the American government's past actions and recent ones, often appearing in boxes marked as "Zinnformation."
Overview
The Prologue begins with Zinn writing an article on his typewriter about his reaction to the September 11, 2001 attacksSeptember 11, 2001 attacks
The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...
and his anger at President George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
for reacting in a way that Zinn saw as ahistorical
Ahistoricism
Ahistoricism refers to a lack of concern related to history, historical development, or tradition.Ahistoricism is most frequently used as a criticism, referring to being historically inaccurate or ignorant...
(this article was "The Old Way of Thinking," which appeared in Progressive Magazine). He goes on to criticize the military actions in the War in Afghanistan
War in Afghanistan (2001–present)
The War in Afghanistan began on October 7, 2001, as the armed forces of the United States of America, the United Kingdom, Australia, and the Afghan United Front launched Operation Enduring Freedom...
that led to the deaths of civilians. The chapter ends with Zinn giving a speech at an anti-war
Anti-war
An anti-war movement is a social movement, usually in opposition to a particular nation's decision to start or carry on an armed conflict, unconditional of a maybe-existing just cause. The term can also refer to pacifism, which is the opposition to all use of military force during conflicts. Many...
rally, which becomes a speech on America's past acts of imperialism.
Chapter I, "The Internal Empire," starts by covering the Wounded Knee Massacre
Wounded Knee Massacre
The Wounded Knee Massacre happened on December 29, 1890, near Wounded Knee Creek on the Lakota Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. On the day before, a detachment of the U.S. 7th Cavalry Regiment commanded by Major Samuel M...
, narrated by survivor Black Elk
Black Elk
Heȟáka Sápa was a famous Wičháša Wakȟáŋ of the Oglala Lakota . He was Heyoka and a second cousin of Crazy Horse.-Life:...
. It goes on to cover the Robber Barons
Robber barons
Robber baron may mean:*Robber baron, German nobles who levied illegal tolls in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries*Robber baron , a pejorative term for certain 19th to early 20th century American industrialists...
(specifically J.P. Morgan, John D. Rockefeller
John D. Rockefeller
John Davison Rockefeller was an American oil industrialist, investor, and philanthropist. He was the founder of the Standard Oil Company, which dominated the oil industry and was the first great U.S. business trust. Rockefeller revolutionized the petroleum industry and defined the structure of...
, Jay Gould
Jay Gould
Jason "Jay" Gould was a leading American railroad developer and speculator. He has long been vilified as an archetypal robber baron, whose successes made him the ninth richest American in history. Condé Nast Portfolio ranked Gould as the 8th worst American CEO of all time...
, and George Pullman
George Pullman
George Mortimer Pullman was an American inventor and industrialist. He is known as the inventor of the Pullman sleeping car, and for violently suppressing striking workers in the company town he created, Pullman .-Background:Born in Brocton, New York, his family moved to Albion,...
); strikes during 1892 such as the Copper Miners Strike, the New Orleans General Strike, the Railroad Switchmen's Strike
Buffalo switchmen's strike
The Buffalo switchmen's strike was a two-week strike in August 1892 by railroad workers employed by three railroads in Buffalo, New York. The strike collapsed after two weeks when 8,000 state militia entered the town and other unions refused to support the workers.-Events of the strike:In early...
, and the Steelworkers' Strike; the 1894 Railroad Strike
Pullman Strike
The Pullman Strike was a nationwide conflict between labor unions and railroads that occurred in the United States in 1894. The conflict began in the town of Pullman, Illinois on May 11 when approximately 3,000 employees of the Pullman Palace Car Company began a wildcat strike in response to recent...
against the Pullman Palace Car Company and Eugene V. Debs
Eugene V. Debs
Eugene Victor Debs was an American union leader, one of the founding members of the International Labor Union and the Industrial Workers of the World , and several times the candidate of the Socialist Party of America for President of the United States...
involvement in it; the Monroe Doctrine
Monroe Doctrine
The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European nations to colonize land or interfere with states in North or South America would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention...
and the Open Door Policy
Open Door Policy
The Open Door Policy is a concept in foreign affairs, which usually refers to the policy in 1899 allowing multiple Imperial powers access to China, with none of them in control of that country. As a theory, the Open Door Policy originates with British commercial practice, as was reflected in...
