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Book cover for A Young People's History of the United States
Book cover for A Young People's History of the United States

The seminal American history book for middle grade and high school readers, now revised and updated for the centennial of Howard Zinn's birth.

“A brilliant and moving history of the American people from the point of view of those who have been exploited … the book is an excellent antidote to establishment history.” –Library Journal

With new contributions by Latinx scholar Ed Morales and adapter Rebecca Stefoff, based on newly available scholarship, here is a new and revised edition of Howard Zinn's seminal text, A Young People's History of the United States. A new chapter, introduction, conclusion and further updates throughout the book expand our understanding of Latinx history in the US through the political movements and cultural contributions of Latino Americans, as well as expanded coverage of Native history and Asian American activism. 
 
This now-classic work of radical and activist US history gives readers 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 worker's rights, women's rights, and civil rights during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, and ending with the recent protests against continued American imperialism, Howard 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.

Book cover for A Young People's History of the United States
Book cover for A Young People's History of the United States

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A Young People's History of the United States offers students a valuable tool to learn outside the textbook.”

“Zinn's work exemplifies an approach to history that is radical, regardless of its subject or geographical location. He tells us the untold story, the story of the world's poor, the world's workers, the world's homeless, the world's oppressed, the people who don't really qualify as real people in official histories. Howard Zinn painstakingly unearths the details that the powerful seek to airbrush away. He brings official secrets and forgotten histories out into the light, and in doing so, changes the official narrative that the powerful have constructed for us. He strips the grinning mask off the myth of the benign American Empire. To not read Howard Zinn is to do a disservice to yourself.”

“[Zinn] gives a real insight into history that is often left out of textbooks. Highly recommended.”

blog — November 07

“A New Narrative” by Ed Morales: Introduction to the new edition of A Young People’s History of the United States

Sixteen years after its initial publication, we are proud to share a much expanded new edition of Howard Zinn and Rebecca Stefoff’s A Young People's History of the United States. This new edition, which features significant contributions by writer and scholar Ed Morales, offers updated language throughout, as well as new sections serving to expand our understanding of Latinx history in the US through the political movements and cultural contributions of Latino Americans, as well as expanded coverage of Native history and Asian American activism. 

To celebrate the release of this new edition, also available for the first time in Spanish, we are pleased to share Ed Morales's introductory note, presented in both languages thanks to the deft translation into Spanish by Hugo García Manríquez.

A NEW NARRATIVE

BY ED MORALES

When I was in grade school, I was fascinated by maps. In my earliest notebooks, I drew maps representing where I grew up: New York City, then New York State, and finally all of the United States. One day I was looking at a map in a textbook that showed the Americas, North and South. In the Caribbean Sea I saw the island where my parents were from. The map read “Puerto Rico,” with “(U.S.)” in parentheses underneath the words.

I asked my dad why it said that Puerto Rico belongs to the United States. Did that mean it wasn’t its own country? “No,” he said. “Puerto Rico is a country. Puerto Rico is my country.” 

That was the moment that I realized that the status the United States had given to my father’s homeland was that of a “possession.” It was a land that, as a famous 1901 U.S. Supreme Court decision called Downes v. Bidwell decided, belonged to America but was not part of it. In a way, the island had a double identity, and I felt something like that within myself. Even as I was growing up as an English-speaking New Yorker, playing American sports, watching American television, immersed in American culture, those influences were mixed with something else—my parents’ Puerto Rican culture—that wasn’t going away any time soon. 

I was born into what could be called the Nuyorican generation. Nuyorican is a label that came from mixing together “New York” and “Puerto Rican.” The Nuyorican generation were the children of Puerto Ricans who had migrated to places like New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago. They created a bilingual, bicultural mix that pointed to the future of America, to the era of multicultural and multiracial diversity that is rapidly becoming the reality in twenty-first-century America. 

The Nuyorican generation arose in parallel with other hybrid cultures created by the children of immigrants from much of Latin America. The Chicanos of the West Coast and the Southwest mixed Mexican culture, Native culture, and the cultures of American cities like Los Angeles, Tucson, and El Paso. In South Florida, the 1.5 Generation of Cuban Americans blended memories of Havana, the capital of their former island home, into their new home in Miami. To the north, Dominicans found a little bit of Santo Domingo, the capital of the Dominican Republic, in their new home, the part of Manhattan known as Washington Heights. 

