A Young People's History of the United States

“It was a history of conquest, slavery, and death. But for a long time, the history books given to children in the United States told a different story—a tale of heroic adventure, not bloodshed. The way the story is taught to young people is just beginning to change.”

In this passage, the author summarizes the early colonial period, during which Europeans invaded and conquered Indigenous homelands by force to search for gold and spread European culture abroad. In addition, the passage represents Zinn’s objective to author a new type of comprehensive history book that does not shy away from the shameful and horrific moments in the long history of the lands that became the US or the systems—like colonialism and slavery—that shaped it. At the time of publication, Zinn noted that standard educational narratives were starting to alter from a purely celebratory and uplifting tale of discovery and adventure to new narratives that might incorporate elements of European abuse and atrocities in the Americas. Given the increasing appetite for more accurate history, a blunt reinterpretation of a well-known period and historical figure (like Christopher Columbus) is more palatable than ever before.

“In the history of the world, there is no country where racism has been more important than in the United States.”

This bold statement opens Chapter 2. When Zinn says that racism has been “important,” he is not indicating that it has in any way been a good thing. Throughout the chapter and the book, he elaborates on the centrality of racism in American history. Racism—initially against Indigenous peoples and Africans—shaped American culture as it developed.