In a letter responding to a 2007 critical review of his ''A Young People's History of the United States
(a release of the title for younger readers) in The New York Times Book Review'', Zinn wrote:
Columbus to independence Chapter 1, "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress" covers early
Native American civilization in North America and the Bahamas, the enslavement committed by the crew of
Christopher Columbus (whom Zinn accused of
genocide), and incidents of violent colonization by early settlers. Instead of restating the same history that has been presented for centuries, Zinn states that he prefers to tell history from the perspective of the
Arawaks, which many people are not familiar with. He describes the purpose of Columbus' expedition and his brutality towards the natives after his arrival. Not only does he use firsthand account of witnesses to Columbus' presence in the islands, he also provides statistics of native casualties to present this different side of history. Topics include the
Arawaks,
Bartolomé de las Casas, the
Aztecs,
Hernán Cortés,
Pizarro,
Powhatan, the
Pequot, the
Narragansett,
Metacom,
King Philip's War, and the
Iroquois. Chapter 2, "Drawing the Color Line" addresses the
slave trade and servitude of poor
White people in the
Thirteen Colonies. Zinn writes of the methods by which he says racism was created artificially in order to enforce the economic system. He argues that racism is not natural because there are recorded instances of camaraderie and cooperation between enslaved Blacks and White servants in escaping from and in opposing their subjugation. Chapter 3, "Persons of Mean and Vile Condition" describes
Bacon's Rebellion (1676), the economic conditions of the poor in the colonies, and opposition to their poverty. Zinn uses
Nathaniel Bacon's rebellion to assert that "class lines hardened through the colonial period". Chapter 4, "Tyranny Is Tyranny" covers the movement for "leveling" (economic equality) in the colonies and the causes of the
American Revolution. Zinn argues that the
Founding Fathers agitated for war to distract the people from their own economic problems and to stop popular movements, a strategy that he claims the country's leaders would continue to use in the future. Chapter 5, "A Kind of Revolution" covers the war and resistance to participating in war, the effects on the Native American people, and the continued inequalities in the new United States. When the land of veterans of the Revolutionary War was seized for non-payment of taxes, it led to instances of resistance to the government, as in the case of
Shays' Rebellion. Zinn notes that "
Charles Beard warned us that governments—including the government of the United States—are not neutral ... they represent the dominant economic interests, and ... their constitutions are intended to serve these interests."
Independence to the robber barons Chapter 6, "The Intimately Oppressed" describes resistance to inequalities in the lives of women in the early years of the U.S. Zinn tells the stories of women who resisted the status quo, including
Polly Baker,
Anne Hutchinson,
Mary Dyer,
Amelia Bloomer,
Catharine Beecher,
Emma Willard,
Harriot Kezia Hunt,
Elizabeth Blackwell,
Lucy Stone,
Elizabeth Cady Stanton,
Margaret Fuller,
Sarah Grimké,
Angelina Grimké,
Dorothea Dix,
Frances Wright,
Lucretia Mott, and
Sojourner Truth. Chapter 7, "As Long As Grass Grows or Water Runs" discusses 19th century conflicts between the U.S. government and Native Americans (such as the
Seminole Wars) and
Indian removal, especially during the administrations of
Andrew Jackson and
Martin Van Buren. Chapter 8, "We Take Nothing by Conquest, Thank God" describes the
Mexican–American War. Zinn writes that President
James Polk agitated for war for the purpose of
imperialism. Zinn argues that the war was unpopular, but that some newspapers of that era misrepresented the popular sentiment. Chapter 9, "Slavery Without Submission, Emancipation Without Freedom" addresses
slave rebellions, the
abolition movement, the
Civil War, and the effect of these events on African-Americans. Zinn writes that the large-scale violence of the war was used to end slavery instead of the small-scale violence of the rebellions because the latter may have expanded beyond anti-slavery, resulting in a movement against the
capitalist system. He writes that the war could limit the freedom granted to African-Americans by allowing the government control over how that freedom was gained. Chapter 10, "The Other Civil War", covers the
Anti-Rent movement, the
Dorr Rebellion, the
Flour Riot of 1837, the
New York City draft riots, the
Molly Maguires, the rise of
labor unions, the
Lowell girls movement, and other
class struggles centered around the various
depressions of the 19th century. He describes the abuse of government power by corporations and the efforts by workers to resist those abuses. Chapter 11, "Robber Barons and Rebels" covers the rise of industrial corporations such as the railroads and banks and their transformation into the nation's dominant institutions, with corruption resulting in both industry and government. Also covered are the popular movements and individuals that opposed corruption, such as the
Knights of Labor,
Edward Bellamy, the
Socialist Labor Party, the
Haymarket martyrs, the
Homestead strikers,
Alexander Berkman,
Emma Goldman,
Eugene V. Debs, the
American Railway Union, the
Farmers' Alliance, and the
Populist Party.
