Honors U.S. History I
Summer Assignment 2014
Howard Zinn – A People’s History of the United States
Your first assignment as a sophomore honors student enrolled in Honors U.S. History I is to
acquire a copy of the book, read at least the first three chapters carefully prior to the start of the school
year. I suggest you highlight, question, and annotate specific passages from the book as you read.
Below, you will find several assignments you should complete as you work your way through the book.
The questions may help you with the assigned essays and all will be collected during the first week of
school when you return from summer break.
Assignment 1: A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
1. Read the first three chapters.
2. Answer the attached questions in complete sentences citing specific information from the text. Your
responses should be handwritten in blue or black ink only. Please put your name (first and last)
followed by the date on the top line.
Chapter 1: Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress
1. How did the Arawaks greet Columbus and his men? (Use the excerpts from Columbus’ journal)
2. What were the Arawaks known for and why was this remarkable to the Europeans?
3. Why had the Spanish monarchs financed the Columbus expedition?
4. How did gold earrings lead to the Arawak’s downfall?
5. Evaluate the ways that Columbus attempted to pay back his dividends.
6. What way(s) did the Arawaks fight Columbus’ actions?
7. What were encomiendas?
8. Who was Bartolome de las Casas and what was his significance?
9. Describe the treatment of women in the Arawak culture?
10. Explain Zinn’s statement of, “Total control led to total cruelty.”
11. Why is Zinn critical of “Columbus Day”?
12. Why is Zinn critical of Harvard Historian Samuel Eliot Morison?
13. How does Zinn argue that historians have justified Columbus’ genocide of the Arawaks?
14. What “lens of history” does Zinn examine history through? Which “lens” does he avoid? Why does
he feel this is necessary?
15. Describe Cortes’ conquest of the Aztecs.
16. Describe Pizzaro’s conquests.
17. How were the English colonial settlements similar to that of the Spanish?
18. How did the Pilgrims and Puritans respond to the “Indian problem”?
19. What was the Pequot War?
20. What, does Zinn argue, is the sacrifice of human progress?
21. Describe the Native American peoples of the North and South American continent that Columbus
considered “inferior”.
Chapter 2: Drawing the Color Line
22. What is significant about J. Saunders Redding’s description of the arrival of a ship in 1619?
23. How did slavery develop? How did racism develop along with it?
24. What elements of helplessness led to the Africans continued enslavement?
25. Describe the African civilization during the time of colonization.
26. Describe the conditions on a slave ship.
27. Describe the treatment of slaves early in the colonies.
28. Describe slave resistance.
29. What did slave owners consistently avoid? What methods did they use to avoid it?
30. When was the first large scale slave revolt? Why was it significant?
31. Why was it feared that whites would join slave revolts? How was this prevented?
Chapter 3: Persons of Mean and Vile Condition
32. Describe Bacon’s Rebellion
33. How did Bacon’s Rebellion come to symbolize the class struggle, even though Bacon himself was a
part of the wealthy class?
34. How were people oppressed in colonial Virginia?
35. How was the indentured servants Atlantic crossing similar to that of the slave?
36. Describe the conditions indentured servants endured. How did the indentured servants rebel?
37. Describe how the “mother country’s” class system was established and preserved in the colonies.
38. What happened on May 19, 1713?
39. What caused Britain to raise taxes that resulted in higher unemployment and poverty?
40. Why was there a desire to appease the poor whites?
41. What combination did the wealthy white planters fear? How did Bacon’s Rebellion realize this fear?
42. How did the consequences for Bacon’s Rebellion differ? What was the hope of these consequences?
Assignment 2: Free Response Question Reflection
Below is a sample Free Response Question.
Evaluate the influence of religion on the development of colonial society in TWO of the following
regions
The Spanish Southwest
New England
New France
Read the attached essay sample and answer the following questions
1. What is the writer’s thesis?
2. List at least 5 pieces of outside information used by the writer (term, person, statistic, etc)
3. What outside information might you add?
Assignment 3: Free Response Question Essays
Answer both of the following questions in essay format. Cite relevant historical evidence in support of
your assertions and present your arguments clearly and logically. Once you have planned and outlined,
do not write for more than 30 minutes per essay.
1. “Geography was the primary factor in shaping the development of British colonies in North
America.”
Assess the validity of this statement for the period of the 1600s.
2. Compare the ways in which two of the following reflected tensions in colonial society
a. Bacon’s Rebellion
b. Pueblo Revolt
c. Salem Witch Trials
FREE-RESPONSE QUESTION Rubric
Characteristic
Thesis
Understanding
of the Question
Analysis
Supporting
Information
Grammar and
Structure
Organization
and Writing
Style
Score 10-9
Score 8-6
Clear, well developed
thesis
Contains a clear thesis
with limited
development
Understands
complexity of the
question; deals with all
parts of the question in
depth
Limited or lack of
understanding of
complexity; may deal
with one part of the
question in some depth,
or in a more general way
Limited analysis, mostly
describes
Provides effective
analysis of the
question; some
imbalance permissible
Supports thesis with
substantial, relevant
information
May contain
insignificant errors
Well organized and
well written
Supports thesis with
some factual information
May contain minor
errors that do not detract
from overall essay
Clearly organized and
written, but not
exceptional
Score 5-3
Score 2-0
Lacks a thesis, or
thesis may be
confused or
underdeveloped
Ignores complexity;
may deal with one
part of the question,
or all elements of the
question in a
superficial way
Weak or
inappropriate analysis
No thesis
Lacks supporting
information, or
information given is
minimal
May contain major
errors
Incompetent,
inappropriate
responses
Weak organization
and writing
Disorganized and
poorly written
May simply
paraphrase or restate
the question
No analysis
Contains many major
or minor errors