A People's History of American Empire
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''A People's History of American Empire'' is a 2008
graphic Graphics () are visual images or designs on some surface, such as a wall, canvas, screen, paper, or stone, to inform, illustrate, or entertain. In contemporary usage, it includes a pictorial representation of data, as in design and manufacture, ...
history by
Howard Zinn Howard Zinn (August 24, 1922January 27, 2010) was an American historian, playwright, philosopher, socialist thinker and World War II veteran. He was chair of the history and social sciences department at Spelman College, and a political scien ...
,
Mike Konopacki Mike Konopacki (born c. 1951) is an American political cartoonist from Wisconsin, specializing in labor issues. Background and early career A 1974 graduate of the University of Wisconsin–Madison (B.A. in political science), Konopacki began ...
, and
Paul Buhle Paul Merlyn Buhle (born September 27, 1944) is a (retired) 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 ...
. 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'' is a 1980 nonfiction book by American historian and political scientist Howard Zinn. In the book, Zinn presented what he considered to be a different side of history from the more traditional "funda ...
'' and his autobiography ''You Can't Be Neutral on a Moving Train'' with new material from other sources, most notably
George Lipsitz George Lipsitz is an American Studies scholar and professor in the Department of Black Studies at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of over half a dozen books, including ''The Possessive Investment in Whiteness''. He is ...
'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 A frame is often a structural system that supports other components of a physical construction and/or steel frame that limits the construction's extent. Frame and FRAME may also refer to: Physical objects In building construction *Framing (con ...
of Zinn giving a speech at an
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') 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 anti-war can also refer to pa ...
rally. Through it, he talks about past acts of
imperialism Imperialism is the state policy, practice, or advocacy of extending power and dominion, especially by direct territorial acquisition or by gaining political and economic control of other areas, often through employing hard power (economic and ...
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 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...
and his anger at President
George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
for reacting in a way that Zinn saw as ahistorical (this article was "The Old Way of Thinking", which appeared in ''
Progressive Magazine ''The Progressive'' is a left-leaning American magazine and website covering politics and culture. Founded in 1909 by U.S. senator Robert M. La Follette Sr. and co-edited with his wife Belle Case La Follette, it was originally called ''La Follet ...
'').Zinn, Howard.
The Old Way of Thinking
. ''Progressive''. November 2001.
He goes on to criticize the military actions in the
War in Afghanistan War in Afghanistan, Afghan war, or Afghan civil war may refer to: *Conquest of Afghanistan by Alexander the Great (330 BC – 327 BC) *Muslim conquests of Afghanistan (637–709) *Conquest of Afghanistan by the Mongol Empire (13th century), see als ...
that led to the deaths of civilians. The chapter ends with Zinn giving a speech at an
anti-war An anti-war movement (also ''antiwar'') 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 anti-war can also refer to pa ...
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 Heȟáka Sápa, commonly known as Black Elk (December 1, 1863 – August 19, 1950), was a ''wičháša wakȟáŋ'' ("medicine man, holy man") and ''heyoka'' of the Oglala Lakota people. He was a second cousin of the war leader Crazy Horse and f ...
. It goes on to cover the Robber Barons (specifically
J. P. Morgan John Pierpont Morgan Sr. (April 17, 1837 – March 31, 1913) was an American financier and investment banker who dominated corporate finance on Wall Street throughout the Gilded Age. As the head of the banking firm that ultimately became known ...
,
John D. Rockefeller John Davison Rockefeller Sr. (July 8, 1839 – May 23, 1937) was an American business magnate and philanthropist. He has been widely considered the wealthiest American of all time and the richest person in modern history. Rockefeller was ...
,
Jay Gould Jason Gould (; May 27, 1836 – December 2, 1892) was an American railroad magnate and financial speculator who is generally identified as one of the robber barons of the Gilded Age. His sharp and often unscrupulous business practices made hi ...
, and
George Pullman George Mortimer Pullman (March 3, 1831 – October 19, 1897) was an American engineer and industrialist. He designed and manufactured the Pullman sleeping car and founded a company town, Pullman, for the workers who manufactured it. This ulti ...
); strikes during 1892 such as the Copper Miners Strike, the
New Orleans General Strike The New Orleans general strike was a general strike in the U.S. city of New Orleans, Louisiana, that began on November 8, 1892. Despite appeals to racial hatred, black and white workers remained united. The general strike ended on November 12, ...