20th century Chapter 12, "The Empire and the People", covers
American imperialism during the
Spanish–American War and the
Philippine–American War, as well as in other lands such as
Hawaii, Guam, and Puerto Rico. The
Teller Amendment is discussed. Zinn portrays the wars as racist and imperialist and opposed by large segments of the American people. Chapter 13, "The Socialist Challenge", covers the rise of
socialism and
anarchism as popular political ideologies in the United States. Covered in the chapter are the
American Federation of Labor (which Zinn argues provided too exclusive of a union for non-white, female, and unskilled workers; Zinn argues in Chapter 24 that this changes in the 1990s),
Industrial Workers of the World (IWW),
Mary Harris "Mother" Jones,
Joe Hill, the Socialist Labor Party,
W. E. B. Du Bois, and the
Progressive Party (which Zinn portrays as driven by fear of radicalism). Chapter 14, "War Is the Health of the State" covers
World War I and the
anti-war movement that happened during it, which was met with the heavily enforced
Espionage Act of 1917. Zinn argues that the United States entered the war in order to expand its foreign markets and economic influence. Chapter 15, "Self-Help in Hard Times" covers the government's campaign to destroy the IWW, and the factors leading to the
Great Depression. Zinn states that, despite popular belief, the 1920s were not a time of prosperity, and the problems of the Depression were simply the chronic problems of the poor extended to the rest of the society. Also covered is the
Communist Party's attempts to help the poor during the Depression. He criticizes some aspects of
Franklin Delano Roosevelt's
New Deal: "From the first, the
NRA was dominated by big business and served their interests." According to Zinn, the New Deal was aimed mainly at stabilizing the economy and "secondly at giving enough help to the lower classes to keep them from turning a rebellion into a real revolution". Chapter 16, "A People's War?", covers
World War II, opposition to it, and the effects of the war on the people. Zinn, a veteran of the war himself, notes that "it was the most popular war the US ever fought", but states that this support may have been manufactured through the institutions of American society. He cites various instances of opposition to fighting (in some cases greater than those during World War I) as proof. Zinn also argues that the US's true intention was not fighting against systematic racism, since the US had this itself, such as with the
Jim Crow laws (leading to opposition to the war from African-Americans). In accordance with American
revisionist historian
Gar Alperovitz, another argument made by Zinn is that the
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were not necessary, as the U.S. government had already known that the Japanese were considering surrender beforehand, and it was "most anxious to get the Japanese affair over with before the Russians got in". Other subjects from WWII covered include
Japanese American internment and the
bombing of Dresden. The chapter continues into the
Cold War, which Zinn writes was used by the U.S. government to increase control over the American people (for instance, eliminating such radical elements as the Communist Party) and at the same time create a state of permanent war, which allowed for the creation of the
military–industrial complex. Zinn believes this was possible because both conservatives and liberals willingly worked together in the name of
anti-Communism. Also covered is US involvement in the
Greek Civil War, the
Korean War,
Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the
Marshall Plan and the
Cuban Revolution. Chapter 17, Or Does It Explode? (named after a line from
Langston Hughes's poem "Harlem" from "
Montage of a Dream Deferred", referred to as "Lenox Avenue Mural" by Zinn), covers the
Civil Rights Movement. Zinn argues that the government began making reforms against discrimination (although without making fundamental changes) for the sake of changing its international image, but often did not enforce the laws that it passed. Zinn also argues that while nonviolent tactics may have been required for Southern civil rights activists, militant actions (such as those proposed by
