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Author: Zachary Andrews

Blog Post for 11/30/20-Zachary Andrews

Overall I found the movie Dear White People to be very interesting because of its significance in modern-day society.  On top of that, I found the movie’s topic of injustice within the university regarding race and culture to be very powerful. Something that was briefly mentioned in the film was about how the Dean and the President of the university both attended school together. The Dean graduated with honors whereas the President of the university barely graduated yet he has the superior job simply because he is white. I understand that the movie overly emphasized some of the racial aspects seen on college campuses and in other places but it is very unfortunate that many people get more prestigious jobs simply because they are white. Within the job market, white people also tend to make more money even when they work in the same position as a black person. It is unfortunate and unbearable that after years and years of fighting, arguing, protesting, and recognizing problems within our society, that we have not fixed this national problem. This is something that needs to stop because if it does not, then the United States will continue to divide based upon race.

I found this movie to be very relatable because my high school was not racially diverse whatsoever. Numerous events that attacked other races happened that led to students not feeling comfortable at school as well as expulsions for those who were involved. Other students and I ended up inviting in a group of people to attempt to fix our community as well as not be as bias. The problem was that the school board did not like the idea, rather they preferred to sweep the issues under the rug. My group eventually united with my high school’s Black Student Union as well as other groups and together we urged the school to do something about the problem. They then claimed that there was a lack of funding and that the school couldn’t pay for it. In response, we funded the event ourselves to show the school that this was something that the community needs and that they need to listen to their students. Fortunately, the things that happened at my high school were nowhere near as racist as the events in the movie Dear White People.

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Blog Post for 11/16- Zachary Andrews

In The Unreported Resistance, Howard Zinn talked about the underground rebellion of the American people on the American government. The argument was mainly based upon nuclear weapons; however, from there it altered to also include a decrease in the United States military budget. Because of the Cold War and the proxy-wars that can along with it, the US had been involved in conflicts all across the globe. On top of that, the US “needed” nuclear weapons to prove their might to the Soviet Union. After the Cold War came to a close, the US continued with the production of nuclear weapons. When the Gulf War came around, the United States increased its military spending once again. I think it is interesting to see why the United States continued with the creation of nuclear weapons even though they already have a stockpile from the Cold War. On top of that, I know there was a suspicion the Sadam Hussein was on the very of creating not only nuclear weapons but chemical weapons as well. What I don’t understand is why did the United States need more weapons if they already had a stockpile. Since the use of nuclear weapons at the end of World War II, nuclear weapons had only been used to taunt and show off that nation’s military might. As we know, history repeats itself so why did the United States actually think they were going to use the weapons again?

On another note, I was surprised to read about this resistance of the American people on the US government because I had just never heard about until reading Zinn. I’m surprised that it was never talked about during history class and that there was overall just no mention of it in general. I was also surprised to see the nationwide demonstrations of adults, religious persons, students, and others. I actually believe that Zinn mentioned probably around twenty separate demonstrations all across the United States. It kind of made me happy seeing the citizens of the United States unite; however, it was in protest of the government and not for another reason. On another topic, something from Zinn that I found to be shocking was that 1% of the United States population owned approximately 33% of the wealth in the nation.

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Blog Post for 11/9- Zachary Andrews

Firstly, I wanted to start out by saying that I found Four Decades and Counting to be a very informative and interesting article that discussed the War on Drugs both within the United States and abroad, as well as incarceration rates regarding drugs within the United States. Something that I found very intersting that the article talked about was the oddly similar situations that America was in during the War on Drugs and the Prohibition Era in the 1920’s. In the 1920s, the United States saw the creation, distribution, and sale of illegal alcohol. On top of that, gangs formed across the country and death rates from alcohol increased. During the War on Drugs, the United States saw very simliar things. There was an increase in drug overdoses which then also fostered the growith of drug cartels. Something that I do not understand is, why did the United States look back to their recent past to decide whether or not their decisions regarding drugs would be a benefit or not? On another note, a fact that I found interesting from the article was that the population of black people within the United States is 16% yet black people represent 62% of all drug offenders who are currently incarserated. After watching the movie Just Mercy, I wonder how many of those people were falsely accused. My last point from the article that I too found interesting was that the War on Drugs was not contained to the United States. The US faught this war both at home, within Mexico (fighting against gangs and cartels), and in Afghanistan. I found this last country to be rather surprising; however, the article later describes that the money made from selling drugs is used to fund groups like the Taliban.

