Alana Walker

August 15, 2011

Mrs. Booth

ZINN CHAPTER 1

1. According to Zinn, what is his main purpose for writing A
Peoples History of the United States?
A: to tell vivid descriptions in history that usually gets ignored.
Zinn tries to bring out the positive part in the truth.


2. What is Zinns thesis for pages 1-11?

A: Zinns thesis is to not grieve for the victims and denounce the
executioners.



3. According to Zinn, how is Columbus portrayed in traditional
history books?

A: As a great hero that discovered the Americas but was willing
to do anything to get what he wanted.



4. Why does Zinn dispute Henry Kissingers statement: History is
the memory of states?

A: because Zinn thinks that we must not accept the memory of
states as our own. Zinns argument was not against selection,
simplification, and emphasis, but his argument was against the
mapmakers distortion. Zinn says that it is a technical necessity
for a common purpose shared by all who need maps.


5. What is Zinns basic criticism of historian Samuel Eliot
Morisons book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner?

A: Zinn feels that Morrison mentions the truth quickly and goes
on to things more important to him. He feels that Morrison
tries to cover the bad things in history up with good things that
have happened.


6. What major issues does Bartolome de las Casas bring up
regarding Spanish expeditions in the Caribbean?

A: The major issues Batolome de las Casas bring up is Spanish
cruelty towards the Indian people.



7. Identify one early and one subsequent motive that drove
Columbus to oppress indigenous peoples.

A: one early and subsequent motive that drove Columbus to
oppress indigenous peoples was that in return for bringing
back gold and spices Columbus was promised 10 percent of the
profits, governorship over new-found lands, and the fame that
would go with the title: Admiral of the Ocean Sea. So he
oppressed the Indian people thinking they knew where the
gold was, because gold was a sign of wealth.


8. What was the ultimate fate of the Arawak Indians?

A: Columbus found the Arawak Indians and kept them as
prisoners in the ship because he insisted they would lead him
to a source of gold. Most of the Arawak Indians died on the
ship because of the cold. Many more were killed after
Columbus promised the king gold and slaves. The Arawak
Indians were given impossible tasks and as punishment for not
completing them, they were killed until eventually none were
left
9. What was the significance of Quetzalcoatl?

A: The significance of the Quetzalcoatl was that the Aztecs
thought that Hernando Cortes was a legendary Aztec man-god
that had died three hundred years before promising to return
the Quetzalcoatl so they trusted him and welcomed him into
their Aztec society by showering him with gold and silver. The
Aztecs did not think the Spanish were there to hurt them at all.


10. Compare the strategies and motives underlying the conquest
of the Aztecs by Cortez and the conquest of the Incas by
Pizzaro.

A: Pizarro killed mass numbers of people in Peru using the same
tactics Cortez did, and he did for the same reasons. Pizarro
and Cortez destroyed nations for gold, slaves, products of the
soil, to pay bond and stock holders of the expeditions, to
finance the monarchial bureaucracies rising in Western Europe,
to spur the growth of the new money economy rising out of
feudalism, and to participate in the primitive accumulation of
capital.


11. What were the major causes of war between the Powhatans
and the English settlers?

A: (1) When English settlers first arrived in Virginia one of the
Indians stole a small silver cup and Richard Greenville sacked
and burned a whole Indian village over it. (2) Jamestown (an
English colony) was set up inside Indian confederacy led by
Indian chief Powhatan. (3) When Powhatan refused to return
the runaway English men that went to the Indians to seek
refuge during the starving period, the English killed some
Indians, cut down corn, burned houses, and took the queen of
the tribe and killed her and her children. (4) The Indians went
on a rampage killing 347 English men, women, and children.


12. Discuss the significance of Powhatans statement, Why will
you take by force what you may have quietly by love?

A: He means that he and his people will willingly give the English
whatever they wanted with love and care as long as they came
in friendly manner, so why fight for things that you can have
by starting war and destroying people and possessions.


13. Explain Governor John Winthrops legal and biblical
justification for seizing Indian land.

A: The simplistic answer is the fact that the Pequot's and
Narragansett tribes failed to "subdue" their land. By subdue
they mean fence in their land for agricultural and ranching
purposes. Then he said that a natural right did not have legal
standing, meaning that their rights did not matter because to
them they were not people.


14. Explain the main tactic of warfare used by the English against
the Indians.

A: They used a tactic used by Cortes and later, in the twentieth
century, even more systematically: deliberate attacks on
noncombatants for the purpose of terrorizing the enemy.


15. According to Roger Williams, how did the English usually
justify their attacks on the Indians?

A: All men of conscience or prudence ply to windward, to
maintain their wars be defensive.


16. What ultimately happened to the estimated 10 million Indians
living in North America at the time of Columbus arrival?
A: The 10 million Indians living in North America at the time of
Columbus arrival was reduced to less than a million. Huge
numbers of Indians would die from diseases introduced by the
whites.

