A Young People's History of the United States

Introduction-Part 1, Chapter 5

Reading Check

1. War, racism, and economic injustice (Introduction)

2. The Arawaks, the Incas, the Aztecs, and/or the Powhatan Confederacy (Part 1, Chapter 1)

3. 2/5 (Part 1, Chapter 2)

4. Class conflict (Part 1, Chapter 3)

Short Answer

1. Zinn thinks it is important to adapt his original book for young readers because he wants students and other young readers to learn how to be critical by confronting unpleasant truths. He thinks it is wrong to treat young people as if they are not mature enough to look at their nation’s policies honestly. (Introduction)

Part 1, Chapters 6-9

Reading Check

1. The Declaration of Principles (Part 1, Chapter 6)

2. Manifest Destiny (Part 1, Chapter 8)

3. 4 million enslaved people (Part 1, Chapter 9)

4. The Fugitive Slave Act (Part 1, Chapter 9)

Short Answer

1. “Speculation” was the process of wealthy Americans buying up huge pieces of land with the intention of selling it later for great profit. This process not only continued the movement of white settlers into new western territories, but it also had the larger consequence of displacing Indigenous communities from their land.