 

The movie Just Mercy is one of the most powerful and moving stories that I have heard about via film in a long time. Not only was I actively engaged throughout the film but I felt attached to the characters as well. I found it very inspiring that a young man fresh out of law school would pick up his life and move to Alabama to help people in prison get off death row. Adding to why this was impactful for me was because this new graduate was a black man who moved and worked in a town filled with a ton of white supremacists. We know this because the entire case of Walter McMillian was forged just so that the town could lock away another black man. In addition to that, we find out at the end of the movie that Walter McMillian’s friend from prison, Anthony Ray Hinton, was also wrongly convicted of a crime. Luckily, he too was released with the help of EJI. Another way we know that the town is against black people is because the home that Bryan Stevenson was staying at recieved a phone call from a man saying that he planted a bomb somewhere in the home. It is as clear as daylight that this town was against blacks. Overall, I really enjoyed watching the movie Just Mercy and following along with the story of both Walter McMillian and Bryan Stevenson.

 

 

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Blog Post for 11/2- Zachary Andrews

I thought Platoon to be a very interesting and engaging movie. One aspect of the movie that I thought made this film stand out from others was how Chris would go in and out of narrating. These small, or sometimes large, pieces of narration made the movie more personal and showed the audience what was really going on in a soldiers head during this time. Other than the narration pieces that were scattered throughout the movie, there was one scene that really stood out to me. This scene was the when the platoon was had just seized a village in Vietnam and were looking for Viet Cong soldiers, munitions, or just general information about them. When arriving to the village, the American soldiers immediately started to harass a Vietnamese man and his family. First, the US soldiers made the man “dance” or in other words, they shot at the man’s feet, thus forcing him to move his feet to not get shot. These actions made it look as if the man were dancing. From there, a US soldier shot the Vietnamese man’s wife in front of him and his child and then held a gun to the child’s head, showing how ruthless and inhumane some of these soldiers were. Shortly after we see Chris help a young Vietnamese women from getting sexually assaulted from some of the other US soldiers. Chris then went on to call his fellow soldiers “animals.”  I was shocked to see that during times of war, people believe that all humane acts, boundaries, and ways of civilized life fly out the door. It is as if during times of war, humans revert to being wild animals.

 

In addition to this scene, I found it interesting to see how Chris changed over the course of his 1 year enlistment. In the beginning he was scene as the new guy who people weren’t a massive fan of but then he breaks into a bigger role of calming situations between Elias and Barnes. He also talked in the beginning of the movie how he was almost eager to be there even though he really didn’t like the conditions whereas at the end of the movie, he tells us that he “struggled to maintain my sanity.” This really shows that the horrific events within war can really change a person.

 

In class we talked about the movie Saving Private Ryan and how Steven Spielberg tried to make the movie as accurate as possible. We know from Dr. Bezio’s past job of working at the movie theater and comforting World War II veterans that Spielberg accomplished his goal of making an accurate movie. I was wondering if Platoon had a similar effect on its audience? Is Platoon considered to be an accurate depiction of the Vietnam War?