17. 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?

A: This statement means that in order for things to progress in
move forward sometimes certain sacrifices have to be made in
order to keep pushing forward, but in order for certain
sacrifices to be made you have to think on it to make better
decisions.

18. How does Zinn attempt to prove that the Indians were not
inferior? Provide examples.

A: Zinn attempts to prove that the Indians were not inferior by
stating all of their accomplishments that were made without
the help of the English such as building large terraced
buildings, nestled in among cliffs and mountains to protect
them from enemies, before European explorers Indians were
already using irrigation canals, dams, were doing ceramics,
weaving baskets, and making cloth out of cotton.

ZINN CHAPTER 2

1. According to Zinn, what is the root of racism in America?

A: The color of skin. The problem of the color line.


2. Why were Africans considered better slaves than Indians in
Virginia?

A: Africans were considered better slaves than Indians
because they were stronger, could tolerate disease, knew
how to farm and grow crops, and they were more obedient
than the Indians were. Whites were outnumbered by Indians
and faced retaliation if they attempted to enslave them and
slaves were resourceful in their home land while whites were
at a disadvantage.



3. How did 16th century Africa compare to 16th century Europe
politically, economically, and militarily?

A: 16
th
century Africas political system was the same as 16
th

century Europes. They both practiced Feudalism and it was
based on agriculture, and hierarchies of lords and vassals.
Economically: 16
th
century Africa (like 16
th
century Europe) was
big on farming.
Militarily: Militarily, Europeans had superior firearms but were
unable to subdue Africans in the interior.

4. How did slavery in Africa differ from slavery in Europe and
the Americas?

A: Slavery in Africa differed from slavery in the Americas
because in Europe and Americas they had indentured
servants that could eventually work off their freedom, but
they were treated. Slavery in Africa was different, because
slaves in Africa were more like the serfs in Europe. They
made up most of the population and they had harsh
servitude, but they also had rights.


5. Describe the conditions that slaves on ships coming to
America (Middle Passage).

A: They were packed in spaces not much bigger than coffins,
chained together in the dark, wet slime of the ships bottom,
and they choked in the stench of their own feces. They could
not turn around or even on their sides due to the chains and
cramped spacing. They were chained to the decks by their
necks or legs. They often died of suffocation or killed each
other just to breathe.


6. What was the position of the Catholic church in Portugal vis--
vis slavery?

A: The Catholic church did not know if the capture, transport, and
enslavement of African blacks was legal by church doctrine.
Therefore, they did not believe slave trading was morally
correct.

7. In terms of mortality, what was the cost of slavery?

A: Africa lost about 50 million human beings to death and
slavery.


8. What was the relationship between slavery and the
plantation system.

A: The relationship between slavery and the plantation
system was that the plantation system was steadily growing
so the need for slaves grew as well.


9. What evidence exists that Americas slaves did not accept
their fate easily?

A: There were numerous slave revolts. Many slaves tried
running away. They revolted against their owners and tried
best to hold on to what little of their culture they had left
including their families.

10. Why did slave owners fear poor whites?

A: Because poor whites just like blacks could rebel against
rich white plantation owners. The rich feared that the poor
whites and blacks would join forces and rebel together.

ZINN CHAPTER 3

1. What is Zinns thesis in this chapter?

A: As the colonial period progressed, a distinct class structure
developed, creating tension between poor and rich whites. Rich
and powerful whites eventually discovered useful means of
manipulating the classes beneath them to suit their own needs
by deflecting underclass frustration on to British loyalists,
keeping Indians at bay by creating a buffer of poor whites in
frontier regions, using racism as a means to promote white
unity, and providing gains to the middle class in return for
support of upper-class ideals.


2. What was the underlying cause of Bacons Rebellion?

A: The underlying cause of Bacons Rebellion was the conflict over
how to deal with the Indians, who were close by, on the
western frontier, constantly threatening whites. Therefore, the
Virginians were angry that Governor Berkeley did little to
protect the western frontier from Indian attacks.

3. What was the double motive of the Virginia government vis-
-vis Bacons Rebellion?

A: The Government of this time (The House of Burgesses)
developed an Indian policy that would divide the Indians in
order to control them and punish the rebellious whites to show
them that rebellion did not pay.

4. What groups of people took part in Bacons Rebellion?

A: White frontiersmen, slaves, and servants

5. Explain indentured servitude (also known as the headright
system).
A: Indentured servitude was when poor immigrants agreed to pay
their cost of passage to the Americas by working for a master
for five or seven years.

6. How did the voyage of indentured servants to America
compare with the Middle Passage.

A: The immigrants were often imprisoned until the ships sailed to
keep them from running away. The voyages normally lasted
weeks. They were packed into ships and died of suffocation,
hunger, or disease just as the slaves did on the Middle
Passage.

