PEOPLE'S HISTORY AMERICAN EMPIRE A GRAPHIC ADAPTATION Howard Zinn Mike Konopacki ~ Paul Buhle METROPOLITAN BOOKS HENRY HOLT AND COMPANY YORK -Metropolitan Books Heary Holt and Company, LLC Publishers since 1866 175 Fifth Avenue [New York, New York 10010 ‘www henryholt.com Metropolitan Books® and BP are registered trademarks of Henry Holt and Company, LLC. Copyright © 2008 by Howard Zinn, Mike Konopacki, and Paul Buhle All rights reserved, Distributed in Canada by H. B. Fenn and Company Ltd Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Zinn, Howard, 1922 ‘A people's history of American empire / Howard Zina, Mike Konopacki, Paul Buble —Ist ed, pcm, Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978.0-8050.1779-7 (hardcover) ISBN-10: 0-8050-7779-0 (hardcover) ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8744-4 (pbk.) ISBN-10; 0-8050-8744-3 (pbk.) 1, United States—Foreign relasions—Comic books, strips, et. 2. United States— ‘Tervtorial expansion—Comic books, strips, etc. 3. Imperialism—History—Comic books, sips, ete. 4, United States—Social conditions Comic books, strips, ete, 5, Social ‘movements —United States—History—Comie books, strips, ete. 6. Zinn, Howard, 1922-— Comic books, strips, ete. 7, Historians—United States—Biography—Comic books, strips, ete. 1. Konopacki, Mike. Il Buble, Paul, 1944~ IIL Tile. 183.7.756 2008 741.56973—e22 2007031150 ‘Henry Holt books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact: Director, Special Markets. First Edition 2008 Designed by Mike Konopacki Printed inthe United States of America 10987Chapter I THE INTERNAL EMPIRE “The massacre at Wounded Knee marked the domination of the continent by white men...but only certain white men.”The Massacre at Wounded Knee PLR RR ey a) aN Prete prea ean) Cercle Taelt i YEARS OF WAR AND GOVERNMENT SUPPRESSION DECIMATED SPIRITUAL MOVEMENT: THE GHOST DANCE, A BLEND OF INDIAN ‘THE REMAINING INDIANS OF THE WEST. THE BUFFALO, ON MYSTICISM AND CHRISTIANITY TAUGHT BY THE PAIUTE HOLY MAN WHICH THEIR FOOD, SHELTER, AND EVEN RELIGION DEPENDED, WOVOKA. THE SIOUX ADOPTED THE RITUAL, WHICH PROMISED TO ‘SUFFERED THE SANE FATE, DECLINING FROM 6O MILLION TO’ —-RESUIRRECT ALL. THE INDIANS AND BUFFALO’ SLAIN BY THE WHITE FEWER THAN 100 BY 1869. MOURNING THE DEMISE OF THEIR INVADER. THE EARTH, THEY BELIEVED, WOLLD BE DESTROYED PEOPLE, THE THEFT OF THEIR LNDS, AND THE DESTRUCTION AND RE-CREATED, THE WHITE MAN WOULD BE NO MORE, AND (OF THEIR WAY OF LIFE, THE INDIANS TURNED TO A NEW THE INDIANS WOULD REIGN ONCE ASAIN, 10 T reed DRIVEN OFF THE aru! ‘THE U.S. GOVERNMENT BANNED THE GHOST DANCE, BRANDING IT A SAVAGE SPECTACLE THAT FRIGHTENED WHITE SETTLERS. THE SIOLX'S NEW RITUAL SPURRED A