The narrative of these mixed cultural identities is a little-told part of American history. Yet they were never isolated from or outside the mainstream. Instead, they developed alongside the central trends in American culture. The perspective of Latin American descendants in the United States is a crucial part of understanding our history and seeing where the country is going. For that reason I am pleased to contribute three new elements to this edition of Howard Zinn’s A Young People’s History of the United States. In addition to this introduction, there are two new chapters. “The Latino Emergence” focuses on the major movements of the 1960s and 1970s. “Our Voices Need to Be Heard” brings the story into the twenty-first century, when, like members of many other communities and groups, Latino Americans continue to make their voices heard in politics, activism, and culture. 

As Cuban orator, writer, and anti-colonial warrior José Martí argued, the idea of “America” being limited to the continental states of North America—Canada, the United States, and Mexico—erases the fact that the Americas are both Anglo and Latin. They were colonized by European powers, but they are also places where common folk came together in a mix of racial backgrounds and social classes that made the Americas truly a “New World.” Along with, and often intertwined with, the narratives of Native Americans, Black people, and Asian Americans, the narratives of Latino Americans are an essential part of the people’s history of the United States. 

Latinos are also a political and cultural force in the present moment. Immigrants and their descendants from twenty-one different countries in Latin America make up about 17 percent of the total U.S. population. They are the second largest group in the country, and for a time they were the fastest-growing subgroup of the total population. In the early years of the twenty-first century, though, the growth of the Latino population slowed due to a lag in the American economy. People of Asian descent then became the fastest-growing population subgroup. 

Latino communities are concentrated in different proportions in various regions of the country. The Northeast Corridor has one of the most diverse Latino populations. The nation’s most populous Puerto Rican and Dominican communities have long existed there, and the numbers of Mexicans, Ecuadoreans, and other South American groups are increasing. South Florida has had the biggest Cuban communities, as well as some Puerto Ricans and South Americans. The largest communities of Mexicans and Central Americans are centered in California and the Southwest.

Sometimes stigmatized as foreigners, at other times targeted as consumers and voters, Latinos are often misunderstood. Most are fully proficient in English by the third generation. They eagerly take part in the social and cultural rites of the mainstream culture of the United States. In general they are also very involved in civic responsibilities. The Latino contribution to U.S. culture is more influential than is often recognized. Is there any popular icon more all-American than the cowboy? That character has Mexican origins. Roots rock and roll has strong Cuban influences. And urban Latinos contributed to the origins of the spoken word style of poetry and hip-hop. 

Latinos have often created American history through interaction with the many other immigrant and Native groups that are also integral parts of the national story, along with the African people brought to the Americas as slaves. In the Southwest, Mexicans share an intertwined history with Native American tribes and Anglo migrants to California and Texas. During the mid-nineteenth century, Mexicans living along what is now the U.S.–Mexico border were part of the “southern underground railroad” that helped enslaved Black people escape to freedom in Mexico, which ended slavery before the United States did. In the Northeast, Puerto Ricans and Cubans shared space in mambo dancehalls with European immigrants, and they shared rapping and breakdancing with Black and Afro-Caribbean people. In Chicago, Puerto Ricans and Mexicans have joined with Black and white voters to elect some of the country’s first mayors and other officials of color. 

As we move forward into the twenty-first century, barriers remain to be overcome if we are to fully understand not just the role of Latinos in U.S. history and culture but also the relationship between the United States and its Latin neighbors in the Americas. The southern border of the United States projects American strength, but it is also a site of controversy. Within the borders of the United States, many people distrust those who hold on to their native language, which has led to people being attacked simply for speaking Spanish to one another in public. Citizenship, not merely as a legal status but as a narrow vision of who can be considered “American,” is still used as a weapon against Latinos. This new edition of A Young People’s History of the United States attempts to weave the narrative thread of Latinos into the larger context of American history, uniting our contributions with those of all the people who together make up the history of these United States.


UNA NUEVA NARRATIVA

POR ED MORALES

Cuando cursaba la escuela primaria me fascinaban los mapas. Mis primeros cuadernos estaban llenos de dibujos de mapas que representaban los lugares donde había crecido: la Ciudad de Nueva York, luego el estado de Nueva York, y finalmente todo Estados Unidos. Un día estaba viendo un mapa incluido en un libro de texto que mostraba el continente americano, Norte y Sur. En el Mar Caribe reconocí la isla donde mis padres habían nacido. El mapa decía “Puerto Rico”, y debajo de estas palabras, entre paréntesis, “(US)”.

Le pregunté a mi padre por qué decía que Puerto Rico pertenecía a Estados Unidos. ¿Eso significaba que no era un país propiamente? “No”, me respondió. “Puerto Rico es un país. Puerto Rico es mi país”.

