A Study Of Howard Zinn’s Historiography

Howard Zinn( 1922,08,24 — 2010,01,27) is a prominent New Left School historian in U.S.. He is also a committed activist of Civil Rights Movement and Anti-Vietnam War Movement. From his perspective, the world we are living in is a world where conflicts are ubiquitous and innocent victims and relentless executioners coexist. He views the history from the eyes of the ordinary people, not political or economical elites. In his magnum opus “A People’s History of the United States”, Zinn shows his readers the misery of the lower and the weak and their defiance and struggles throughout the whole tome. He chooses to be on the side of the underdogs that had been rendered oblivious by textbooks for the simple and yet crucial reasons that he believes, “The cries of the poor might not necessarily be right themselves. However, should you fail to hear them, you will never know what justice is.”In this thesis, I intend to take a deep analysis of Zinn’s historical thought and the achievements as well as the drawbacks of his historiography by reading and digesting his monographs and other works. Having done that, I would like to make an objective overall comment on his historiography.The thesis is composed of three parts: foreword, main body and epilogue. The main body includes the following three chapters.Chapter One starts with Zinn’s life as an individual and his teaching career.Chapter Two mainly focuses on elaborating his historical thoughts in the following three aspects: racism, class struggle and Vietnam War.Chapter Three elaborates the accomplishments and drawbacks of his historiography.