; the invasion of Hawaii in 1893; and the 103 interventions carried out in other countries by the U.S. between 1798 and 1895, including Japan (1853–54), Nicaragua (1853–54), Uruguay (1855), Argentina (1853–54), and Angola (1860).
Chapter II, "The Spanish-American War," is about the events of the Spanish-American War
Spanish-American War
The Spanish–American War was a conflict in 1898 between Spain and the United States, effectively the result of American intervention in the ongoing Cuban War of Independence...
. Various people who were involved in the events of the war and those leading up to it are discussed, such as Antonio Maceo Grajales
Antonio Maceo Grajales
Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence....
, Maximo Gomez
Máximo Gómez
Máximo Gómez y Báez was a Major General in the Ten Years' War and Cuba's military commander in that country's War of Independence ....
, Jose Marti
José Martí
José Julián Martí Pérez was a Cuban national hero and an important figure in Latin American literature. In his short life he was a poet, an essayist, a journalist, a revolutionary philosopher, a translator, a professor, a publisher, and a political theorist. He was also a part of the Cuban...
, Clemencia Arango. Other topics covered include the media hype for the war created by William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst
William Randolph Hearst was an American business magnate and leading newspaper publisher. Hearst entered the publishing business in 1887, after taking control of The San Francisco Examiner from his father...
's New York Journal and Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911), born Politzer József, was a Hungarian-American newspaper publisher of the St. Louis Post Dispatch and the New York World. Pulitzer introduced the techniques of "new journalism" to the newspapers he acquired in the 1880s and became a leading...
's New York World
New York World
The New York World was a newspaper published in New York City from 1860 until 1931. The paper played a major role in the history of American newspapers...
(which led to the concept of yellow journalism
Yellow journalism
Yellow journalism or the yellow press is a type of journalism that presents little or no legitimate well-researched news and instead uses eye-catching headlines to sell more newspapers. Techniques may include exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering, or sensationalism...
); the explosion of the USS Maine
USS Maine (ACR-1)
USS Maine was the United States Navy's second commissioned pre-dreadnought battleship, although she was originally classified as an armored cruiser. She is best known for her catastrophic loss in Havana harbor. Maine had been sent to Havana, Cuba to protect U.S. interests during the Cuban revolt...
, which the two newspapers blamed on the Spanish; the actions of labor unions, which supported the Cuban rebels but not U.S. intervention; the Black 25th Infantry and its experience with racism at the hands of the Rough Riders
Rough Riders
The Rough Riders is the name bestowed on the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish-American War and the only one of the three to see action. The United States Army was weakened and left with little manpower after the American Civil War...
; the poisoning of soldiers by spoiled meat packaged by Armour and Co.; and the takeover of Cuba by the U.S. and subsequent creation of the Guantánamo Bay military base.
Chapter III, "The Invasion of the Philippines," covers the events of the Philippine-American War
Philippine-American War
The Philippine–American War, also known as the Philippine War of Independence or the Philippine Insurrection , was an armed conflict between a group of Filipino revolutionaries and the United States which arose from the struggle of the First Philippine Republic to gain independence following...
. It begins with explaining how the end of the Spanish-American War resulted in the U.S. gaining the former Spanish colonies of Cuba, Puerto Rico, Guam, and the Philippines, and explains that William McKinley
William McKinley
William McKinley, Jr. was the 25th President of the United States . He is best known for winning fiercely fought elections, while supporting the gold standard and high tariffs; he succeeded in forging a Republican coalition that for the most part dominated national politics until the 1930s...
believed he had to take over the Philippines from its native people in order to "civilize and Christianize" them. Afterwards, it shows the struggles of Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo
Emilio Aguinaldo y Famy was a Filipino general, politician, and independence leader. He played an instrumental role during the Philippines' revolution against Spain, and the subsequent Philippine-American War or War of Philippine Independence that resisted American occupation...
in trying to keep control of the Philippines for its own people. Other topics and individuals covered include George Dewey
George Dewey
George Dewey was an admiral of the United States Navy. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish-American War...