En ese momento entendí que el estatus que Estados Unidos había otorgado a la patria de mi padre era el de una “posesión”. Era un territorio que, tal como lo había establecido la famosa decisión llamada Downes v. Bidwell, de los tribunales de la Suprema Corte estadounidense, pertenecía a Estados Unidos pero no era parte de éste. De cierta manera, la isla tenía una doble identidad, y yo sentía algo parecido en mi interior. Aunque crecí como un neoyorquino cuya lengua era el inglés, jugando deportes estadounidenses, viendo programas de televisión estadounidense, inmerso en la cultura estadounidense, esas influencias estaban mezcladas con algo más: la cultura puertorriqueña de mis dos padres. Eso no iba a desaparecer pronto. 

Nací como parte de lo que puede llamarse la generación “Nuyorican”. Nuyorican es una categoría que viene de la mezcla de “Nueva York” y “Puerto Rican”. La generación nuyorican estaba formada por los hijos de puertorriqueños que habían emigrado a lugares como Nueva York, Filadelfia y Chicago. Crearon una mezcla bicultural y bilingüe que apuntaba hacia el futuro de Estados Unidos, a una era de diversidad multicultural y multirracial que rápidamente se ha convertido en la realidad del siglo veintiuno en Estados Unidos.

La generación nuyorican se erigió de forma paralela a otras culturas híbridas creadas por hijos de inmigrantes de casi todos los rincones de Latinoamérica. Los chicanos en la costa oeste y el suroeste mezclaron la cultura mexicana e indígena, además de la cultura de ciudades estadounidenses como Los Ángeles, Tucson, y El Paso. En el sur de Florida, la Generación 1.5 de cubanoamericanos combinó los recuerdos de La Habana, la capital de su antigua patria, con sus nuevos hogares en Miami. Al norte, los dominicanos encontraron un poco de Santo Domingo, la capital de República Dominicana, en su nuevo hogar, la sección de Manhattan conocida como Washington Heights.

La narrativa de estas identidades culturales múltiples es una parte de la historia estadounidense de la que poco se habla. Sin embargo, nunca estuvieron aisladas o fuera del mainstream. En lugar de eso, se desarrollaron a la par de las tendencias más populares de la cultura estadounidense. La perspectiva de los descendientes latinoamericanos en los Estados Unidos es parte crucial para entender nuestra historia y saber hacia dónde se dirige nuestro país. Por esa razón, me llena de gusto contribuir con tres nuevas secciones a esta edición de La historia del pueblo de Estados Unidos para jóvenes, de Howard Zinn. Además de esta introducción, hay dos nuevos capítulos. “La emergencia latina” se enfoca en los principales movimientos en 1960 y 1970. “Nuestras voces deben ser escuchadas” trae la historia hasta el siglo veintiuno, momento en el cual, como los miembros de otras muchas comunidades y grupos, los estadounidenses latinos continúan haciendo que sus voces sean oídas en la política, el activismo y la cultura. 

Tal como lo declaró el orador cubano José Martí, escritor y guerrero anti-colonial, una idea de “América” limitada a las naciones continentales de Norteamérica —Canadá, Estados Unidos y México— borra el hecho de que el continente americano es anglo y latino. Fue colonizado por poderes europeos, pero también es un lugar donde personas comunes y corrientes confluyeron en una mezcla racial y de clases sociales que hicieron del continente americano un verdadero “Nuevo Mundo”. Entretejidas con las de indígenas estadounidenses, afroamericanos y asiaticoestadounidenses, las narrativas de los latinos estadounidenses son parte esencial de la historia del pueblo de los Estados Unidos.

Los latinos son también una fuerza política y cultural del presente. Los inmigrantes y sus descendientes, provenientes de veintiún países latinoamericanos, representan el 17 por ciento de la población de los Estados Unidos. Son, además, el grupo más numeroso del país, y durante una época fueron el subgrupo de mayor crecimiento del total de la población. A inicios del siglo vein-tiuno, sin embargo, el crecimiento de la población latina disminuyó debido a una desaceleración en la economía estadounidense. Las personas de descendencia asiática se volvieron el subgrupo de mayor crecimiento en el total de la población.

Las comunidades latinas se encuentran concentradas en diferentes proporciones por distintas regiones del país. El Corredor Noreste posee una de las poblaciones latinas más diversas. Las comunidades puertorriqueñas y dominicanas más numerosas han vivido ahí por mucho tiempo, y la cantidad de mexicanos, ecuatorianos y otros grupos sudamericanos va en aumento. El sur de Florida cuenta con los grupos cubanos más grandes, así como algunos puertorriqueños y sudamericanos. Las comunidades más numerosas de mexicanos y centroamericanos se encuentran en California y el suroeste. 