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Blog Post for 10/26- Zachary Andrews

I liked this weekends Blog Post Assignment because I don’t frequently read poetry. The Langston Hughes poems that we read were overall very powerful and insightful; however, there were two poems that stuck out to me the most. The first poem that stuck out to me is titled Dreams. Although the poem is only eight lines long, it truly speaks to the reader. The poem talks about how you should hold onto your dreams because if you do not, then you are not going to live life to its fullest. From there, the poem adds onto the first point by stating that you need to hold onto your dreams because if not, “Life is a barren field, Frozen with snow.” Without dreams and aspirations, life is boring and hard. Those dreams and aspirations allow people to have a more fulfilling and exciting life. I believe that this poem is very important because in modern society, a persons day is very repetitive. Often times, people repeat the same task almost every single day which can get very boring. This poem essentially encourages the reader or listener to continue to dream and follow those dreams.

 

The second poem that was very powerful and meaningful was Will V-Day Be Me-Day Too? This poem not only talks about the Second World War but also describes an individual and his experience in the war. More specifically, he talks about how he has “driven back the Germans and the Japs, From Burma to the Rhine.” In addition to that, the individual talks about how he watched his friend die. He promised that he would try to make America a place where the dying man’s son could live without Jim Crow. The title of the poem is a question asking that once the war is over, will African Americans finally become equals and live without Jim Crow. He then talks about hos the Italians, Chinese, Danes have all been liberated but the black community still has not been. I believe that this poem is very powerful because thousands of African Americans fought in the war hoping that when they returned, they would finally be liberated. Unfortunately, when they returned they were still treated the same as before the war. The shame is that the black community supported the American war effort and fought for democracy, freedom, and everything else that the United States represents; however, they were fighting for things that they didn’t have. Overall, I really enjoyed reading the poems by Langston Hughes but the two that are mentioned above stood out to me the most.

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Blog Post for 10/19- Zachary Andrews

I found the chapter “A People’s War?” from A People’s History of the United States to be very interesting because I never viewed World War II from the perspective that was addressed. Regarding the chapter from A People’s History of the United States, I have to agree with Zinn that World War II really was an imperialistic war. Prior to the Second World War, the United States and various other European nations had imperialistic foreign policies. They went around imposing their rule on any piece of land that they could. With Germany crushed economically and politically after World War I, they needed and wanted to get on the map by taking control over other countries. Hitler first took over Czechoslovakia and moved to Poland, Austria, France and more. At the same time, German’s allie, Italy, attempted to take over Ethiopia. During and before the war, the United States set up bases in nations in the Pacific frontier as well as in Europe. Another reason why I believe that the war was about imperialism was because after the Allied Powers got to Berlin, they divided it up between the United States, France, Britain, and the Soviet Union. Sticking with the same point, the Soviet Union imposed their lifestyle and their communist beliefs on the Eastern European nations, eventually making up the Communist Bloc.

Something else that Zinn brought up in the reading was the impact of World War II on the home front. While the men were fighting abroad, the role of the American women shifted. Now women were relied upon to work in factories to help the war effort. The reliance on women for the war effort not only helped the US win the war but also changed the role of the American women in society. World War II also helped the racial problem within the United States but only to an extent. The war helped to unite African Americans and whites. Similar to what happened with American Women, African Americans were relied on to serve in the military and aid in the fight towards winning the war. Lastly, the economy dramatically changed at the start of the war. Not only was the United States exporting goods to allied nations but they also employed thousands of workers to help build the supply of weapons, food, and other supplies that was needed by the American military. This is seen when reading that a textile mill that was referenced in the reading had a profit growth of over 600% between 1940 and 1946. Overall, World War II had a massive impact on the United States.

On another note, something else that Zinn addressed in this chapter that I didn’t recognize before was how self-centered the United States. The United States promoted and supported numerous independence movements in other countries; however, while the nation was unstable, they imposed themselves in the country often times by building military bases, and sending American businesses. An example of this was seen with Cuba and the United States. The US supported the Cuban independence movement against Spain. While the entire thing was going on, they built a military base on the island. With the rise of Cuban dictator Fidel Castro, the US lost its influence in Cuba and its military base. Another self-centered moment in American history was when the United States demanded an Open Door Policy in China while also demanding a Closed Door Policy in Latin America. The last and most obvious form of the US being self-centered was its policy of imperialism. The United States took over numerous nations and territories throughout its history. Some examples have been Hawaii, Mexico, Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and more.

