Tyranny Is Tyranny - Book Report/Review Example

Tyranny is Tyranny The founding fathers of the United s of America had the vision of a nation that would serve as a savior to the American continent from the instrumentality of the colonial administrators. However, the accomplishment of this vision remains a subject of discourse as critics had faulted the various policies that had been put in place to achieve this motive. The expansionist policy as part of the policy adopted had been seen as a policy that positioned the country at a vantage point to acquire native lands belonging to the Indians as a measure of protecting the nation from foreign aggression (Fraden 125).

In Chapter four of the book, People’s History of the US by Howard Zinn; the author used the phrase to discuss the inequality that was prevalent in the society as a result of the stratification caused by the prevailing system in the nation (Zinn 74). The system led to the mobilization of the masses by the few affluent citizens in the society. The book analyzed the motive for this action as beneficial to the rich who only uses the masses as a means to their ends. Chapter three of the book buttresses the claims made in the fourth chapter by using the “six parts of seven” analogy to explain the social stratification that was imminent in society.

The author explained that the prevalence of the poor in society has been the instrument in the hands of the rich to channel the much-needed transformation in society. Meanwhile, at the end of the struggle, the poor remain at the bottom of the social cadre regardless of the efforts made in the accomplishment of such a struggle (Zinn 84). The chapter centers on the role of the British colonist in the discovery of the American continent and the exploitation of the potential of the native occupants (Indians).

As a reaction to the notion portrayed by the author in the book, the American state was not a creation for the occupation of more territories but as a stronghold for the protection of the growing continent from external aggression. Most especially from the incursion of great European powers such as Spain and the Portuguese, whose activities in the continent pose a major threat to the young nation. The acquisition of the Indian Territory could be seen as a defensive tactic to form a defensive alliance that would strengthen the nation’s security system at a time when the powers of the French and Spanish colonists remained unchecked.

The author posited that American society was built around a racial discrimination context. The crux of the white dissent was the fear of the black and the Indian population from outnumbering the white population. Nevertheless, the actual truth is that the black and Indian population constitutes the production base of the American economy (Goldstein 97). As opposed to the notion portrayed by the author, American independence brought about resentment for the slave trade and the era marked the prohibition of slavery in the United States of America.