Weblog 3. History is a Weapon / We Have a Story to Tell

It is surprising at how much the point of view and who is telling the story affects accounts of history and what is taught. The same story and events can can come across differently depending on the author (the difference between historiography and history). This can be seen in "History is a Weapon" by Zinn and "We Have a Story to Tell: The Native Peoples of the Chesapeake Region" by Gabrielle Tayac and Edwin Schupman. Zinn presents a side of "Columbus, The Indians, and Human Progress" that is rarely heard or discussed. He describes in detail the pain and destruction the Native Americans experienced. "Not able to enslave the Indians, and not able to live with them, the English decided to exterminate them." Exterminate, unfortunately, is a light term used for what the English did to the Indians. Zinn continues in detail what was done to the Indians, making it almost impossible to not sympathize and pity them. This side of the story is rarely heard making it even more shocking and upsetting. I'm sure very few people know of mass suicides and mothers killing their own infants. This part of history is largely overlooked. "To emphasize the heroism of Columbus and his successors as navigators and discoverers, and to de-emphasize their genocide, is not a technical necessity but an ideological choice." Historiographers have chosen to tell the 'good' side of the story, hiding much of the truth of what really happened. In the end, it is a choice of how the story is presented. Although painful to read, it is important that this side of the story is acknowledged.

The Tayac and Schupman article discusses the negatives that the Native Americans experienced but with a stronger sense of hope for them. It seems more of how the Indians overcame their torture and how they attempted to survive it. From reading the article you still feel sympathetic yet hopeful for the Native Americans and not as resentful toward the English. The fact that the Europeans took over and destroyed much of Native American lives and land is brought up, but not as detailed and gruesome as Zinn's description. It discusses "Wars, loss of land, social upheaval, and disease combined to devastate Native communities." (p. 7) The treaties of that time were discussed in this article, making the Europeans seem somewhat peaceful and not as violent. However, "While the treaties sounded good on paper, most of their provisions were not enforced. English settlers moved onto reservation lands and restricted Native uses of non-reservation lands." (p. 8)
Overall, both articles present the little-known side of the story yet still give a different perspective of the situation. This raises the issue of how and what part of the story is to be taught in schools...