 

 

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Blog Post for 10/12/20 – Zachary Andrews

I found both the reading from the History Channel on the Spanish Flu of 1918 to be very interesting. More specifically, I thought that it was interesting how we use the same methods to deter that virus as we did and are still doing with the Covid-19 virus. I find it weird that over 100 years have passed since the Spanish Flu yet we are still using the same methods of deterring the virus: wearing masks, quarantining, limiting the number of people we see, keeping some businesses closed, and more. I’m surprised that there haven’t been more technological advancements in that 100 year time period that could further assist us in helping to get rid of the virus. In addition to that, I found it horrifying that over 1/3 of the global population died from the Spanish Flu. On another note, as I read I wondered about how the flu had an impact on European reconstruction after the First World War. Due to the number of people who died and the quarantining that was done, there must have been a large lag where nothing was truly being done. The article left me wondering many things… After the First World War had ended and the Spanish Flu begun, did the United States continue to bring soldiers home from being abroad or did they slow down the return of soldiers to limit the chance that the flu would be brought to the United States? Also, did the United States halt foreign interactions such as trade during this time?

 

After watching Trevor Noah’s video on the Spanish Flu of 1918 and the Covid-19 Pandemic that we are living through today, I found the similarities between presidents to be very interesting and honestly weird. Woodrow Wilson, the president during World War I and the Spanish Flu, played the Spanish Flu off as if it were some small illness that wasn’t going to affect him. In addition to that, President Wilson censored the media in hopes that the American population and community would not freak out from the virus. When we look at today’s Covid-19 Pandemic, we also see that Trump has downplayed the virus like former President Wilson. Something that I just looked up was that Woodrow Wilson was infected with the Spanish Flu, similarly to how President Trump recently tested positive for Covis-19. Overall, I found the article and the video to be very interesting because they both allowed me to understand a more in-depth comparison of the Spanish Flu and Covid-19.

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Zachary Andrews Blog Post 10/5

When I read both Chapter V and Chapter IX from How the Other Half Lives, I was saddened by the things that Americans did and the way that they viewed immigrants. Unfortunately, I can’t say that everything I read was new information to me. I always knew that there was bias and discrimination against immigrants but I never truly understood the extent that those biases went to. After reading Chapter V which talks about Italian immigrants in America, I was disgusted by the way Americans treated them and classified them. The book described them, the Italians, as reluctant towards Americanizing. The chapter described that the Italians were not eager to adopt the English language whereas some of the other immigrants from nations like Poland and Germany adopted the language right away. They also talked about how the Italians were, generally speaking, liars and gamblers and we considered to be the lowest of lows in society. Chapter IX, on the other hand, talked about the Chinese immigrants that lived in the United States. The chapter talked about the dark, damp, dirty, and crowded Chinatown’s’ that were formed in cities across the United States. These towns were described to have a lot of messages and such regarding drug use and opium. The chapter also tells us that the Chinese immigrants, like the Italian immigrants, were reluctant to change their ways. More specifically, they were reluctant to adopt a new religion and change their clothes. Americans wanted the Chinese immigrants that were scattered across the nation to Americanize and convert to Christianity.

 

The excerpts that we read from Borderlands were very upsetting as well. It was very upsetting to read that people from the Latin community are being criticized for speaking their own language. A person or group of people should not feel oppressed or concerned about speaking their own language. They have the right to speak their language where they want, and when they want. Others who might not understand the language should not feel frightened/threatened if they hear someone speaking another language. A quote that resonated within me from the excerpts was, “Attacks on our native tongue diminish our sense of self.” This was heartbreaking to read. People should feel comfortable speaking their own language and simply being in their own skin when around others. They should not been attacked constantly by others who don’t even know that person. It is truly horrible to see that Americans are forcing other cultural communities to Americanize. People should have the freedom to do what they want without thinking about if they are going to be attacked by the general public.