7. What generally happened to indentured servants after they
became free?

A: After indentured servants became free they either went back
to England, became poor whites, died during servitude, or
became tenant farmers.

8. To what extent did a class structure emerge in America by
1700?

A: The wealthy controlled almost everything they owned most of
the land, sat on the governors council, and served as local
magistrates. They had a monopoly over all poorer individuals.
The poor began to increase in number and the middle class
began to increase consisting of artisans and merchants.

9. What evidence does Zinn provide regarding the monopoly of
power by the rich in Boston?

A: A historian who studied Boston tax lists in 1687 and 1771
found that in 1687 there were, out of a population of six
thousand, about one thousand property owners, and that one
percent of the population owned 25 percent of the wealth and
in 1771 1 percent of the property owners owned 44 percent of
the wealth.

10. Explain the statement: The country therefore was not born
free but born slave and free, servant and master, tenant and
landlord, poor and rich.

A: This statement means that the country was not a free country
because people were put under more hardships than before.
Indentured servants and slaves made up most of the
population, some people like women had no rights, and most
of the power lay in the hands of the wealthy.

11. How did the rich manage to keep Indians at a distance?

A: They monopolized the good land on the eastern seaboard,
they forced landless whites to move westward to the frontier,
there to encounter Indians and to be a buffer for the seaboard
rich against Indian troubles.

12. What was the probable reason why Parliament made
transportation to the New World a legal punishment for crime?

A: Certain colonies grew concerned that their population was too
black creating the possibility for revolt so white criminals sent
to America would help equalize the population.


13. Explain the statement: race was becoming more and more
practical.

A: As a means of controlling poor whites, rich whites began
playing the race card to create an alliance among all whites
including the poorest whites. This way even the poorest of
them could see that they were better than the blacks.

ZINN CHAPTER 4: Tyranny Is Tyranny

1. What is the thesis of this chapter?

A: Issues with social and economic inequality and lack of
representation in government plagued the colonies prior to the
American Revolution, creating widespread unrest. Revolutionary
leaders, especially the elite, deflected anger stemming from
internal conflicts onto the Crowns tyranny to rally colonial
rebellion. In doing so, they transferred power from Britain to
themselves, but also oppressed the lower classes to prevent
internal rebellion.

2. According to Zinn, how did the creation of the United States
benefit the upper class?

A: The creation of the United States benefited the upper class
because there they could take over the land, profits, and
political power from favorites of the British Empire.

3. Describe the disproportionate distribution of wealth in Boston,
Philadelphia, and New York.

A: 5% of Bostons tax payers controlled 49% of the citys taxable
assets. In Philadelphia and New York too, wealth was more and
more concentrated. By 1750 court records of the cities showed
that wealthiest people in the cities were leaving 20 pounds
equal to 5 million dollars today.

4. Why were both Loyalists and leaders of the Revolution
concerned about the lower classes in Philadelphia?

A: By mid 1776, laborers, artisans, and small tradesmen,
employing extralegal measures when electoral politics failed
were in clear command in Philadelphia they launched a full
scale attack on wealth and even the right to acquire unlimited
private property.

5. What major issues fueled the Regulator movement?

A: Taxes on the poor and the farmers. Farmers were harassed to
pay taxes. The Regulators also saw that wealth and political
power ruled North Carolina.

6. What was General Gages observation vis--vis the leaders of
the movement against the Stamp Act?

A: General Gages observation was that leaders of the movement
against the Stamp Act had instigated crowd action, but then
became frightened by the thought that it might be directed
against their wealth too.

7. What advice did colonial leadersincluding Samuel Adams and
James Otisgive to the people concerning the Townshend
Acts?

A: They gave the advice no mobs or Tumults, let the Persons and
Properties of your most inveterate Enemies be safe.

8. What class did the leaders of the Sons of Liberty come from?
What was their goal(s)?

A: Leaders of the Sons of Liberty mostly came from the middle
and upper classes. Their goals were to broaden their
organization to develop a mass base of wage earners.

9. What was the significance of Patrick Henrys oratory?

A: The significance of Patrick Henrys oratory in Virginia pointed a
way to relieve class tension between upper and lower classes
and form a bond against the British.

10. What was one of John Adamss concerns vis--vis Thomas
Paines Common Sense?

A: Adams denounced Paines plan as so democratical, without
any restraint or even attempt at any equilibrium or counter-
poise, that it must produce confusion and every evil work.

11. According to Zinn, who does Paine really represent?

A: Paine really represents the middle group.

12. What groups of Americans were deprived of the ideals set
forth in the Declaration of Independence?

A: Women

13. What is the irony Zinn tries to convey concerning John
Locke?

A:

14. Explain the statement: Tyranny is Tyranny, let it come from
whom it may.
A: The statement tyranny is tyranny, let it come from whom it
may means that ordinary people can cause tyranny. You do not
have to be a king or queen but you can just be a rich person with
power in or over the government and cause tyranny on those
without much money or power.


