What Is History Partial?

We commonly look back and refer to history in order to progress. When we refer to the past, we are educated of our mistakes and can strive from our successes. However, we are not always truthfully exposed to everything that has happened in the past because things have either been left out, hidden or we have been diverted to other stories distracting us from them. Howard Zinn (51) argues that there is no such thing as impartial history, there is always two sides to every story. All history is partial because no matter who tells it, all the details cannot be accounted for. Things are often left out or diverted from and what is told is often only a small portion of what actually happened. It is also partial because information is either emphasized …show more content…
Public officials and parliamentarians pay lip-service to the past only when it serves a political purpose” (Dick 263). This quote shows that the government only pays attention to history when it serves them purpose and they have something to gain from it. They omit and overlook many disturbing facts and events occurring in our society while highlighting others. They highlight the successes but not the catastrophic affairs that may have occurred to get that end. There is a temptation to hold onto beliefs and view the romanticized perspective of the U.S, and ignore the intolerable facts. Christopher Columbus’ journey and conquest for example, involved many omissions that were untold of or not discovered until long after they occurred. We were taught of his story involving skill and courage leading to the discovery of the western hemisphere (Zinn 56). His greed for gold resulting in the mutilation, enslavement and murders of the Indians who greeted him in friendly innocence however, was excluded making this a partial account (Zinn 56). His technical competence was valued over the human consequence of the indian’s lives, which could have been considered genocide because he destroyed their population (Zinn 56). Colombus’ logs found afterward showed that he knew the Indians seemed to have no knowledge of weapons and gave him gifts. Bartolomeo de la Casas, a young priest in the conquest of Cuba revealed that Columbus thought the Indians would make fine servants and being so anxious to please the king he committed these irreparable crimes against them (Zinn 57). There’s no doubt Columbus did have courage and skill and was an extraordinary sailor and explorer, but these things about him were hidden from our knowledge to make him seem like an unflawed hero. We are frequently told