A Young People's History of the United States

A Young People’s History of the United States

• Genre: Nonfiction; young adult history
• Originally Published: 2007
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1010L; grades 6-10
• Structure/Length: 2 parts plus introduction; 26 chapters; approx. 464 pages; approx. 7 hours, 46 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: This adaptation (by Rebecca Stefoff) of Zinn’s 1980 classic tells the story of American history—from the first European contact with Indigenous nations through the Iraq War—from the perspective of regular people rather than powerful leaders. With narrative text and primary sources, the history explores topics including colonialism, slavery, capitalism, immigration, poverty, and sexism.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Racism; slavery; sexism; genocide

Howard Zinn, Author

• Bio: 1922-2010; grew up in Brooklyn, New York, the son of Jewish immigrants; served in the US Air Force during World War II, an experience that led him to oppose war; attended college under the GI Bill and then earned a PhD in history from Columbia University; taught at Spelman College and Boston University; was active in the civil rights movement; received the Thomas Merton Award (1991), the Peace Abbey Courage of Conscience Award (1996), the Eugene V. Debs Award (1998), and the Upton Sinclair Award (1999), among many other honors
• Other Works: Howard Zinn on Race (1959); Disobedience and Democracy (1968); A People’s History of the United States (1980); The Twentieth Century (1980); You Can’t Be Neutral on a Moving Train: A Personal History of Our Times (1994)
• Awards: National Book Award for History (original title; finalist; 1981)

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Unit:

• Heroism as a Subjective and Problematic Concept
• Inequality as Foundational to American Society
• Capitalism as the Foundational System of US Economy and Politics

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Unit, students will:

• Gain an understanding of the historical contexts that helped ingrain inequity and unfairness into the fabric of American society, beginning with Manifest Destiny and following through to the post-Civil War Reconstruction Era.
• Read paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Heroism as a Subjective and Problematic Concept, Inequality as Foundational to American Society, and Capitalism as the Foundational System of US Economy and Politics.
• Research and present a class-wide group project that connects the unique local history of students’ town to larger forces of Capitalism and Inequality in American society.
• Analyze and evaluate the author’s purpose and authorial techniques to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding the importance of revisionist history, Zinn’s anti-war perspective, and other topics.