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Zachary Andrews Post 9/28

I learned a lot from both Slavery Without Submission from A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, and watching The American Civil War Video. The reading addressed slavery within America as well as the Lincoln era of America. Regarding life on the plantations, I was surprised to read that female slaves committed more disorderly acts than male slaves. For some reason, I thought it would have been the opposite. One influence for my incorrect thinking is Hollywood and the movies that they produce. Most frequently, we see males slaves receiving lashes in movies. On another note, the readings also talked about slaves who escaped and gained their freedom in the North. One thing that plantation owners and other wealthy slave owners in the South dealt with were members of the Underground Railroad, especially the white members. See, the problem for the plantation owners was that the poor whites disliked them greatly. Another group who hated the wealthy plantation owners were the slaves. This common enemy helped unite the two groups of people, creating a support ground that eventually guided slaves towards the North, towards freedom, and towards a new life. Another event that I had no idea about was the journey to freedom led by a group of slaves who overthrew the crew of the Creole, a slave transport ship. The slaves ended up sailing to the British Indies. Upon arrival, they were set free and were protected by the English government which abolished slavery a few years prior. After reading, I’m still wondering how hard it was for escaped slaves to start a new life in the North? Were there groups/people who supported them? My last comment regarding the reading is about Horace Greeley and the role he played with Lincoln. Greeley pushed for the Anti-Slavery movement but what I don’t understand is why he did that even though he was a slave owner himself? I actually grew up in the town that he lived in and went to Horace Greeley High School. A few years ago my school was notified about him (Greeley) owning slaves and have been thinking about changing our school name at the request of students.

 

In addition to the reading, I also learned a great deal from The American Civil War Video. Something that I recently learned was that Jefferson included a paragraph regarding abolishing slavery in the United States; however, it was taken out because it was too controversial. By this I mean, the Founding Fathers were unsure that if they included the piece about slavery, that they would still get the support that they needed to fulfill their plan of creating a nation. The video also talked about Western Expansion and how has we moved west, the Southerns and Northerners wanted to claim each state for their party. The Southern leaders for emerging states to become Slave States whereas the Northern leaders wanted the new state to become a free state. Leaders continuously fought about this for years and years until the Civil War broke out. During the war, the Anaconda Plan set up a much needed blockade against the South, limiting their sea travels, trade, and more. The video also talked about the failed plan led by John Brown. His intention was to start a massive slave uprising starting in Virginia. From there, they would head South, freeing slaves as they traveled. At his first stop, Brown and his men were surrounded by Robert E. Lee and his army. Brown was later hung. The person who greatly aided the Anti-Slavery Movement was President Lincoln. Something that I had not previously learned was that, during the Civil War, he suppressed media that supported the South and the Confederation. In addition to that, Honest Abe also put people in jail without a trial. This is yet another example of students not learning about the entire picture, rather a small piece of that picture.

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Blog Post 9/19- Zachary Andrews

I found this weekend’s readings from Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States as well as the poems and readings about both Anne Bradstreet and Phillis Wheatley to be very enlightening. While reading “The Intimately Oppressed” from A People’s History of the United States, Howard Zinn discussed how women were treated based upon culture, status, and race. He explained how women of other cultures such as Native American were often treated much better than the black and white women of the colonies. Specifically, Zinn talked about how women from Native America tribes such as the Zuñi tribe were not treated as equals to men; however, they were treated with the same amount of respect as a man. White women in the colonies were frequently mistreated and were often used for child-barring purposes or as a sex slave. On the other hand, black women in the colonies faced the greatest problems. Not only did they have to deal with slavery and racism, but they also had to deal with the same problems that white women faced. The only difference was that white women had the opportunity to fight a court case, if there was one regarding an immoral act, whereas women who were enslaved didn’t have the same opportunity. An excerpt said by Sojourner Truth on page 124 of A People’s History of the United States was very powerful. She talked about the problems that she had endured because she was black and because she was a women. She argued that with a man who claimed that “women need to be helped into carriages and lifted over ditches” even though she never received this treatment. In fact, she worked the fields, was punished “by the lash”, and watched most of her thirteen children get sold into slavery yet nobody helped her simply because she was black.