, Fermin Jaudenes
Fermin Jáudenes
Fermin Jáudenes y Alvarez was briefly a Spanish Governor-General of the Philippines, from July 24 to August 13, 1898, in the middle of the Philippine Revolution. During his term, two important events occurred – the mock Battle of Manila and the surrender of the Spanish, ending over 330 years of rule...
, Fort San Antonio de Abad, the Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation, the battle of Santa Mesa, William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan
William Jennings Bryan was an American politician in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. He was a dominant force in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, standing three times as its candidate for President of the United States...
, Albert J. Beveridge
Albert J. Beveridge
Albert Jeremiah Beveridge was an American historian and United States Senator from Indiana.-Early years:Albert J. Beveridge was born October 6, 1862 in Highland County, Ohio and his parents moved to Indiana soon after his birth, and his boyhood was one of hard work...
, Henry M. Turner, W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois
William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was an American sociologist, historian, civil rights activist, Pan-Africanist, author, and editor. Born in Massachusetts, Du Bois attended Harvard, where he was the first African American to earn a doctorate...
, Littletown Waller, the shootings at Samar
Samar
Samar, formerly and also known as Western Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is Catbalogan City and covers the western portion of Samar as well as several islands in the Samar Sea located to the west of the mainland...
, Elihu Root
Elihu Root
Elihu Root was an American lawyer and statesman and the 1912 recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. He was the prototype of the 20th century "wise man", who shuttled between high-level government positions in Washington, D.C...
, Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore "Teddy" Roosevelt was the 26th President of the United States . He is noted for his exuberant personality, range of interests and achievements, and his leadership of the Progressive Movement, as well as his "cowboy" persona and robust masculinity...
, the use of the water cure in the war, Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood
Leonard Wood was a physician who served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba and Governor General of the Philippines. Early in his military career, he received the Medal of Honor. Wood also holds officer service #2 in the Regular Army...
, the Moro Crater massacre
Moro Crater massacre
The Moro Crater massacre is a name given to the final phase of the First Battle of Bud Dajo, a military engagement of the Philippine-American War which took place March 10, 1906, on the isle of Jolo in the southern Philippines. Forces of the U.S...
, Mark Twain
Mark Twain
Samuel Langhorne Clemens , better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American author and humorist...
, and the Anti-Imperialist League.
Chapter IV, "War is the Health of the State," covers World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
and the events leading into it. It begins with discussing how the U.S. government used its military power to protect American business interests both within the country and abroad during such events as the aftermath of the Mexican Revolution
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution was a major armed struggle that started in 1910, with an uprising led by Francisco I. Madero against longtime autocrat Porfirio Díaz. The Revolution was characterized by several socialist, liberal, anarchist, populist, and agrarianist movements. Over time the Revolution...
and the Ludlow Massacre
Ludlow massacre
The Ludlow Massacre was an attack by the Colorado National Guard on a tent colony of 1,200 striking coal miners and their families at Ludlow, Colorado on April 20, 1914....
. Zinn goes on to explain how the U.S. and European countries entered into WWI to gain imperial power over Africa, the Balkans, Alsace-Lorraine, and the Middle-East, while the U.S. itself also entered to increase patriotism and to weaken the growing popular interest in socialism. Other topics and individuals covered include Woodrow Wilson
Woodrow Wilson
Thomas Woodrow Wilson was the 28th President of the United States, from 1913 to 1921. A leader of the Progressive Movement, he served as President of Princeton University from 1902 to 1910, and then as the Governor of New Jersey from 1911 to 1913...
, Randolph Bourne
Randolph Bourne
Randolph Silliman Bourne was a progressive writer and "leftist intellectual" born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University...
, Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing
Robert Lansing served in the position of Legal Advisor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I where he vigorously advocated against Britain's policy of blockade and in favor of the principles of freedom of the seas and the rights of neutral nations...