Malcolm X) were needed to solve the problems of black
ghettos. Also covered is the involvement of the Communist Party in the movement, the
Congress of Racial Equality, the
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, the
Freedom Riders,
COINTELPRO, and the
Black Panther Party. Chapter 18, "The Impossible Victory: Vietnam", covers the
Vietnam War and
resistance to it. Zinn argues that America was fighting a war that it could not win, as the
Vietnamese people were in favor of the government of
Ho Chi Minh and opposed the regime of
Ngo Dinh Diem, thus allowing them to keep morale high. Meanwhile, the American military's morale was very low, as many soldiers were put off by the atrocities which they were made to take part in, such as the
My Lai massacre. Zinn also tries to dispel the popular belief that opposition to the war was mainly among college students and middle-class intellectuals, using statistics from the era to show higher opposition from the working class. Zinn argues that the troops themselves also opposed the war, citing desertions and refusals to go to war, as well as movements such as
Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Also covered is the US invasions of Laos and Cambodia,
Agent Orange, the
Pentagon Papers,
Ron Kovic, and raids on draft boards. Chapter 19, "Surprises", covers other movements that happened during the 1960s, such as
second-wave feminism, the
prison reform/
prison abolition movement, the
Native American rights movement, and the
counterculture. People and events from the feminist movement covered include
Betty Friedan's
The Feminine Mystique,
Women's International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell,
Patricia Robinson, the National Domestic Workers Union,
National Organization for Women,
Roe v. Wade,
Susan Brownmiller's
Against Our Will, and
Our Bodies, Ourselves. People and events from the prison movement covered include
George Jackson, the
Attica Prison riots, and Jerry Sousa. People and events from the Native American rights movement covered include the
National Indian Youth Council, Sid Mills,
Akwesasne Notes,
Indians of All Tribes, the First Convocation of American Indian Scholars, Frank James, the
American Indian Movement, and the
Wounded Knee incident. People and events from the counterculture covered include
Pete Seeger,
Bob Dylan,
Joan Baez,
Malvina Reynolds,
Jessica Mitford's
The American Way of Death,
Jonathan Kozol,
George Dennison, and
Ivan Illich. Chapter 20, "The Seventies: Under Control?", covers political corruption and American disillusion with the government during the 1970s. Zinn argues that the resignation of President
Richard Nixon and the exposure of crimes committed by the
CIA and
FBI during the decade were done by the government in order to regain support from the American people without making fundamental changes to the system. According to Zinn,
Gerald Ford's presidency continued the same basic policies of the
Nixon administration. Other topics covered include protests against the
Honeywell Corporation,
Angela Davis,
Committee to Re-elect the President, the
Watergate scandal,
International Telephone and Telegraph's involvement in the
1973 Chilean coup d'état, the
Mayagüez incident,
Project MKUltra, the
Church Committee, the
Pike Committee, the
Trilateral Commission's
The Governability of Democracies, and the People's Bi-Centennial. Chapter 21, "Carter-Reagan-Bush: The Bipartisan Consensus", covers the
Jimmy Carter,
Ronald Reagan, and
George H. W. Bush administrations and their effects on both the American people and foreign countries. Zinn argues that the Democratic and Republican parties keep the government essentially the same, maintaining policies favorable for corporations and a militant foreign policy, no matter which party was in power. Zinn uses similarities among the three administrations' methods to argue for this. Other topics covered include the
Fairness Doctrine, the
