Christopher Columbus

“Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress,”

In the opening chapter, “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress, “ in the book, A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn gives the reader a new way to look at America’s history. He uses harsh tones and blunt statements about the cruelty towards the Indians to persuade the reader about their views on Columbus. Zinn then gives his reasons for retelling history the way he does. Zinn says, “I prefer to try to tell the story of the discovery of America from the viewpoint of the Arawaks, of the Constitution from the standpoint of the slaves…” (10).
Howard Zinn Begins his retelling of Columbus’s discovery with excerpts from Columbus’s first letter to the King and Queen. He tells the reader that Columbus’s main objective was gold and the idea that if he could prove it was there Ferdinand and Isabella would finance another trip back. When they finally found land the first people they saw h...