, the Railroad Switchmen's Strike, and the Steelworkers' Strike; the 1894 Railroad Strike against the
Pullman Palace Car Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century d ...
and
Eugene V. Debs Eugene Victor "Gene" Debs (November 5, 1855 – October 20, 1926) was an American socialism, socialist, political activist, trade unionist, one of the founding members of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), and five times the candidate ...
involvement in it; the
Monroe Doctrine The Monroe Doctrine was a United States foreign policy position that opposed European colonialism in the Western Hemisphere. It held that any intervention in the political affairs of the Americas by foreign powers was a potentially hostile ac ...
and the
Open Door Policy The Open Door Policy () is the United States diplomatic policy established in the late 19th and early 20th century that called for a system of equal trade and investment and to guarantee the territorial integrity of Qing China. The policy wa ...
; 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 , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (clock ...
. Various people who were involved in the events of the war and those leading up to it are discussed, such as
Antonio Maceo Grajales Lt. General José Antonio de la Caridad Maceo y Grajales (June 14, 1845December 7, 1896) was second-in-command of the Cuban Army of Independence. Fellow Cubans gave Maceo the nickname “The Bronze Titan" ( es, El Titán de Bronce, links=no), ...
,
Máximo Gómez Máximo Gómez y Báez (November 18, 1836 – June 17, 1905) was a Dominican Generalissimo in Cuban War of Independence, Cuba's War of Independence (1895–1898). He was known for his controversial Scorched earth, scorched-earth policy, whic ...
,
José Martí José Julián Martí Pérez (; January 28, 1853 – May 19, 1895) was a Cuban nationalist, poet, philosopher, essayist, journalist, translator, professor, and publisher, who is considered a Cuban national hero because of his role in the libera ...
, Clemencia Arango. Other topics covered include the media hype for the war created by
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
's ''
New York Journal :''Includes coverage of New York Journal-American and its predecessors New York Journal, The Journal, New York American and New York Evening Journal'' The ''New York Journal-American'' was a daily newspaper published in New York City from 1937 t ...
'' and
Joseph Pulitzer Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born Pulitzer József, ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in ...
's ''
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. It was a leading national voice of the Democratic Party. From 1883 to 1911 under publi ...
'' (which led to the concept of
yellow journalism Yellow journalism and yellow press are American terms for journalism and associated newspapers that present little or no legitimate, well-researched news while instead using eye-catching headlines for increased sales. Techniques may include e ...
); the explosion of the , 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 Rough Riders was a nickname given to the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry, one of three such regiments raised in 1898 for the Spanish–American War and the only one to see combat. The United States Army was small, understaffed, and diso ...
; the poisoning of soldiers by spoiled meat packaged by Armour and Co.; and the takeover of Cuba by the U.S. and Chapter III, "The Invasion of the Philippines", covers the events of the
Philippine–American War The Philippine–American War or Filipino–American War ( es, Guerra filipina-estadounidense, tl, Digmaang Pilipino–Amerikano), previously referred to as the Philippine Insurrection or the Tagalog Insurgency by the United States, was an arm ...
. 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 (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in ...
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 y Famy (: March 22, 1869February 6, 1964) was a Filipino revolutionary, statesman, and military leader who is the youngest president of the Philippines (1899–1901) and is recognized as the first president of the Philippine ...
in trying to keep control of the Philippines for its own people. Other topics and individuals covered include
George Dewey George Dewey (December 26, 1837January 16, 1917) was Admiral of the Navy, the only person in United States history to have attained that rank. He is best known for his victory at the Battle of Manila Bay during the Spanish–American War, with ...
,
Fermín Jáudenes Fermín Jáudenes y Álvarez (July 7, 1836 – February 11, 1915) was briefly a Governor-General of the Philippines, from July 24 to August 13, 1898, under the Spanish Empire during the Spanish–American War and the second phase of the Philippin ...
, Fort San Antonio de Abad, the
Benevolent Assimilation Proclamation Benevolence or Benevolent may refer to: * Benevolent (band) * Benevolence (phrenology), a faculty in the discredited theory of phrenology * "Benevolent" (song), a song by Tory Lanez * Benevolence (tax), a forced loan imposed by English kings from ...