I also found the readings and poems by Anne Bradstreet to be very interesting. I thought that she was very fortunate that her father worked as a steward for the Earl of Lincoln, thus giving Anne the opportunity to read the library within the home. The amount of reading she did, paired with her father educating her allowed her to prosper both as a reader and as a writer. When coming to the colonies with her husband, she found the conditions to be horrendous. She ended up living in a one room home shared between her family and another. In addition to that, she managed look over her eight children, complete her domestic responsibilities, as well as continue writing poetry. What was most interesting about her poetry was that she used her own experiences as a source to base her writing off of. The poems To My Dear and Loving Husband as well as Before the Birth of One of Her Children were both based upon Anne Bradstreet’s real life experiences.

Another poet who used her personal experiences to spur ideas for her writing was Phillis Wheatley. She was a young girl who was purchased by the Wheatley family in Boston. The family who purchased her ended up educating her in various subjects. Like Anne Bradsteet, Phillis Wheatley used her personal experiences within her poetry. She wrote about coming over from Africa on a slave-ship and being a black women in America. What I thought was intriguing from the article that we read was that not only did the Wheatley family educate Phillis, but they also helped her pursue her dreams as a poet. They helped her post advertisements in the streets about her poetry and over time, she gained numerous subscribers. In fact, her poetry was a catalyst for the Anti-Slavery movement within the colonies. Overall, I found the Phillis’ life story to be most interesting simply because I don’t believe it was common for white families to educate and aid a black women during this time in the colonies.

 

 

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Blog Post 9/12- Zachary Andrews

Chapter Six in A People’s History of the United States was very interesting particularly because of the various topics that were discussed. The chapter talked about topics such as Africans in the Americas, building the Continental Army, running for political positions, land confiscation, class structure and more. On the topic of building the Continental Army, I found it interesting that building said army was a struggle. Specifically, it was challenging to recruit people because the majority of the population, who were poor, did not want to support the movement mainly because it was run by the rich and powerful within society. Since the colonials were oppressive towards the African Americans and the Native Americans, neither group supported the revolution unless it directly impacted them. For example, some free Africans in the North volunteered for the fight.

The rich and powerful who guided the Revolution within America ended up relying on small, poor, militia groups to fight the good fight. Numerous poor people ended up volunteering or enlisting in the army so that they could have the opportunity of having a better life. They hoped that they move up social classes, earn a good wage, and more. When the war eventually came to an end, the soldiers didn’t receive their money. Instead, they were given tickets that could be used to pick up their money in a few years. Other than the war, another important factor within America was what was going on politically. In order to be apart of the government, you needed to be a wealthy land owner. Throughout the war, Loyalists ended up fleeing their homes so that they could keep their freedoms. Their homes and property were taken and eventually redistributed. Often times these confiscated lands ended up in the lands of previously wealthy people. This is an example of the famous saying where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer. In states like New York; however, some of the land was given to the people thus decreasing the amount of tenant farmers in the area. Something that the book pointed out that I found to be very interesting was that, in Maryland, in order to run for governor, you needed to own at least 5,000 pounds worth of property. In order to run for the state senate, you needed to own at least 1,000 pounds of land.

 

While reading, a found one quote that was stood out to me greatly. The quote stated, “The rich must wither control the government directly or control the laws by which the government operates.” I think this quote is very interesting mostly because I think it’s true. Examples of this can be seen all throughout history. Specifically we saw this quote come to life during the Industrial Revolution when leaders of industry bribed and supported political leaders for their own personal gain. Overall, I found the reading from A People’s History of the United States to be very interesting while containing numerous ideas and topics that can be seen in our society today.