ZINN CHAPTER 5
Questions

1. What support did the Revolutionary War effort have among the
colonial population?

A: It had huge support most white men with guns and that were
able to shoot went to war only a small fraction stayed behind.

2. What impact did slavery have on the war effort in the South?

A: Slavery got in the way in the south. The south was insecure
because of a slave uprising in South Carolina so their militia
had to be used to keep slaves under control.

3. What incentives did the Revolutionary War leaders use to
attract recruits?

A: They promised people a higher rank, a great sum of money,
and a change in their social status.


4. What was the American Navys position vis--vis impressment?

A: The American Navy were being captured and impressed to
work for the British. Their vessels and equipment was taken
by the British.


5. Why did Robert Morris plan to assuage the concerns of
financial contributors to the Continental Congress anger the
common soldier?

A: Robert Morris plan angered the common soldier, because the
common soldier was not getting paid, they were suffering in
the cold, and dying of sickness while they watched civilian
profiteers grew rich.

6. What was the British strategy concerning slavery in the South?

A: The British strategy was to promise slaves in the south
freedom if they joined the British forces.


7. How is the general perception that the Revolution engendered
the separation of church and state challenged by Zinn?

A: He gave an example of how the separation of church and state
rule was broken in a way. Zinn says that after 1776 the
northern states adopted taxes that forced everyone to support
Christian teachings. Then he states a quote that was said by
Justice David Brewer that says this is a Christian nation, says
of the separation of church and state in the Revolution that it
was neither conceived of nor carried out.

8. How did land confiscated from Loyalists reflect the Revolutions
effect on class relations?

A: The land confiscated from the Loyalists could create the richest
ruling class in history and still have enough for the middle
classes to act as a buffer between the rich and the
dispossessed.

9. How does Edmund S. Morgans summary of the class nature of
the Revolution challenge the popular perception of the
Revolution and its ideals? How does Richard Morris statement
also challenge popular perception?

A: After the revolution everyone was supposed to be equal no
one was supposed to be better than the other, but after all the
fighting and bloodshed people still faced inequality.

10. Explain Carl Deglers assertion that no new social class
came to power throughout the door of the American
revolution.
A: He simply means the rich remained rich, the poor remained
mostly poor, and the middle class was still the same. The men
who engineered the revolt were largely members of the
colonial ruling class.

11. What was the impact of Americas victory on the Native
Americans?

A: Since America was victorious the Americans could now start
pushing the Indians off their land, killing them if they resisted.

12. Explain Jennings statement: The Revolution was a
multiplicity of variously oppressed and exploited peoples who
preyed upon each other.

A: He means that the people that were doing all the fighting in
the Revolution were people preyed upon by the rich seeking
land and money to better themselves and their families so they
were willing to do anything to get it. They were basically
preyed upon by their own kind because of their desire for
more, because the Americans were fighting over Indian land all
along. So by them capturing and imprisoning the Indians their
whole race was helpless against the Americans.

13. What is Charles Beards thesis in An Economic Interpretation
of the Constitution vis--vis the Founding Fathers and the
creation of the Constitution?

A: Beards thesis in An Economic Interpretation of the
Constitution was the rich must, in their own interest, either
control the government directly or control the laws by which
government operates. He got his thesis by doing research by
doing research on the fifty-five men that drew up the
Constitution and he saw that most of them were men of
wealth. They had the money needed to support the nation
(America).

14. What was the source of resentment in western towns of
Massachusetts against the legislature in Boston?

A: The new Constitution of 1780 was the source of resentment in
western town of Massachusetts against the legislature in
Boston.

15. How did disgruntled western farmers seek to improve their
shaky economic situation?

A: The farmers were seeking to improve their shaky economic
situation by getting rid of courts, sheriffs, collectors, and
lawyers.

16. What was Daniel Shayss objective?

A: Daniel Shays objective was to help out his friends that were
wrongfully indicted.

17. What was Thomas Jeffersons view of popular uprisings?
Contrast his view with those of the established leadership.

A: Thomas Jefferson thought that popular uprisings were healthy
for society. Jefferson was an ambassador in France at the time
so he was nowhere near the scene so those of the established
leadership were not so tolerant of his views.

18. Why does Zinn state that democracys problem in post-
Revolutionary America was not primarily due to Constitutional
limitations on voting?

A: Zinn states this because he says that the real problem lay
deeper beyond the Constitution, in the division of society into
rich and poor.

19. How is Zinn critical of Madisons argument in Federalist X.

A: He feels that when economic interest is seen behind the
political clauses of the Constitution, then the document
becomes the work of certain groups trying to maintain their
privileges and giving just enough rights and liberties to enough
of the people to esure popular support.

