1-4 Short Response: Historical Bias
What do you believe to be the major distinctions between the two's personal assumptions, beliefs, and values?
Some of the major distinctions that I noticed about Howard Zinn was his radical way of thinking how left-wing beliefs while written or taught were considered limited. Freedom was one thing that he valued deeply, which led him to believe that the government would use the armed forces and police as ways to fight the political system.
The distinctions that I noticed about Larry Schweikart was in his conservative way of thinking and his views on history limited the amount of knowledge that could be learned. He very much valued the power of economy and success. His value on history was that too much knowledge would distort the content.
What do you believe to be the major distinctions in their interpretations of history?
While reading both of their interpretations you can develop a sense of mixed messages. While Zinn looks back into history as a form of being able to develop changes while learning from the mistakes made in the past. In the other hand Schweikart's uses history in a form of patriotism on the results of the events. And even though both of them are recalling history, one can interpret
choosing to be patriotic and have great pride of their background, others may seem to just avoid revisiting the reality of their history.
.Do you notice any bias? If so, what are they?
We can see that by Zinn's experiences he is confronted with being bias. His interaction with police made him have a different concept towards government. His way of thinking completely changed after experiencing exactly what the people complained about. This was one encounter that changed his way of thinking on how cruel reality can be in history while proclaiming change.
Schweikart's is bias by having sole faith in the victories the U.S. has achieved and promoting the goodness in being a proud American. He focusses in the accounts of victory within historical events and those who achieve those victories, and not on those who show resistance. His way of wanting everyone to have a sense of patriotism, makes it a bias way of thinking and how history is remembered.