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Zachary Andrews Blog Post 9/5

I found all three readings to be interesting. Specifically I enjoyed the heavy theme of cooking and food that showed throughout all three documents. One of the first things that came into my mind while reading the documents was what Dr. Bezio said in class on Wednesday about learning history via food, which is very true. Based upon what types of food are popular in different locations, we can tell if there is or was a large population of people from that nation or region living in that area at some point in time.

 

When reading Mise en Place and Hating My Soul, both by Michael W. Twitty, I found it very interesting how the people from the Mise en Place chapter did and were interested in traveling back to the various states that, at some point in history, had large populations of slaves while the people from the Hating My Soul chapter didn’t visit nor pursue visiting states where their ancestors were from. I was surprised to see that people didn’t want to visit where they came from and where their traditions really started.

 

Lastly, as I was reading Mise en Place I thought it was interesting to see how food and ethnic origins helped to shape modern day cities and events. The creole and other styles of cooking that formulated during and after the enslavement of the Africans are still around, and are population, to this day. A line from the passage that I find to be true is, “Food is often a necessary vehicle between one’s ancestors.” I think this is very true. Food truly helps people connect. Food can connect people who have been fighting or arguing and it can even connect those who have trouble communicating. An example would be a language barrier. To me it’s interesting to see how something so simple and necessary as food can bring people together.

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Zachary Andrews Blog Post 8/29

After reading the first chapter in A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn, I was intrigued by the slew of new information that I had not previously known about Christopher Columbus, his crew, and his true intentions behind exploring the New World. The thing that I don’t entirely understand is, why is it that conflict between humans always arises? When Columbus and the other explorers such as Pizarro, Cortes invaded the New World, why did they have the urge to start a conflict with the Native Americans? I understand that the explorers were there to make money, find gold, claim new land, and seize glory for themselves but could there have been a way for them to achieve these things without destroying the Native American population throughout North America?

 

About three pages into the first chapter, I read an excerpt from one of Christopher Columbus’ trip logs. The excerpt stated that Columbus had the intention of subjugating the Natives so that he could have a large workforce. My question regarding this is that why would something like this immediately come to his mind? I know that he, Columbus, needed to fulfill his promise of bringing back gold and other resources to Spain but why did he feel the need to assert his power over a community of people who welcomed him with open arms? This and other stories such as the one regarding Rodrigo, a deckhand, who was the first to spot land; however, Columbus claimed that he did and not Rodrigo. Because of this, Columbus earned a 10,000 maravedis yearly for the rest of his life as a pension instead of Rodrigo. After fulfilling his promise to the Spanish throne, he returned to Spain and earned his new title of “Admiral of the Ocean Sea”. After analyzing this, I recognized that this new title gave Columbus referent power. He could then use this title to request more funding and voyage resources because the new title proves that he is a successful explorer and that he has experience.

 

Another quote from the text that caught my eye was, “How certain are we that what we destroyed was inferior?” This quote, regarding the Natives Americans, is a question posed towards the explorers and other mass murderers of the Christopher Columbus era and beyond. Were the Native Americans truly inferior or did they have information and technology that we hadn’t invented yet? That is a question that we are still asking ourselves today… what would have happened technologically, culturally, and socially if we hadn’t destroyed the Native American population? A similar genocide event that was mentioned in the book was the failed attempt to get rid of the Jewish people. The Spaniards expelled the Jewish people from their land, alongside other nations as well. Even the Roman Empire expelled the Jews from their land. Then both the Soviet Union and the Hitler attempted to fulfill a genocide. Throughout history Jews have been picked on and shoved aside. This same concept that was applied to the Native Americans was also applied to th Jewish people. Other people regarded both the Native Americans, the Jews, and others as inferior. Luckily the Jewish population was not completely killed. The Jewish community ended up giving the world people like Albert Einstein, Sergey Brin (co-founder of Google), Adam Sandler, and more. We were able to see what the Jewish population could bring to the world but we weren’t able to see what the Native American population could have given us.

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