20. How does Zinn refute one of Beards critics, Robert E. Brown?

A: Robert E. Brown questioned why the Constitution did not
protect property and he stated that everyone was practically
interested in property because so many Americans owned
property. Zinn refuted this by saying that his statement was
misleading. Zinn says that its true that there were many
property owners but some people had much more than others.
Some people had great amounts of property, many people had
small amounts, and some had none.

21. How does Zinn argue the First Amendment is not as stable as
one might assume?

A: Zinn argues that even though the First Amendment was
supposed to give people the right of freedom of speech and
press the government still made exceptions to that right. They
issued the Sedition acts of 1798 that stated that people could
not say or print anything negative against the government. So
Americans were afraid to say anything or get out there opinions
because the legal basis of these acts were not known to them.

ZINN CHAPTER 6 QUESTIONS
The Intimately Oppressed

1. What is the theme of the reading?

A: The theme of this reading is women and how they were
overlooked and ignored. This chapter is mainly going to
focus on the submerged status of women.

2. How does treatment of women differ between societies
based on private property and those based on communal
living? Why?

A: In the society based on private property women were
treated more harshly; they were only for sex, bearing
children, and companions. Many women in this society were
raped, deprived of good food, had no privacy, and were
basically treated like slaves (they were private property),
but in a communal living society women were treated with
respect, and the communal nature of society gave them a
more important place.

3. How did the earliest female settlers in Virginia fare?

A: They were sold with their own consent to settlers as
wives.

4. How were women treated on the frontier compared to those
living in towns or cities?

A: Women on the frontier gained a special respect because
they were so badly needed. Women on the American
frontier seemed close to equality with their men, but the
women in cities and towns were inferior to men, abused by
men, raped by men, poorly cared for, and died of illnesses.

5. How did English law affect the status of women in America?
A: English law basically lowered the status of women even
more. They couldnt own anything, men never got in trouble
for adultery, and only time men could be convicted was if
they killed or permanently injured their wives.

6. How does Zinn use the case of Ann Hutchinson to support
his basic argument?

A: Zinn uses the case of Ann Hutchinson to support his basic
argument by pointing out that women were smarter than
the average man was willing to give them credit for.

7. How did the American Revolution affect women?

A: The American Revolution Affected women in a positive way.
The Revolution brought women into public affairs. Women
formed patriotic groups, carried out anti-British actions, and
they wrote articles for independence.

7. Explain the position of Abigail Adams vis--vis the role of
women in America.

A: Abigail Adams was a woman remembered in history for
trying to give women equal rights by writing letters and
attempting to reach out to her husband, but she was also of
higher social status and did not endure many of the
hardships poorer American women had to face. The role of
women in America were basic: be quiet, have kids, and obey
men; therefore, they had to fight hard for all their rights.

9. What social forces led to the onset of the cult of true
womanhood or the cult of domesticity? Describe the womans
role in this philosophy.

A: Men treating women unfair by means of the Bible or morals led
to the onset of the cult of true womanhood. The women
simply wrote their own philosophy against the mens version.
They pointed out specific points and changed them around in a
positive way such as when a man wrote that religion is what a
woman needs because it gives her dependence. A woman
switched it and said religion is what a woman needs because
without it she I ever restless or unhappy.

10. How was dress used as a means of social control?

A: The things women had to wear with the dresses such as
corsets and petticoats emphasized female separation from the
world of activity. It kept women from doing certain things that
men could do because of the weight. The dress held women
back.

11. What rights were denied women in the cult of true
womanhood?

A: In the cult of true womanhood women could not vote, own
property, make proper wages, practice law or medicine, go to
college, or be ministers.

12. How did workers strikes in the 1830s and 1840s reflect the
changing role of women?

A: After the worker strikes women began to play more important
roles than before. Literacy among women doubled. They
became school teachers, health reformers, they became
practiced organizers, agitators, and speakers. Their social
status was given a boost.

13. What is the connection between primary school teaching and
womens participation in reform movement of the 1830s, 1840s
and 1850s?

A: ???Women taught people many things that schools taught only
men, but these women taught themselves. Very few got
chances to go to college, but the few that did made something
of themselves. Women taught people things that they couldent
get from school.

14. Create a table for the women reformers discussed in the
reading. (Note: you can do yourself a big favor by also
including those female reformers Bailey mentions in order to
create a comprehensive study list).

