Book SummaryA People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of A People's History of the United States

Conventional accounts of American history tend to focus on the people at the top—presidents, generals, CEOs, and other influential figures—and their struggles, ambitions, hopes, and dreams. But what about average people—those who had to live with the consequences of elite decisions, and who often struggled in obscurity? In A People’s History of the United States, historian Howard Zinn aims to tell their story through a view of American history focusing on Indigenous people, Black Americans, women, laborers, and activists. He looks past elite ideals and rhetoric to examine the harsh economic realities behind their decision-making, while also examining how popular movements responded to or resisted those decisions.

(Shortform note: Zinn’s method of analyzing history is similar to historical materialism, an analytical theory developed by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels in the mid-19th century. According to historical materialism, social...

A People's History of the United States Summary Part 1: The Colonial Era (1492-1788)

Zinn begins with a brief overview of European colonialism in the Americas to provide context for the founding of the US.

In Part 1 of our guide, we’ll outline why this colonial project started, how it functioned, and the circumstances that eventually changed a group of colonies into the US.

Colonial Ambition and Christopher Columbus

Colonialism was the result of the development of capitalism—an economic system in which people compete to accumulate as much private property as possible—in Europe, explains Zinn. Under this new system, individuals and nations constantly sought new sources of wealth. This search eventually led European colonists to the Americas: resource-rich continents full of cultures and peoples without the military technology or cutthroat competitive economic systems of Europe.

Starting with Christopher Columbus in 1492, European colonists engaged in a pattern of conquest, genocide, and enslavement of Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas with the goal of getting rich. Not all colonists were vicious all of the time, but exploitation and bloodshed were the driving force during this period of history.

(Shortform note: While Zinn presents...

A People's History of the United States Summary Part 2: Expansion and Division (1789-1865)

Following his discussion of the colonial era and the founding of the US, Zinn turns his attention to the first half of the 19th century. Part 2 of our guide covers his discussion of the country’s economic and territorial expansion during this period, and how it led to the displacement of American Indians, the Mexican-American War, and the American Civil War.

Expansion of Territory

The US made its largest territorial gains during the first half of the 19th century as the frontier pushed west. Zinn focuses primarily on two conflicts that arose from this massive rate of expansion: Indian removal and the Mexican-American War.

Indian Removal

During its westward expansion, the US conducted a policy of Indian removal, or the displacement and ethnic cleansing of American Indian tribes. The US carried out Indian removal through violence, exploitative treaties, and encouraging tribes to turn against one another to weaken resistance. Unlike during the colonial era, the main beneficiaries of Indian removal during the US’s expansion weren’t poor white frontiersmen. Instead, wealthy land speculators or railroad companies collaborated with the government, buying...

A People's History of the United States Summary Part 3: Industry and Labor (1840-1946)

Zinn explains that in the decades following the Civil War, the US industrialized at a rapid pace and became a global power—at the expense of American laborers. Part 3 of our guide will explore the consequences of industrialization, how American laborers resisted them, and challenges the American labor movement faced.

Industry

Zinn explains that while the US started industrializing early in the 19th century, the process accelerated after the Civil War. Capitalists used their political power as well as violence and corruption to control the government and make massive amounts of wealth. In the meantime, average people suffered. Factory employees worked over 12 hours a day in horrible conditions just to scrape by, then return to their dirty, cramped homes. Accidents were common, disease was rampant in urban slums, and average life expectancy plummeted.

(Shortform note: While Zinn focuses on how industrialization further impoverished the poor, sociologist C. Wright Mills (The Power Elite) explores [how it caused the upper and middle classes to...

A People's History of the United States Summary Part 4: Rising Empire (1898-1945)

For centuries, American expansion had been fueled by the frontier—the “free” land and resources of the West provided a way for enterprising capitalists to make and expand their fortunes. But by the end of the 19th century, Zinn explains, the American frontier had closed. Land and wealth in the US were largely divided up among a select few elites. To continue increasing their wealth, elites had to start influencing and controlling other countries and peoples—they had to make America an empire.

(Shortform note: While the US Census officially announced the “closing of the frontier” in 1890 when the borders of the contiguous US were set, the government continued to take land from American Indians in the following decades. Reservations of land set aside by the government for Indian tribes shrank considerably, especially in the Rocky Mountain and Great Plains regions. This was in large part because of the Dawes Act, which broke up reservations by redistributing lands from tribes as a whole to individual American Indians—who would often choose or be...

A People's History of the United States Summary Part 5: Social Upheaval and the Modern Consensus (1945-2001)

Zinn explains that while the post-WWII settlement and spoils of empire made the US richer than ever before, it didn’t resolve the social unrest of previous decades. If anything, the influx of wealth further revealed the country’s many inequalities and social divides—inspiring decades of popular social movements for justice and equality. Despite these efforts, elites cemented control over political and economic institutions, creating a “modern consensus” in politics that persisted into the 21st century.

Part 5 of our guide will briefly cover the causes, methods, and outcomes of US social movements in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, as well as the “modern consensus” on policy throughout the world of politics afterward.

Social Movements (1945-1980)

Zinn outlines several of the significant social movements of the ’40s through the ’70s: the decline of the labor movement during the Second Red Scare, the Civil Rights and Black Power Movements, second-wave feminism, and more.

The Second Red Scare (1945-1960)

In the years following WWII, elites purged members of left and labor movements in the Second Red Scare, explains Zinn. Seeing the rise of the communist bloc, the...

Shortform Exercise: Reconsider American History

Reflect on whether Zinn’s perspective on American history has altered your own.

Where does Zinn’s view of American history differ most from your own? In what way? (For example, you might view the American Revolution as an idealistic struggle instead of a competition between elites.)