, Bernard Baruch
Bernard Baruch
Bernard Mannes Baruch was an American financier, stock-market speculator, statesman, and political consultant. After his success in business, he devoted his time toward advising U.S. Presidents Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D. Roosevelt on economic matters and became a philanthropist.-Early life...
, William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo
William Gibbs McAdoo, Jr. was an American lawyer and political leader who served as a U.S. Senator, United States Secretary of the Treasury and director of the United States Railroad Administration...
, the Lusitania
Lusitania
Lusitania or Hispania Lusitania was an ancient Roman province including approximately all of modern Portugal south of the Douro river and part of modern Spain . It was named after the Lusitani or Lusitanian people...
, the Sykes-Picot Agreement
Sykes-Picot Agreement
The Sykes–Picot Agreement of 1916 was a secret agreement between the governments of the United Kingdom and France, with the assent of Imperial Russia, defining their respective spheres of influence and control in Western Asia after the expected downfall of the Ottoman Empire during World War I...
, the Conscription Act of 1917, the Espionage Act of 1917
Espionage Act of 1917
The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law passed on June 15, 1917, shortly after the U.S. entry into World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code but is now found under Title 18, Crime...
, Champ Clark, the American Protective League
American Protective League
The American Protective League was an American organization of private citizens that worked with Federal law enforcement agencies during the World War I era to identify suspected German sympathizers and to counteract the activities of radicals, anarchists, anti-war activists, and left-wing labor...
, the Industrial Workers of the World
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World is an international union. At its peak in 1923, the organization claimed some 100,000 members in good standing, and could marshal the support of perhaps 300,000 workers. Its membership declined dramatically after a 1924 split brought on by internal conflict...
, Camp Funston
Camp Funston
Camp Funston is located on Fort Riley, and is located southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston . Camp Funston was one of sixteen Divisional Cantonment Training Camps established at the outbreak of World War I...
, Sheldon W. Smith, Leavenworth Prison, Kate Richards O'Hare
Kate Richards O'Hare
Kate Richards O'Hare was an American Socialist Party activist, editor, and orator best known for her controversial imprisonment during World War I.-Biography:...
, Alice Paul
Alice Paul
Alice Stokes Paul was an American suffragist and activist. Along with Lucy Burns and others, she led a successful campaign for women's suffrage that resulted in the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920.-Activism: Alice Paul received her undergraduate education from...
, the National Women's Party, and Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman
Emma Goldman was an anarchist known for her political activism, writing and speeches. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the twentieth century....
.
Chapter V, "Growing Up Class-Conscious," covers Zinn's childhood and teenage years. Zinn begins the chapter by telling about how his community worked together to get through the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
and their reaction to the execution of Sacco and Vanzetti
Sacco and Vanzetti
Ferdinando Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti were anarchists who were convicted of murdering two men during a 1920 armed robbery in South Braintree, Massachusetts, United States...
. He goes on to tell of how he began to understand poverty through reading the works of Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
Charles John Huffam Dickens was an English novelist, generally considered the greatest of the Victorian period. Dickens enjoyed a wider popularity and fame than had any previous author during his lifetime, and he remains popular, having been responsible for some of English literature's most iconic...
, working with his father as a waiter, and getting involved in a demonstration with some of the communists in his neighborhood. These led to Zinn becoming class-conscious
Class consciousness
Class consciousness is consciousness of one's social class or economic rank in society. From the perspective of Marxist theory, it refers to the self-awareness, or lack thereof, of a particular class; its capacity to act in its own rational interests; or its awareness of the historical tasks...
and abandoning his liberal views for radical ones.
Chapter VI, "World War II: A People's War?"
Chapter VII, "The Cool War"
Chapter VIII, "Children of the Empire"
Chapter IX, "Land of Burning Children"
Chapter X, "The Same Rotting Barrel"
Chapter XI, " Resurgence of Empire"
Chapter XII, "Covert Action and Reaction"
Videos
- Empire or Humanity?: What the Classroom Didn't Teach Me about the American Empire; by Howard Zinn; Narrated by Viggo Mortensen; Art by Mike Konopacki; Video editing by Eric Wold; March 28, 2008; (duration 8:35)