U.S. AGENT AT THE PINE RIDGE RESERVATION IN SOUTH DAKOTA TO WIRE WASHINGTON, “INDIANS ARE DANCING IN THE SNOW AND ‘ARE WILD AND CRAZY. WE NEED PROTECTION,” eT THE ARMY WAS SENT TO ROUND UP THE SIOUX GHOST DANCERS. FEARFUL OF THE SOLDIERS, A BAND OF a 350 OSLALA SIOUX LED BY BIG FOOT BESAN A 'S0-MILE TREK THROUGH THE BADLANDS TO REACH THE "hes PROTECTION OF GHEE RED CLOUD, WHO HAD PROMISED FOOD, SHELTER, AND HORSES. THEY SOUGHT REFUGE a NEIR WOUNDED KNEE CREEK. 4 GROUP OF K90UT 500 TROOPERS FOLLOWED THEM eg eas a IT WAS DURING THE MOON OF POPPING TREES, Re ee eee WHEN T WAS 27 YEARS OLD, THAT T SAW THE ice nigee ev et asa ‘SOLDIERS RIDING OFF IN THE EVENING. el ee ee ea os MY NAME IS BLACK ELK. MY PEOPLE LIVED IN THE MIDNESTERN PLAINS OF NORTH AMERICA UNTIL WE WERE SENT TO PINE RIDGE. {I FELT THAT SOMETHING TERRIBLE WAS GOING TO HAPPEN THAT NIGHT, AND T COULD HARDLY SLEEP.HOKA HEY! THEY ‘ARE SHOOTING ‘OUR PEOPLE! WHar’s THAT? ‘SOUNDS Like WAGON 6UNS!* SADDLED UP MY HORSE AND PUT ‘ON MY SACRED SHIRT. IT WOLLD PROTECT ME FROM THE SOLDIERS’ BULLETS. HAD GONE ONLY & LITTLE WAY WHEN & BAND ‘OF YOUNG MEN GALLOPED PAST ME. To SEE WHERE THE SHOOTING IS ‘COMING FROM! WE RODE FAST. THERE WERE ABOUT 20 OF US NOW. THE SHOOTING WAS GETTING LOUDER, a4 tL os IN THE MORNING THE SOLDIERS BEGAN TO TAKE AWAY ALL OUR GLINS. THE PEOPLE HAD STACKED MOST OF THEIR GUNS BY THE TEEPE WHERE BIG FOOT WAS LYING SICK. SOLDIERS WERE ON THE LITTLE HILL, THE PEOPLE WERE NEARLY ‘SURROUNDED, WITH WAGON GUNS. POINTING AT THEM, SOME HAD NOT GIVEN UP THEIR GUNS, AND THE SOLDIERS WERE SEARCHING ALL THE TEEPEES,TWAS IN BIG FOOT'S TEEPEE. Irs. “AND THEN AN OFF caR aust THE RIDER FINISHED Wnar's AL THAT COMMOTION, YELLOW BIRD. He's IN AND KILLED 816 FOOT! HIS STORY AND RAN COVERED HIMSELF WITH A F OFF. THE REST OF US RODE TO THE TOP OF ‘THE WOMEN AND CHILDREN WERE TRYING TO RUN AWAY Ra han eorat Wh‘THE BRUTAL, UNNECESSARY VIOLENCE LASTED LESS THAN AN HOUR. THE SOLDIERS KILLED 250 INDIANS AND WOUNDED 50. A CIVILIAN BURIAL PARTY RETURNED TO THE MASSACRE SITE ON NEN YEAR'S DAY, 1831. GRAVE DIGGERS PULLED "WG BODIES FROM THE SNOW AND THREW THEM INTO & SINGLE BURIAL PIT. THEY EARNED $2 A BODY. ARMY CASUALTIES WERE 25 DEAD, 39 WOLINDED, MANY BY THEIR OWN CROSSFIRE. ‘ae =p.) . Wi NSS eA L ie ‘AA aus IT WAS DECEMBER 29, 1890, A SLINNY WINTER DAY. BUT A BLIZZARD SWEPT OVER THE COUNTRYSIDE THAT NIGHT. DAYS LATER, WHEN THE WEATHER CLEARED, THE VALLEV WAS STRENN WITH FROZEN AND CONTORTED BODIES. ‘THE PLAINS, INDIANS HAD AT LAST BEEN CONQUERED. THE ‘COLONIZATION OF THE WEST WAS COMPLETE. THE Mé 7 DOMINATION OF THE CONTINENT BY WHITE ‘MEN, BUT ONLY. AMONG THEM WAS 816 FOOT, THE OLD CHIEF, WHO HAD ALWAYS ADVOCATED