A People's History of the United States

The central theme of A People’s History is that class struggle defines American society. That struggle sits at the heart of this book, from the Spanish conquests to the recent presidents. Readers might think that this struggle is inevitable and unwinnable. But in many ways, the book is intended to be encouraging to future activists. Zinn declares that the book’s goal is to “remind people of what the Establishment would like them to forget—the enormous capacity of apparently helpless people to resist, of apparently contented people to demand change” (634). The book is as much about the strengths inherent in the working class as it is about the ways the elites have shaped society.

In many chapters, Zinn chooses to linger on the victories of social movements, to dissect the tactics and strengths that enabled them. The book also foregrounds many instances in which protests, strikes, and activism made a positive impact on people’s lives. Rather than producing nebulous, easy to dismiss rights, the activism Zinn promotes improves working conditions, raises wages, and ends wars. For example, when he discusses the 1960s, Zinn highlights how Black activists pioneered tactics of civil disobedience in Montgomery. Rosa Parks found a way to subvert the system and challenge her local power dynamics in ways that could not be ignored or misunderstood.