Estigmatizados a veces como extranjeros, otras veces buscados como consumidores y votantes, los latinos con frecuencia son malentendidos. En el caso de la tercera generación, la mayoría es ya totalmente competente en el uso del inglés y participa con entusiasmo en los rituales sociales y culturales de la cultura dominante de los Estados Unidos. En general, también está muy involucrada en las responsabilidades cívicas. La contribución latina a la cultura estadounidense ejerce una influencia mucho mayor de lo que suele reconocerse. ¿Hay un ícono popular más estadounidense que el vaquero? Ese personaje tiene orígenes mexicanos. El rock and roll tiene fuertes raíces cubanas. Y los latinos de las zonas urbanas contribuyeron a los orígenes del estilo de poesía spoken word y el hip-hop. 

Los latinos a menudo han trazado su historia estadounidense por medio de la interacción con otros grupos de inmigrantes e indígenas, que también son parte integral de la historia nacional, junto con los africanos traídos al continente americano como personas esclavizadas. En el suroeste, la historia de los mexicanos está entretejida con la de las tribus indígenas estadounidenses e inmigrantes anglosajones, en California y Texas. A mediados del siglo XIX, los mexicanos que vivían a lo largo de lo que ahora es la frontera entre EE. UU. y México formaban parte del “ferrocarril subterráneo del sur”, el cual ayudó a afroamericanos esclavizados a escapar hacia la libertad en México, donde se puso fin a la esclavitud antes que en los Estados Unidos. En el noreste, puertorriqueños y cubanos convivieron en salones de mambo con inmigrantes europeos, y disfrutaban del rap y breakdance con afroamericanos y negros de origen caribeño. En Chicago, puertorriqueños y mexicanos se unieron a votantes afroamericanos y blancos para elegir a quienes serían algunos de los primeros alcaldes y otros funcionarios del país.

A medida que avanza el siglo XXI, quedan aún barreras por superar, si queremos comprender plenamente no solo el papel de los latinos en la historia y la cultura de los Estados Unidos, sino también la relación entre los Estados Unidos y sus vecinos latinos a lo largo del continente americano. La frontera sur de los Estados Unidos proyecta el dominio estadounidense, pero también es un espacio en disputa. Dentro del territorio estadounidense, quienes desconfían de aquellos que se aferran a su idioma originario han provocado ataques contra personas simplemente por el hecho de hablar español entre sí en público. La ciudadanía, no solo como un estatus legal sino como una visión limitada de quién puede ser considerado “estadounidense”, todavía es usada como arma contra los latinos. Esta nueva edición de La historia del pueblo de Estados Unidos para jóvenes busca entretejer el hilo narrativo de los latinos con el contexto mayor de la historia estadounidense, uniendo nuestras contribuciones con las de todas aquellas personas que, juntas, componen la historia de estos Estados Unidos.


ED MORALES is a journalist, professor, poet and author of several books including Latinx: The New Force in Politics and Culture and Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico.

Howard Zinn

HOWARD ZINN’s (1922–2010) great subject isn’t war, but peace. After his experience as a bombardier in World War II, he became convinced that there could be no such thing as a “just war,” as the vast majority of modern warfare’s victims are made up of innocent civilians. In his books, including A People’s History of the United States and its companion volume, Voices of a People’s History of the United States, Zinn affirms the power of the masses to influence major events. Through a lifetime of pointed scholarship and principled civil disobedience, his oeuvre continues to inform and inspire activists, scholars, and change-makers around the world.

Check out A Road Map to Howard Zinn's Writings Published by Seven Stories Press here.

Rebecca Stefoff

Rebecca Stefoff has devoted her career to writing nonfiction books for young readers. Her publications include histories, literary biographies, an encyclopedia of maps, and numerous books on science and environmental issues. She has also adapted a number of landmark works in history and science, include Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, Jared Diamond's The Third Chimpanzee, Charles C. Mann's bestselling 1493, Jill Jonnes's Eiffel's Tower, and Ronald Takaki's A Different Mirror for Young People: A History of Multicultural America.

ED MORALES is a journalist, professor, poet and author of several books including Latinx: The New Force in Politics and Culture and Fantasy Island: Colonialism, Exploitation, and the Betrayal of Puerto Rico.

Other books by Howard Zinn