PEACE WITH THE WHITE MAN. HIS BODY WAS. FROZEN IN DEATH.eer J. P. MORGAN THE SON OF & BANKER, SOLD RALROAD STOCKS FOR 6000. COMMISSIONS. DURING THE CIV/L WAR He BOUGHT 5,000 RIFLES. FOR $3.50 EACH FROM AN ARMY ARSENAL, THEN SOLD THEM TO A GENERAL IN THE FIELD FoR $22 EACH. BY 1900, 9. P. MORGAN, CONTROLLED 100,000 MILES OF RAILROAD, HALF THE TRACK IN THE COLINTRY. ee tcrn White fon Enya ey eam a JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER STARTED AS & BOOKKEEPER IN GLEVELAND AND BOUGHT HIS FIRST COIL REFINERY IN 1862, BY 1870, HE SET UP STANDARD OIL OF OHIO &ND MADE SECRET DEALS TO SHIP HIS Ol ON RAILROADS THAT GAVE KIM DISCOUNTS. IT DROVE HIS COMPETITORS OUT OF BUSINESS. BY 1899, HIS FORTUNE WAS ESTIMATED AT'$200 MILLION, WHILE THE ROBBER BARONS ENJOYED THEIR FABULOUS. RICHES, WORKERS PAID THE PRICE: DEATH AND MUTILATION FROM MINE CAVE~INS, FIRES, AND EXPLOSIONS, IN STEEL AND TEXTILE MLS, THOUSANDS DIED OR WERE CRIPPLED. ri JAY BOULD BORN POOR, BECAME ONE OF THE RICHEST AND MOST HATED MEN IN AMERICA THROUGH STOCK MANIPULATION, SPECULATION, BRIBERY, AND fh STRANGLEHOLD ON SOUTHWESTERN RAILROADS. HIS STRIKEBREAKING LED TO THE 1886 DEMISE OF THE KNIGHTS OF LABOR. HE BOASTED: "I CAN HIRE ONE-HALF OF THE WORKING GLASS TO KILL THE OTHER HALF.” WHOLE FAMILIES WERE FORCED TO WORKIN MINES AND MILLS FOR LONG HOLIRS AND PUNY. WAGES. THE PEOPLE REBELLED. THE FARMERS FORMED GRANGES, THEN THE "PEOPLE'S PARTY. WORKERS REBELLED ALL OVER THE COUNTRY. gaa THE STEELWORKERS’ STRIKE AT CARNES! SOMPANY IN HOMESTEAD, PENNSYLVANIA Wat ‘ONE OF THE MOST | DRAMATIC STRIKES (OF THE DECADE WAS THE 1894 RAILROAD i STRIKE 1GAINST THE 183M 300,000 UNEMPLOYED WORKERS, LED BY SYMPATHETIC BUSINESSMAN JACOB COXEY, MARCHED ON WASHINGTON, D.C., TO DEMAND RELIEF FROM THE DEPRESSION, i. 1893: WORKING CONDITIONS DECLINED RAPIDLY DURING THE WORST DEPRESSION IN U.S. HISTORY, 642 BANKS FAILED, 16,000 BUSINESSES. CLOSED. THREE MILLION WORKERS OUT OF & LABOR FORCE OF 18 MILLION WERE LEFT UNEMPLOYED. ‘PULLMAN PALACE CAR COMPANY.PULLMAN, MB. PULLMAN! (MERICAN RAILWAY LINION HAS ENDO Tr WE WERE FORCED (0 CUT WAGES BECAUSE WE ARE IN| THE MIDDLE OF & DEPRESSION. DitaRE y we. Des, Rate aareart WHY HAVE ESC CaTMtoN EW YS You COME 70 pula OF SHOPKEEPERS, HE ory BROTHER DEBS, THIS WINTER OUR CHILDREN HAD NO BOOKS FOR SCHOOL, NO ‘SHOES OR COATS, PULLMAN IS AN ULCER. HE OWNS. EVERYTHING ~ THE HOUSES, THE ‘SCHOOLS, EVEN THE CHURCHES! HE BUYS NATURAL GAS AT 75 CENTS A THOUSAND FEET AND TRIPLES THE PRICE TO US. HE BUYS WATER AT EIGHT CENTS A THOUSAND GALLONS ‘AND SELLS IT TO US FOR $HO! SOMETIMES. WE HAD NOTHING TO LOOK AT MY PAYCHECK! T WORKED TEN HOURS & DAY FOR TWELVE DAYS, AND I'VE EARNED $9.12, BUT