Samuel Wade
Mr. Hegarty
AP U.S. History
25 July 2012
Howard Zinn Handout
1. Pre Reading
a. Columbus first sailed to America in 1492 for the Spanish.
i. Page 2: “He had persuaded the king and queen of Spain to finance an
expedition…It was early October 1492.”
b. He believed it was East Asia.
i. Page 3: “He insisted he had reached Asia (it was Cuba) and an island off
the coast of China (Hispaniola).”
c. He landed in the Bahamas.
i. Page 3: “It was an island in the Bahamas, the Caribbean sea.”
d. He sailed with the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria.
i. Page 2: “He set out with three sailing ships, the largest of which was the
Santa Maria.”
ii. Page 3: “Then the Nina and the Pinta set sail for the Azores and Spain.”
e. He was believed to be the first man to sail to the Americas.
i. Page 1: “…first messenger to the Americas, Christopher Columbus.”
f. He sailed with the purpose of finding an alternate path to East Asia by water.
i. Page 2: “…he expected would be on the other side of the Atlantic---the
Indies and Asia, gold and spices…he could sail west in order to get to the
Far East.”
There were two surprising things written in the text about Columbus. First of all, the genocide
committed was an atrocity beyond most anything I have even heard of occurring. Also, there is
one small detail of Columbus’s claim to have seen the land before the sailor Rodrigo. This
probably should not shock me, for the display of Columbus’s greed is apparent in his treatment
of the Arawak people, but for some reason, it does.
2. Complete the sentences:
a. The purpose of Columbus’s voyage was to find an alternate route to East Asia by
water in order to retrieve gold and spices, very much in demand.
b. The result of Columbus’s voyage was mass genocide and enslavement of the
American natives.
3. Important:
a. Columbus
i. Admiral of the Ocean Sea
ii. First landed in Cuba, then Hispaniola
iii. Main cause for enslavement: gold
iv. Tortured any slaves who did not bring back gold
v. Originally a merchant’s clerk, skilled sailor
b. Writing of History
i. We must accept the atrocities committed by Columbus
ii. Zinn tells the story from the viewpoint of the victims, not conquerors
4. I agree with Howard Zinn’s viewpoint on writing about “heroes” and their victims. We
do not need to completely judge Columbus as a horrible person, but we should not glorify
him as hero as much as we do. He had his faults just like the rest of us, in fact, perhaps
more. Despite this, most Americans will continue to view Christopher Columbus as a
great pioneer of the past.