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CHAPTER 4TYRANNY IS TYRANNY:A PEOPLE’S HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES BY HOWARD ZINN
BY ANDREA DAMIAN
A SUBSTITUTION OF ONE TYRANNY FOR ANOTHER
“Around 1776, certain important people in the English colonies made a discovery that would prove enormously useful for the next two hundred years. They found that by creating a nation, a symbol, a legal unity called the United States, they could take over land, profits, and political power from favorites of the British Empire. In the process, they could hold back a number of potential rebellions and create a consensus of popular support for the rule of a new, privileged leadership”.
- Howard Zinn
LEADING UP TO THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR Tensions building between colonists and the British authorities
more than a decade before the outbreak of the revolution in 1775
Efforts by the British government to raise revenue by taxing the colonies
Stamp Act of 1776 Townshend Tariffs of 1776 Tea Act of 1773
Protest among many colonists
Begrudged British’s lack of representation in Parliament
Colonists demanded the same rights as other British subjects.
Colonial resistance led to violence in 1770, when British soldiers opened fire on a mob of colonists,
Five men killed in what was known as the Boston Massacre
BRITISH OPPRESSION
British government sought to tighten control over the colonies
After the French and Indian War the British looked to the colonies for revenues to pay for the war
Takeover of Colonial trade
Of great importance to British economy and much more profitable Amounted to 500,000 pounds in 1700 Later worth 2,800,000 pounds in 1770
British abuse of power
"No taxation without representation!”
American leadership less in need of English rule, the English more in need of the colonists’ wealth
= ELEMENTS FOR CONFLICT
THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION War of Independence
Breaking off from British rule and abuse of power
Americans revolt against British oppression
The End of the 1st Revolutionary War in 1781
“When we look at the American Revolution this way, it was a work of genius, and the Founding Fathers deserve the awed tribute they have received over the centuries. They created the most effective system of national control devised in modern times, and showed future generations of leaders the advantages of combining paternalism with command.”
- Howard Zinn
THE 2ND AMERICAN REVOLUTION?
The war between wealthy and poor Americans
Land rioters saw their battle as poor against rich. A witness at a rebel leader’s trial in New York in 1766 said that the farmers evicted by the landlords “had an equitable title but could not be defended in a course of law because they were poor and… poor men were always oppressed by the rich”
Land hungry farmers in Hudson Valley turned to British for support against American landlords
Poor tenants tended to side with the British in their anger against the rich while conflict with Great Britain intensified
War against their own people
RICH OPPRESSION The separation of classes: rich vs. poor
New American Elite leadership oppressing the poor
Could class hatred be focused against the pro-British elite, and deflected from the nationalist elite? – Howard Zinn
And How could people truly have equal rights, with stark differences in wealth?
“In America, too, the reality behind the words of the declaration of independence was that a rising class of important people needed to enlist on their side enough Americans to defeat England, without disturbing too much the relations of wealth and power that had developed over 150 years of colonial history. Indeed, 69 percent of the signers of the Declaration of Independence had held colonial office under England.” – Howard Zinn
Rich supporting their own interests and ignoring the poor
TYRANNY IS TYRANNY LET IT COME FROM WHOM IT MAY Dictatorship and Oppression
The Declaration of Independence proved that all men are not created equal!!!
Poor Inequality
Ethnic Inequality
Gender Inequality
No equality and No Justice for all
“The rich, it turned out, could avoid the draft by paying for substitutes; the poor had to serve.” – Howard Zinn
REFERENCE PAGE
Zinn, Howard. A People's History of the United States. New York: Harper & Row, 1980. Print.