This chapter brings to life the reasons why the Colonies dealt and continue to deal with racial divisions and complications today. In the beginning Howard Zinn discusses the first ship to bring slaves to the North American colonies, forever changing its culture and values. He then goes on to describe why the slaves gained popularity amongst the colonies by depicting the colonists desire to make money as fast as possible. This concept is further demonstrated by the account he provides that depict the immense amount of profit a slave could bring in for a slave owner. However, at the same time the colonists were making money, the slave were being mistreated, abused, and exploited for their physical ignorance, regarding their new home (the New World). He gives examples of their passage, and recollects how the slaves revolted against the whites on multiple occasions. However from this conflict, the conditions only got worse for the slaves as the influential, racist colonists established laws that physically oppressed the slaves. Howard Zinn’s point of view regarding the use of slaves is clearly negative and sympathetic. He paints his compassion for the slaves as representing the European slave traders solely as “heartless monsters” that would subjugate peoples, and send peoples to be separated and abused in a new continent. Essentially, in this chapter, the plights of the slaves are blamed on the existence of the slave trade, which was inspired by the colonist desire for cheap labor to run their profitable cash crop
This chapter brings to life the reasons why the Colonies dealt and continue to deal with racial divisions and complications today. In the beginning Howard Zinn discusses the first ship to bring slaves to the North American colonies, forever changing its culture and values. He then goes on to describe why the slaves gained popularity amongst the colonies by depicting the colonists desire to make money as fast as possible. This concept is further demonstrated by the account he provides that depict the immense amount of profit a slave could bring in for a slave owner. However, at the same time the colonists were making money, the slave were being mistreated, abused, and exploited for their physical ignorance, regarding their new home (the New World). He gives examples of their passage, and recollects how the slaves revolted against the whites on multiple occasions. However from this conflict, the conditions only got worse for the slaves as the influential, racist colonists established laws that physically oppressed the slaves. Howard Zinn’s point of view regarding the use of slaves is clearly negative and sympathetic. He paints his compassion for the slaves as representing the European slave traders solely as “heartless monsters” that would subjugate peoples, and send peoples to be separated and abused in a new continent. Essentially, in this chapter, the plights of the slaves are blamed on the existence of the slave trade, which was inspired by the colonist desire for cheap labor to run their profitable cash crop