, the battle of
Santa Mesa Santa Mesa is a district in Manila, Philippines. It is surrounded by Pasig River on the southwestern side, and by the San Juan River on its southern and eastern side. Land borders include the districts of San Miguel to the west and Sampaloc to ...
,
William Jennings Bryan William Jennings Bryan (March 19, 1860 – July 26, 1925) was an American lawyer, orator and politician. Beginning in 1896, he emerged as a dominant force in the History of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, running ...
,
Albert J. Beveridge Albert Jeremiah Beveridge (October 6, 1862 – April 27, 1927) was an American historian and US senator from Indiana. He was an intellectual leader of the Progressive Era and a biographer of Chief Justice John Marshall and President Abraham Linco ...
, Henry M. Turner,
W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American-Ghanaian sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in ...
, Littletown Waller, the shootings at
Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
,
Elihu Root Elihu Root (; February 15, 1845February 7, 1937) was an American lawyer, Republican politician, and statesman who served as Secretary of State and Secretary of War in the early twentieth century. He also served as United States Senator from N ...
,
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
, the use of the
water cure Water cure may refer to: * Water cure (therapy), a course of medical treatment by hydrotherapy * Water cure (torture), a form of torture in which a person is forced to drink large quantities of water * ''The Water Cure'', a 1916 film starring Olive ...
in the war,
Leonard Wood Leonard Wood (October 9, 1860 – August 7, 1927) was a United States Army major general, physician, and public official. He served as the Chief of Staff of the United States Army, Military Governor of Cuba, and Governor-General of the Philippi ...
, the
Moro Crater massacre The First Battle of Bud Dajo, also known as the Moro Crater Massacre, was a counterinsurgency action fought by the United States Army against Moros in March 1906, during the Moro Rebellion in the southwestern Philippines. Whether the occupants ...
,
Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has p ...
, 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 The Mexican Revolution ( es, Revolución Mexicana) was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from approximately 1910 to 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It resulted in the destruction ...
and the Ludlow Massacre. Zinn goes on to explain how the U.S. and European countries entered into World War I 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 Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
,
Randolph Bourne Randolph Silliman Bourne (; May 30, 1886 – December 22, 1918) was a progressive writer and intellectual born in Bloomfield, New Jersey, and a graduate of Columbia University. He is considered to be a spokesman for the young radicals living du ...
,
Robert Lansing Robert Lansing (; October 17, 1864 – October 30, 1928) was an American lawyer and diplomat who served as Counselor to the State Department at the outbreak of World War I, and then as United States Secretary of State under President Woodrow Wils ...
,
Bernard Baruch Bernard Mannes Baruch (August 19, 1870 – June 20, 1965) was an American financier and statesman. After amassing a fortune on the New York Stock Exchange, he impressed President Woodrow Wilson by managing the nation's economic mobilization in ...
,
William Gibbs McAdoo William Gibbs McAdoo Jr.McAdoo is variously differentiated from family members of the same name: * Dr. William Gibbs McAdoo (1820–1894) – sometimes called "I" or "Senior" * William Gibbs McAdoo (1863–1941) – sometimes called "II" or "Ju ...
, the , the
Sykes–Picot Agreement The Sykes–Picot Agreement () was a 1916 secret treaty between the United Kingdom and France, with assent from the Russian Empire and the Kingdom of Italy, to define their mutually agreed Sphere of influence, spheres of influence and control in a ...
, the Conscription Act of 1917, the
Espionage Act of 1917 The Espionage Act of 1917 is a United States federal law enacted on June 15, 1917, shortly after the United States entered World War I. It has been amended numerous times over the years. It was originally found in Title 50 of the U.S. Code (War ...
,
Champ Clark James Beauchamp Clark (March 7, 1850March 2, 1921) was an American politician and attorney who represented Missouri in the United States House of Representatives and served as Speaker of the House from 1911 to 1919. Born in Kentucky, he establis ...
, the
American Protective League The American Protective League (1917-1919) was an organization of private citizens sponsored by the United States Department of Justice that worked with Federal law enforcement agencies during the World War I era. Its mission to identify suspected ...
, the
Industrial Workers of the World The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), members of which are commonly termed "Wobblies", is an international labor union that was founded in Chicago in 1905. The origin of the nickname "Wobblies" is uncertain. IWW ideology combines genera ...
,
Camp Funston Camp Funston is a U.S. Army training camp located on Fort Riley, southwest of Manhattan, Kansas. The camp was named for Brigadier General Frederick Funston (1865–1917). It is one of sixteen such camps established at the outbreak of World War ...
