A Young People's History of the United States Revised and Updated--Centennial Edition

A Young People's History of the United States brings to US history the viewpoints of workers, enslaved people, immigrants, women, Black people, Latino Americans, Asian Americans, American Indians, and others whose stories, and their impact, are rarely included in books for young people.

Beginning with a look at Christopher Columbus’s arrival through the eyes of the Arawak Indians, then leading the reader through the struggles for workers’ rights, women’s rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the current protests against continued American imperialism, Zinn presents a radical new way of understanding America’s history. In so doing, he reminds readers that America’s true greatness is shaped by our dissident voices, not our military generals.

A Young People's History of the United States is also a companion volume to The People Speak, the film adapted from A People's History of the United States and Voices of a People’s History of the United States.

The visionary historical work of professor and activist HOWARD ZINN (1922–2010) is widely considered one of the most important and influential of our era. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, Zinn became convinced that there could no longer be such a thing as a “just war,” because the vast majority of victims in modern warfare are, increasingly, innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States, its companion volumeVoices of a People’s History of the United States, and countless other titles, Zinn affirms the power of the people to influence the course of events.

REBECCA STEFOFF is the author of more than 100 nonfiction books for children and young adults, and she has adapted several best-selling history books for younger readers.

A Note on this Edition
Introduction
Introduction by Ed Morale: A New Narrative

PART ONE
o   Columbus and American Indians
o   Black and White
o   Who Were the Colonists?
o   Tyranny is Tyranny
o   Revolutions
o   The Women of Early America
o   As Long as Grass Grows or Water Runs
o   War with Mexico
o   Slavery and Emancipation
o   The Other Civil War
o   Robber Barons and Rebels
o   The American Empire

PART TWO
o   Class Struggle
o   World War I
o   Hard Times
o   World War II and the Cold War
o   Black Revolt and Civil Rights
o   Vietnam
o   Surprises
o   The Latino Emergence
o   Under Control?
o   Politics as Usual
o   Resistance
o   The End of the Twentieth Century
o   The “War on Terrorism”
o   War in Iraq, Conflict at Home
o   Our Voices Need to be Heard
o   Conclusion by Howard Zinn: “Rise Like Lions”

Glossary
Index
About the Authors