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Ap Us History Assignment

AP United States History Summer Reading Assignment: Zinn

AHHS Meza/Wilen

Advanced Placement United States History 2009 – 2010 Summer Reading Assignment Part I – A People’s History of the United States (Howard Zinn)
This assignment will supply you with the context from which we will begin our study of United States History. For your assignment this summer you will not read the entire book, but rather approximately 200 pages. Answer the following questions as you read through A People’s History of the United States. Either neatly handwrite in PEN or type your answers. You need not use complete sentences, although academic writing will create a favorable impression and likely result in a higher grade. The summer assignment is due the FIRST DAY OF CLASS and will count as a separate exam grade in addition to half of an in-class essay exam the first week of school. Do not wait until the last minute to complete this assignment. Remember you never get a second chance to make a first impression!!!!

Chapter 1: “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress” (pp. 1 – 11) According to Zinn, what is his main purpose for writing A People’s History of the United States? What is Zinn’s thesis for pages 1-11? According to Zinn, how is Columbus portrayed in traditional history books? Why does Zinn dispute Henry Kissinger’s statement: "History is the memory of states?" What is Zinn’s basic criticism of historian Samuel Eliot Morison’s book, Christopher Columbus, Mariner? 6. What major issues does Bartolome de las Casas bring up regarding Spanish expeditions in the Caribbean? 7. Identify one early and one subsequent motive that drove Columbus to oppress indigenous peoples. 8. What was the ultimate fate of the Arawak Indians? Chapter 1: “Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress” (pp. 2 – 22) 1. What was the significance of Quetzalcoatl? 2. Compare the strategies and motives underlying the conquest of the Aztecs by Cortez and the conquest of the Incas by Pizzaro. 3. What were the...