, Sheldon W. Smith,
Leavenworth Prison The United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth (USP Leavenworth) is a medium security U.S. penitentiary with an adjacent minimum security satellite camp in northeast Kansas. It is operated by the Federal Bureau of Prisons, a division of the Unite ...
,
Kate Richards O'Hare Carrie Katherine "Kate" Richards O'Hare (March 26, 1876 – January 10, 1948) was an American Socialist Party activist, editor, and orator best known for her controversial imprisonment during World War I. Biography Early years Carrie Katherin ...
,
Alice Paul Alice Stokes Paul (January 11, 1885 – July 9, 1977) was an American Quaker, suffragist, feminist, and women's rights activist, and one of the main leaders and strategists of the campaign for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, ...
, the
National Women's Party The National Woman's Party (NWP) was an American women's political organization formed in 1916 to fight for women's suffrage. After achieving this goal with the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, the NW ...
, and
Emma Goldman Emma Goldman (June 27, 1869 – May 14, 1940) was a Russian-born anarchist political activist and writer. She played a pivotal role in the development of anarchist political philosophy in North America and Europe in the first half of the ...
. 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 The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...
and their reaction to the execution of
Sacco and Vanzetti Nicola Sacco (; April 22, 1891 – August 23, 1927) and Bartolomeo Vanzetti (; June 11, 1888 – August 23, 1927) were Italian immigrant anarchists who were controversially accused of murdering Alessandro Berardelli and Frederick Parmenter, a ...
. He goes on to tell of how he began to understand poverty through reading the works of
Charles Dickens Charles John Huffam Dickens (; 7 February 1812 – 9 June 1870) was an English writer and social critic. He created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded by many as the greatest novelist of the Victorian e ...
, 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?" covers some key events in World War II and Zinn's service/perspective. He was a ship fitter in the
Brooklyn Navy Yard The Brooklyn Navy Yard (originally known as the New York Navy Yard) is a shipyard and industrial complex located in northwest Brooklyn in New York City, New York. The Navy Yard is located on the East River in Wallabout Bay, a semicircular bend ...
and while a
United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...
bombarder, married Roslyn Shechter. He notes racial segregation on board his transport ship. He writes that it was the most popular war the US ever fought, with widespread support across many classes of people, but was launched with political deceptions and policy driven by corporate interests, such as: the US claimed
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the Naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Re ...
a sneak attack but records two weeks earlier show that we anticipated war with Japan;
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...
(FDR) claimed German submarines launched unprovoked attacks but the US had really been waging undeclared war with Germany in the
Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...
program as an
Arsenal of Democracy "Arsenal of Democracy" was the central phrase used by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt in a radio broadcast on the threat to national security, delivered on December 29, 1940—nearly a year before the United States entered the Second World ...
contrary to
Neutrality Acts of 1930s The Neutrality Acts were a series of acts passed by the US Congress in 1935, 1936, 1937, and 1939 in response to the growing threats and wars that led to World War II. They were spurred by the growth in isolationism and non-interventionism in ...
. By 1941 there were over 4,000 strikes, more than any time since 1919. FDR had troops seize mines in a strike May 1943. 6,000 war resistors, three times as many as World War I, went to prison. Unions enrolled 1.25M new African-America workers and this led to hate strikes such as in 1943 at Packard. The military demanded that Charles Richard Drew, an African-American doctor who invented blood banks, segregate blood by race and after refusing, they fired him from an Army/Navy blood drive. FDR signed
Executive Order 9066 Executive Order 9066 was a United States presidential executive order signed and issued during World War II by United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt on February 19, 1942. This order authorized the secretary of war to prescribe certain ...
leading arrest of every US west coast Japanese. The US extends the
Open Door Policy The Open Door Policy () is the United States diplomatic policy established in the late 19th and early 20th century that called for a system of equal trade and investment and to guarantee the territorial integrity of Qing China. The policy wa ...
from Asia into Europe, marking an increased involvement in European affairs. 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"


References


External links


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) {{DEFAULTSORT:Peoples History Of American Empire, A 2008 non-fiction books American graphic novels Books about foreign relations of the United States Books about politics of the United States Books about economic history Non-fiction graphic novels History books about the United States Metropolitan Books books Books by Howard Zinn