Indonesian invasion of East Timor,
Noam Chomsky,
global warming,
Roy Benavidez, the
Trident submarine, the
Star Wars program, the
Sandinista National Liberation Front, the
Iran–Contra affair, the
War Powers Act, U.S. invasion of Lebanon during the
Lebanese Civil War, the
Invasion of Grenada,
Óscar Romero, the
El Mozote massacre, the
1986 Bombing of Libya, the
collapse of the Soviet Union, the
United States invasion of Panama, and the
Gulf War. Chapter 22, "The Unreported Resistance", covers several movements that happened during the Carter-Reagan-Bush years that were ignored by much of the mainstream media. Topics covered include the
anti-nuclear movement, the
Plowshares Movement, the Council for a Nuclear Weapons Freeze, the
Physicians for Social Responsibility,
George Kistiakowsky,
The Fate of the Earth,
Marian Wright Edelman, the Citizens' Clearinghouse for Hazardous Wastes, the
Three Mile Island accident, the
Winooski 44,
Abbie Hoffman,
Amy Carter, the Piedmont Peace Project,
Anne Braden,
César Chávez, the
United Farm Workers, the
Farm Labor Organizing Committee,
Teatro Campesino,
LGBT social movements, the
Stonewall riots,
Food Not Bombs, the
anti-war movement during the Gulf War,
David Barsamian, opposition to
Columbus Day,
Indigenous Thought,
Rethinking Schools, and the
Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Chapter 23, "The Coming Revolt of the Guards", covers Zinn's theory on a possible future radical movement against inequality in America. Zinn argues that there will eventually be a movement made up not only of groups previously involved in radical change (such as labor organizers, black radicals, Native Americans, feminists), but also members of the middle class who are starting to become discontented with the state of the nation. Zinn expects this movement to use "demonstrations, marches,
civil disobedience; strikes and boycotts and
general strikes;
direct action to redistribute wealth, to reconstruct institutions, to revamp relationships". Chapter 24, "The Clinton Presidency", covers the effects of the
Bill Clinton administration on the U.S. and the world. Zinn argues that despite Clinton's claims that he would bring change, his presidency kept many things the same. Topics covered include
Jocelyn Elders, the
Waco siege, the
Oklahoma City bombing, the
Crime Bill of 1996, the
Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996, the
Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996, the
1993 bombing of Iraq,
Operation Gothic Serpent, the
Rwandan genocide, the
War in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the
World Bank, the
International Monetary Fund, the
North American Free Trade Agreement, the
1998 bombing of Afghanistan and Sudan, the
1999 NATO bombing of Yugoslavia, the
impeachment of Bill Clinton,
Barbara Ehrenreich's
Nickel and Dimed,
Stand for Children,
Jesse Jackson, the
Million Man March,
Mumia Abu-Jamal,
John Sweeney, the
Service Employees International Union, the
Union of Needletrades, Industrial and Textile Employees, the
Worker Rights Consortium, the
Poor People's Economic Human Rights Campaign, the
UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the
Telecommunications Act of 1996,
Spare Change News, the
North American Street Newspaper Association, the
National Coalition for the Homeless,
anti-globalization, and
WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999 protest activity. Chapter 25, "The 2000 Election and the 'War On Terrorism, covers the
2000 presidential election and the
war on terrorism. Zinn argues that attacks on the U.S. by Arab terrorists (such as the
September 11, 2001 attacks) are not caused by a hatred for our freedom (as claimed by President
George W. Bush), but by grievances with U.S. foreign policies such as "stationing of U.S. troops in
Saudi Arabia ...
sanctions against Iraq which ... had resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children; [and] the continued U.S. support of Israel's occupation of land claimed by
Palestinians." Other topics covered include
Ralph Nader, and the
War in Afghanistan. ==Critical reception==