Posted: September 13th, 2017

Any topic (writer's choice)

Paper instructions:
You must use the following format for your Response Papers:
–Question (copy here the question that you are answering):
–Answer: (Place your 250-350 word answer here).

Be sure to:
–answer the question
–provide specific examples from the textbooks for your statements
–quote your sources–the textbooks and any other source(s) you use
–cite your sources–provide page numbers

Christopher Columbus and early America

For this RP you will use especially Zinn’s People’s History and sources available to you online.

Response Paper Options:

1) Zinn and Foner offer differing portrayals of the Columbus story and of colonization/imperialism in general. Discuss these portrayals, keeping in mind that Foner

might be a bit more difficult to deal with because it is presented in a bit more subtle (but no less biased) manner, while Zinn is not keeping any secrets regarding

the motives and actions of Columbus, his men and other Europeans.

The questions that historians, and with the Columbus issue, cultural activists and critics, have been considering include the following:

2) Simplistically put, Columbus–Hero or Villain?

3) Should we talk about Columbus to our children? If so, at what age are they ready to hear about the things that Columbus’ men did? Will telling children about

Columbus encourage children to loose faith in their country? (If you choose to address this particular question, I want to remind those of us without children to be

sensitive to those people who do have children).

4) What sources are the textbook authors using? Pay special attention to Zinn’s sources; they give his history a certain credibility on this topic.

Further Reading:
Any internet search for Indigenous People’s Day will yield numerous sundry sites on this tense topic, but if you are interested in further reading, I suggest:

AIM (American Indian Movement) on Columbus Day http://www.dickshovel.com/colum.html

Noam Chomsky’s Year 501: The Conquest Continues You won’t be able to read the whole book right now, but I suggest Chapter One for now.

http://www.questia.com/library/book/year-501-the-conquest-continues-by-noam-chomsky.jsp

Dinesh D’Souza’s “The Crimes of Christopher Columbus” http://www.arn.org/ftissues/ft9511/dsouza.html

Remember to use the readings to support your statements.

Some things to consider:
–textbooks like Give Me Liberty! need to please many different constituencies (for ex. ethnic groups and religious groups that want their relative histories fairly

dealt with, textbook companies that want the book to be a certain length, political groups that want the U.S. to be portrayed in a certain light). The pressure from

these groups can tend to water down the content of the book.

–Zinn, on the other hand, doesn’t have to worry about these things. He comes from a tradition of what we call Progressive historians whose coming of age happened

during the American Civil Rights Movement. When Zinn wrote his book he was retired after a long and fruitful career and did not need to worry about book sales.

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