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A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present

Book by Howard Zinn · 21 quotes · People, Ifs, Humans

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A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present Quotes

“[...] There is none that disperses its control more complexly through the voting system, the work situation, the church, the family, the school, the mass media - none more successful in mollifying opposition with reforms, isolating people from one another, creating patriotic loyalty.”

PeopleSchoolAmericaChurchSituationSuccessfulMediaCreatingMassLoyaltyReformOppositionVotingPatrioticMass Media
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“It had long been true, and prisoners knew this better than anyone, that the poorer you were the more likely you were to end up in jail. This was not just because the poor committed more crimes. In fact, they did. The rich did not have to commit crimes to get what they wanted; the laws were on their side. But when the rich did commit crimes, they often were not prosecuted, and if they were they could get out on bail, hire clever lawyers, get better treatment from judges. Somehow, the jails ended up full of poor black people.”

PeopleIfsLongEndsFactsWantedLawSidesBlackPoorRichCrimeJudgingPrisonCommittedLawyerCleverCommitGet BetterTreatmentJailPrisonerBlack PeopleBail
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“While some multimillionaires started in poverty, most did not. A study of the origins of 303 textile, railroad and steel executives of the 1870s showed that 90 percent came from middle- or upper-class families. The Horatio Alger stories of "rags to riches" were true for a few men, but mostly a myth, and a useful myth for control.”

MenStoriesWealthClassPovertyStudyMiddlePercentMythRichesExecutivesSteelRagsRailroadsUpper ClassHoratioTextilesRags To Riches
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“There is the past and its continuing horrors: violence, war, prejudices against those who are different, outrageous monopolization of the good earth's wealth by a few, political power in the hands of liars and murderers, the building of prisons instead of schools, the poisoning of the press and the entire culture by money. It is easy to become discouraged observing this, especially since this is what the press and television insist that we look at, and nothing more.”

LooksDifferentWarHandsSchoolEarthPastPoliticalCultureEasyWealthViolenceTelevisionBuildingHorrorPrejudicePressesPrisonLiarsContinuingMurdererDiscouragedObservingOutrageousPolitical PowerPoisoningGood Earth
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“One percent of the nation owns a third of the wealth. The rest of the wealth is distributed in such a way as to turn those in the 99 percent against one another: small property owners against the propertyless, black against white, native-born against foreign-born, intellectuals and professionals against the uneducated and the unskilled. These groups have resented one another and warred against one another with such vehemence and violence as to obscure their common position as sharers of leftovers in a very wealthy country.”

WayCountryTurnsNationsBlackBornWealthWhiteCommonViolenceGroupsPositionPercentThirdsPropertyNativeOwnersWealthyObscureUneducatedLeftoversVehemenceEducated And Uneducated
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“The democratic principle, enunciated in the words of the Declaration of Independence, declared that government was secondary, that the people who established it were primary. Thus, the future of democracy depended on the people, and their growing consciousness of what was the decent way to relate to their fellow human beings all over the world.”

PeopleWorldWayHumansGovernmentHuman BeingsConsciousnessPrinciplesDemocracyGrowingFellowsIndependenceDemocraticPrimariesRelateDecentDeclarationDeclaration Of Independence
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“The Constitution. . . illustrates the complexity of the American system: that it serves the interests of a wealthy elite, but also does enough for small property owners, for middle-income mechanics and farmers, to build a broad base of support. The slightly prosperous people who make up this base of support are buffers against the blacks, the Indians, the very poor whites. They enable the elite to keep control with a minimum of coercion, a maximum of law--all made palatable by the fanfare of patriotism and unity.”

PeopleDoeMadeEnoughLawInterestPoorSupportMiddleConstitutionPropertyUnityIncomeIndianComplexityOwnersWealthyBroadsFarmersElitesMinimumMechanicMaximumProsperousCoercionFanfare
Book:A People's History of the United States: 1492-Present
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“If democracy were to be given any meaning, if it were to go beyond the limits of capitalism and nationalism, this would not come, if history were any guide, from the top. It would come through citizen's movements, educating, organizing, agitating, striking, boycotting, demonstrating, threatening those in power with disruption of the stability they needed.”

IfsGivenDemocracyMovementNeededCitizensLimitsCapitalismGuidesNationalismStabilityThreateningDisruptionDemonstrating
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“There was an idea in the air, becoming clearer and stronger, an idea not just in the theories of Karl Marx but in the dreams of writers and artists through the ages: that people might cooperatively use the treasures of the earth to make life better for everyone, not just a few.”

PeopleIdeasUseDreamMightAgeEarthArtistAirTheoryBecomingStrongerTreasure
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“The historian's distortion is more than technical, it is ideological; it is released into a world of contending interest, where any chosen emphasis supports some kind of interest, whether economic or political or racial, or national or sexual.”

WorldKindPoliticalInterestJusticeSupportEconomicSocial JusticeChosenHistorianEmphasisIdeologicalDistortionContending
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“It is possible, reading standard histories, to forget half the population of the country. The explorers were men, the landholders and merchants men, the political leaders men, the military figures men. The very invisibility of women, the overlooking of women, is a sign of their submerged status.”

MenCountryPoliticalReadingForgetHalfLeaderMilitaryFiguresStandardsPopulationMerchantsExplorersPolitical LeadersInvisibilitySubmergedOverlooking
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