Women Reformers
1. Amelia Bloomer American reformer. Suggested
that women wear a kind of
short skirts and pants.
2. Mary Wollstonecraft Spoke on the rights of women
and iniquities of the moneyed
aristocracy
3. Catherine Beecher A woman reformer that wrote
about the factory system
4. Emma Willard Addressed the New York
legislature in 1819 on the
education of women.
5. Harriet Hunt Woman physician. Organized a
Ladies Physiological Society in
1843
6. Elizabeth Blackwell Received medical degree in
1849. Set up New York
Dispensary for Poor Women and
Children
7. Lucy Stone Began lecturing on womens
rights in 1847. Lecturer of
American Anti-Slavery Society
8. Elizabeth Cady Stanton One of the leaders of the
feminist movement
9. Angelina Grimke Southern white woman who
became a fierce speaker and
organizer against slavery
10. Margaret Fuller The most formidable intellectual
among the feminists
11. Sarah Grimke Fierce writer. Wrote Letters on
the Condition of Women and
the Equality of the Sexes
12. Dorthea Dix Concerned with treatment of
insane people in prisons
13. Frances Wright Writer. Founder of a utopian
community fighter for the
emancipation of slaves, birth
control, and sexual freedom.
14. Lucretia Mott Important women reformer
15. Sojourner Truth Woman reformer, slave

ZINN CHAPTER 7 Questions
As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs


1. What is the major theme (recurring idea) in this chapter.

A: Women and their roles, beliefs, and struggles is the theme of
this chapter.

2. What evidence does Zinn cite to illustrate the overall impact of
Indian removal?

A: How it cleared the lands for white occupancy and how much
they expanded. They built railroads, canals, new cities, and the
building of a huge continental empire clear across to the Pacific
Ocean.

3. Contrast Thomas Jeffersons views as Secretary of State
concerning Indian policy with those during his presidency. Why
did his views change?

A: Thomas Jefferson thought that the Indians should not be
interfered with, and that the government should remove white
settlers who tried to encroach on them but others during his
presidency thought the Indians should move and leave the land
for the whites. Jeffersons views changed because Indian
removal was necessary for the opening of the vast American
lands to agriculture, to commerce, to markets, and to the
development of the modern capitalist economy.

4. Explain Zinns use of irony when describing the Battle of
Horseshoe Bend?

A: Zinns use of irony was when he wrote that Jacksons white
troops failed a frontal attack on the Creeks, but the Cherokees
with him, promised governmental friendship if they joined the
war, swam the river, came up behind the Creeks, and won the
battle for Jackson.

5. How does Andrew Jacksons early political/military career
foreshadow his Indian policies as President?

A: Jackson hated the Indians and defeated many Indians in war.
So when he became president it was already known that
Jackson was going to try to get rid of all Indians immediately.

6. How does Zinns view of the War of 1812 contrast with
traditional histories?

7. Create a basic outline of Jacksons Indian-related activities and
their significance prior to his presidency (treaties, land
speculation, etc.)
A. Andrew Jackson
I. He despised Indians.
II. Fierce military leader
B. Treaties
I. 1
st
treaty took away half the land of the Creek nation
II. Jacksons 1814 treaty with the Creeks granted Indian
individuals ownership of land, thus splitting Indian from
Indian, breaking up communal landholding, bribing
some with land introducing the competition and
conniving that marked the spirit of Western capitalism.
III. Jacksons series of treaties from 1814-1824 with the
southern Indians forced many to give up their land and
move while the whites took most of it for themselves.
IV. He tricked the Indians most thought they were safe but
when Jackson would say that he could not remove the
whites the Indians hade to cede the land.
C. Land Speculation
I. Even though most Indians owned their own land it still
was not fully theirs because in some way they would
always have to give it up.
D. Jacksons Raids
I. Jackson would raid other territories and make other
nations want to sell their land.
II. Jackson raided Florida arguing that it was a sanctuary
for escaped slaves and marauding Indians.
III. This began the Seminole war of 1818, leading to
American acquisition to Florida.
IV. Jacksons burning of Seminole villages, military
campaign across the Florida border, and seizing of
Spanish forts that persuaded Spain to sell Florida.



8. Explain Zinns view of Arthur Schlesingers The Age of Jackson
and Marvin Meyers The Jacksonian Persuasion.

A: Zinn says that their books do not mention Jacksons Indian
policy, but there is much talk in them on things like tariffs,
banking, political parties, and political rhetoric.

9. Describe evidence Zinn utilizes to assess the views of Lewis
Cass vis--vis Native American policy.

A: They say that Cass was to be an expert on Indians but there is
proof that he was quite ignorant of Indian life. Cass took
millions of acres from Indians by treaty; he thought that what
he was doing was for the better of the Indians when it only
made things worse.

10. Create a table illustrating the fate of major Southeastern
Indian tribes.

A:
The Fate of Major Southeastern Indian Tribes
1. Creeks Were not forced to move out of
Alabama but if they remained
they would have to obey the
laws given. Began to starve
and raid white villages. Began
the Second Creek War.
2. Choctaw Many were defrauded by
companies of their land.
3. Chickasaw They sold their land
individually at good prices and
went without much suffering.
4. Cherokee Many were defrauded by
companies of their land.


