titled
the opening chapter of his A Peoples History of the United States
Columbus, the Indians and Human Progress to further establish his argument, discussed in his
introduction, that the discovery of America represented anything but progress to the people
who already lived here, the indigenous tribes or Native Americans. Zinn begins this chapter with
the following quote from Christopher Columbuss journal, in which the European explorer describes
an early encounter with a native tribe:
They . . . brought
us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the
glass beads and hawks' bells. They willingly traded everything they owned... . They were
well-built, with good bodies and handsome features. . . . They do not bear arms, and do not know
them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.
They have no iron. Their spears are made of cane. . . . They would make
fine...
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