For over twenty years, I have enjoyed reading and assigning Howard Zinn\u2019s \u201cA People\u2019s History of the United States.\u201d I especially like Zinn\u2019s efforts to see history \u201cfrom the bottom looking up,\u201d that is, to capture the thoughts of not leaders and prosperous citizens but rather simple and subjugated people \u2013 workers, immigrants, women, African Americans, and Native Americans, among others. It therefore came as a surprise to learn that Mitch Daniels, Indiana\u2019s former Governor and now President of Purdue University, attempted to drive Zinn\u2019s book from Indiana\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n
While he was still Governor, Daniels emailed Indiana education officials asking them to prevent the use of Zinn\u2019s book in the state\u2019s K-12 classrooms. Daniels said \u201cA People\u2019s History of the United States\u201d was a \u201ctruly execrable, anti-factual piece of disinformation.\u201d Daniels also called the book \u201ccrap,\u201d and he seemed pleased that \u201cthis terrible anti-American academic has finally passed away.\u201d<\/p>\n
Daniels\u2019 criticism of Zinn and his work is on one level political. To wit, we have a right-wing politician condemning a leftist historian, albeit one who is deceased. (Didn\u2019t Daniels\u2019 parents ever tell him to let the dead rest in peace?) On a more fundamental level, Daniels\u2019 criticism of Zinn also betrays a failure to grasp what the writing and the study of history entails. \u00a0<\/p>\n
I think this is what the Organization of American Historians (OAH) had in mind when it said Daniels\u2019 obtuseness provided a \u201cteachable moment.\u201d Use Daniels\u2019 comments, the OAH said in a formal statement, to underscore that historians and history teachers do not simply report names and dates but rather interpret past developments, debate ideas, appraise each other\u2019s works, and so forth. History as a discipline is neither a science nor a social science; it is one of the humanities.<\/p>\n
Putting aside Daniels\u2019 simplistic and tawdry comments, we might note some of the debatable interpretations mainstream historians and history teachers put forward: (1) The earliest settlers in the North American colonies stood for religious tolerance and freedom, (2) Manifest destiny necessitated moving aside the native peoples, (3) The northern states fought the Civil War to end slavery, and (4) A market economy results in unparalleled prosperity for one and all. These contentions have sizable toe holds in the \u201cestablished historical wisdom,\u201d but Howard Zinn was prepared to question them. Even if we do not agree with Zinn\u2019s conclusions, we should thank rather than condemn him.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
For over twenty years, I have enjoyed reading and assigning Howard Zinn\u2019s \u201cA People\u2019s History of the United States.\u201d I especially like Zinn\u2019s efforts to see history \u201cfrom the bottom looking up,\u201d that is, to capture the thoughts of not leaders and prosperous citizens but rather simple and subjugated people \u2013 workers, immigrants, women, African 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