11. To what extent did the Cherokee nation change its culture in
order to survive within the U.S?

A: The Cherokee culture changed drastically. They decided that
survival required adaptation to the white mans world. They
became farmers, blacksmiths, carpenters, masons, and owners
of property. They established a new written language. They
even became owners of slaves.

12. For what purpose does Zinn juxtapose the Nullification
Controversy of 1832 and the enforcement of Worcester v.
Georgia?

A: Zinn puts these two situations together to show that there
were people willing to fight for the right of the Indians and
some states wanted to nullify federal tariffs to help out but they
were easily outnumbered by those who liked Jacksons anti-
Indian policies.

13. Explain the significance of the phrase: As long as grass
grows or water runs.

A: The significance of the phrase as long as grass grows or water
runs is that things will always remain the same between the
Indians and the whites as long as grass is growing and water
flows things will never change.
ZINN CHAPTER 8: Study Questions
We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God

1. Identify the thesis or theme in this chapter.

A: The theme of this chapter is Texas and its independence
and how it became part of America again.

2. How did the U.S. use the Texas-Mexico border dispute to its
advantage?

A: The U.S used the Texas-Mexico border to its advantage
by influencing the Texans that they were entitled to the Rio
Grande thus starting a war in a land that they had no right
to be in, but it was so the U.S would have a pretext for
taking California.

3. Explain the term Manifest Destiny and its implications on
U.S. foreign policy in the 1840s.

A: Manifest Destiny means that the U.S was destined to
expand from North America all the way to the Pacific Ocean.
This made the president change the U.S foreign policy with
permission from the senate of course. Polk Doctrine was
issued and the Annexation of Republic of Texas; this made
Mexico break relations in retaliation.


4. Explain the Whig position vis--vis the Mexican War.

A: The Whigs did not want to go to war with Mexico they
were against it, but they were not against expansion. The
Whigs idea was commercially oriented expansionism
designed to secure frontage on the Pacific without war.

5. How does Zinn portray Abraham Lincolns position?

A: Abraham Lincoln was not yet in office when the war
began but when he was elected he spoke on the war. He
challenged Polk with spot resolutions. Lincoln did not try to
end the war.

6. How does the U.S. philosophically justify its aggression?

A: The U.S philosophically justified its aggression with the
idea that the United States would be giving the blessings of
liberty and democracy to more people.

7. What evidence does Zinn utilize to illustrate American
opposition to the Mexican War?

A: Zinn uses evidence of articles written during the time of
the war. He uses articles from newspapers such as the
Advocate of Peace, The Liberator, and North Star.

8. How does Zinn use the ethnic composition of the U.S. army
to reinforce his argument?

A: Zinn uses the ethnic composition of the U.S. army to
reinforce his argument by stating that even the immigrants
that fought with the U.S sometimes retreated and opposed
the war because of lies and harsh conditions.

9. How does Zinn characterize the morale of U.S. soldiers after
the initial stages of the conflict? Provide evidence cited
throughout the chapter for why soldiers came to feel the way
they did.

A: The soldiers began to feel the way they did because they were
promised many things that were not always given to them, they
were bargained for like slaves, conditions were terrible, many
were forced to be soldiers, and many watched as those around
them died of illness.

10. Explain the statement: It was a war of the American elite
against the Mexican elite, each side exhorting, using, killing its
own population as well as the other.

A: This statement means that the best from the American side
and the best from the Mexican side were going head to head
destroying anything in their way even if it meant killing their
own people.

11. Provide evidence of how the Mexican population was affected
by the war.

A: Many Mexicans were killed from raids on their towns. The
New Orleans Delta wrote The Mexicans variously estimate their
loss at from 500 to 1000 killed and wounded, but all agree that
the destruction among the soldiery is very small and the
destruction among women and children is very great.


12. How did veterans fare economically after they came home
from the war?

A: Many veterans sold their 160 acres of land for less than $50
because they were so desperate for money.

13. Discuss how Zinn uses the phrase We take nothing by
conquest, thank God to buttress his argument.

A: Zinn uses this phrase meaning that many Americans at this
time did not realize that they were taking anything by force
they saw it as a blessing from God.




ZINN CHAPTER 9
Questions

1. To what extent was the termination of the slave trade in 1808
enforced? Why?

A: Slave importation became illegal in 1808. It was not strongly
enforced because about 250,000 slaves were imported illegally
before the Civil War. This was because plantations began to
grow and the need for slave increased.

2. Explain the statement: Are the conditions of slavery as
important as the existence of slavery?

A: This statement means that even though some slaves seemed
happy they were not because the fact that they were slaves
weakened their spirit. The conditions of slavery were just as
bad as the existence of slavery in itself.

3. What evidence does Zinn include to prove the existence of
slave revolts in the United States?

A: He gives dates of some of the most well known slave revolts in
the U.S such as the slave revolt near New Orleans in 1811,Nat
Turners Rebellion and compare them to much larger revolts in
other nations.

4. Analyze the impact of Nat Turners rebellion on Southern
thought.

A: Nat Turners rebellion sent the slaveholding South into a panic,
and then into a determined effort to bolster the security of the
slave system.

5. Explain the phrase: Among slaves there was simultaneous
accommodation and resistance to slavery. Provide examples to
support your explanation.
A: This phrase means that slaves were resistant to slavery and
accommodation breathed a critical spirit and disguised
subversive actions. The resistance included stealing property,
sabotage and slowness, killing overseers and masters, burning
down plantation buildings, and running away.

6. To what extent was the Underground Railroad successful?
Provide evidence.

A: The Underground Railroad was successful to a great extent
because so many slaves escaped through there. Harriet
Tubman alone led more than 300 slaves to freedom on the
Underground Railroad making 19 dangerous trips not once
being captured by slave masters.

7. How were poor whites utilized by plantation owners to
maintain control?

A: Poor whites were kept away from slaves and the slaves were
not allowed to have contact with them at all. They treated poor
whites just like they would treat a slave.

8. Explain the use of religion as a means of control.

A: The whites let the slaves have their own religion to keep their
spirits high and their communities alive and healthy. Thus
making them work better and less disobedient.

9. To what extent did slaves maintain their sense of culture,
community, and kinship?

A: The slaves maintained their sense of culture, community, and
kinship as much as they could. The slave community acted like
a generalized extended kinship. Everyone looked out for
everyone and their culture thrived because they kept it fluent in
their community.

10. Explain the significance of David Walker.
A: The significance of David Walker is that he was one of the first
blacks to speak out publicly through writings against whites in a
pamphlet he wrote titled Walkers Appeal.

11. Explain the significance of Frederick Douglass.

A: The significance of Frederick Douglass was that he learned on
his own how to read and write proving that black people were
capable of many things. He became the most famous black man
of his time, as a lecturer, newspaper editor, and writer.

12. What was the basic message of Douglass Independence Day
address in July, 1852?

A: Douglass basic message was that this country still is not an
independent or free country because of all the racism, injustice,
slavery, fraud, deception, and hypocrisy. The nation may as
well be divided again.

13. Contrast the abolitionist views of Frederick Douglass and
William Lloyd Garrison. How did they generally represent black
and white abolitionist views?

A:Frederick Douglass was more willing to fight and use existing
political devices. Douglass knew that it would take all sorts of
tactics, from elections to rebellion. Whereas, Garrison did
courageous pioneering work on the lecture platform, in
newspapers, and in the Underground Railroad.

14. How does Zinn justify that black abolitionists were the
backbone of the antislavery movement.

A: He justifies this by saying blacks had to constantly struggle
with the unconscious racism of white abolitionists. They also
had to insist on their own independent voice. Black abolitionists
had to deal with more than the white ones and they were the
backbone because of no matter the struggle they pushed
forward.


15. For what reasons does Zinn criticize the national government
when discussing Browns execution?

A: Zinn criticizes the national government because he feels that
they weakly enforced the law ending slave the slave trade, but
they could sternly enforced the laws for the return of fugitives
to slavery.

16. Discuss the legal provisions of the Emancipation Proclamation
(i.e., what did it do and what didnt it do?).

A: The Emancipation Proclamation declared slaves free in areas
still fighting against the Union, but said nothing about slaves
behind Union lines.

17. Explain Hofstadters statement: The Emancipation
Proclamation had all the moral grandeur of a bill of lading.

A: This statement means that the Emancipation Proclamation did
not free a single slave. It applied only to the land the
confederates controlled and freed only the slaves there.

18. What significance did the Emancipation Proclamation have on
the wars outcome?

A: The Emancipation Proclamation changed popular thinking and
military policy. Blacks participated in this war. They helped win
battles and capture forts. The Union and Northerners saw the
value of black soldiers and with the help of blacks the north
defeated the south.

19. What caused draft riots in 1863?

A: Poor whites who were forced by law to fight and could not pay
their way out of the draft. They were angry because they felt
that they should not fight in the war to help blacks so instead
they began killing the blacks.

20. How did the treatment of blacks in the Union army and
northern cities foreshadow the limitations of emancipation?

A: Blacks in the Union army were still treated like slaves. They
were attacked while off duty, they were used for the heaviest
and dirtiest work, and were given unequal pay. All of this
foreshadowed the limitations of emancipation.


21. Explain the significance of the election of 1876 on the South.

A: Negro children began going to public schools and were able to
get an education.

22. How does Zinn justify the actions of Booker T. Washington?

A: He says that perhaps Washington saw this as a necessary
tactic of survival in a time of hangings and burnings of Negroes
throughout the South. He also described how unfair justice is to
blacks and not whites.

23. To what extent did the conditions for African Americans in the
post-Civil War South lead to migration?

A: Many Negroes fled about six thousand black people left the
south and went north to escape violence and poverty.