NINE BUCKS WENT TO PULLMAN! T CLEARED TWELVE CENTS! ‘YOU'VE BEEN ON STRIKE {JUST TO WEEKS. YOU'RE HUNGRY. PULLMAN STANDS BEFORE YOU A SELF- CONFESSED ROBBER. I'VE BEEN ASKED TO INSPECT THE CONDITIONS OF ITs, CITIZENS AND HEAR THE GRIEVANCES OF THE WORKERS. BROTHERS, WE STRUCK PULLMAN BECALISE WE RAN (OUT OF HOPE. WE JOINED. THE ARU. BECAUSE IT GAVE US & GLIMMER OF HOPE. NOW 20,000 SOULS ~ MEN, WOMEN, AND LITTLE ONES = TURN THEIR EYES TO THIS CONVENTION TODAY. WE ASK ‘YOU TO JOIN A NATIONAL BOYCOTT AGAINST PULLMAN. PULLMAN CAN LUNDERBID ANY CAR ‘SHOP IN THIS COUNTRY, SO HIS COMPETITORS. ‘MUST REDUCE THEIR WAGES. THIS GIVES HIM THE EXCUSE TO REDUCE (OUR WAGES STILL FURTHER, AND HIS RIVALS IN TURN MUST ‘SCALE DOWN. “AND THUS. WE WON'T STARVE FOR PULLMAN ANY LONGER! eA) LTT COME TO OUIR CONVENTION AND MAKE YOUR APPEAL. THE UNION WILL. SUPPORT YOU, BUT WE MUST BE CALITIOUS. CABITAL AND GOVERNMENT ARE POWERFUL ENEMIES, Paraiso) Peta NATIONAL. Poet Sma yore} CN ter) areiatte Bares OUR WAGES HAVE BEEN CUT FIVE TIMES BETWEEN MAY AND DECEMBER OF 1893. OLR RENTS ARE THE SAME, THE WAGES PULLMAN PAYS WITH THE HAND OF AN EMPLOYER HE TAKES AWAY WITH THE HAND. (OF A LANDLORD, THE MERRY WAR ~ THE DANCE OF SKELETONS BATHED IN HUMAN TEARS ~ GOES ON. CALLED THE RACE TO THE BOTTOM. IT W eeUNDERSTAND THE MEMBERS’ ‘OUTRAGE, BUT OURS IS A BRAND- NEW LINION. A NATIONWIDE EOYCOTT WOULD BE VERY RISKY. APPOINT &, COMMITTEE TO MEET PRESIDENT DEBS IS RIGHT, I MOVE WE APPOINT & COMMITTEE TO THAT'S NOT MY DECISION TO MAKE, THiS 1S A DEMOCRATIC UNION. LET'S WIRE THE LOCAL UNIONS. IF THEY AND THE CONVENTION VOTE TO BOYCOTT, I WILL AGREE, BROTHERS, PLEASE! BEFORE Yl] WE DECLARE & BOYCOTT, WE MUST EXHAUST ALL OTHER MEANS! LET's OFFER HIM (ONE MORE CHANCE " TO SETTLE THIS - PEACEFULLY? ie PULLMAN STILL REFUSES TO ARBITRATE. THE LOCAL UNIONS GAVE THE CONVENTION FINAL AUTHORITY. IT VOTED UNANIMOUSLY TO BOYCOTT ALL PULLMAN CARS NATIONWIDE AS OF JUNE 26. WITHIN DAYS, ALL 24 RAIL LINES LEADING OUT OF CHICAGO WERE SHUT DOWN, DICTATOR DEBS ORDERS NATION'S RAILS SHUT DOWN Continuing Lawlessness Stalks Nation As Debs Orders Rail Anarchy ‘THE CORPORATE PRESS CALLED IT THE DEBS REBELLION, DEPICTING HIM AS DICTATOR DEBS OR KING DEBS. RS} LHAL oF CiyILIZATIO) PE “WBECK thrown Open and & ‘train Derailed fees STRIKERS HAD SOME ALLIES IN THE PRESS. THE CHICAGO NEWSBOYS WORE THE STRIKERS’ SYMBOL, & WHITE RIBBON, AND OFTEN DUMPED ANTISTRIKE NEWSPAPERS.THE RAILROAD OWNERS AND THE GOVERNMENT HAD DICTATES OF THEIR OWN, aU 1, THE AR, STRNE LEADER, INGUONG DEBS, HERE ARRESTED ON HY A A SICTENS ROANGY TE STENT WesE TO Pee. Colt TAN. ALL MY LIFE 2'VE BEEN A DEMOCRAT. EVEN CAMPAIGNED FOR THE RAILROAD OWNERS HIRED 2,000 DEPUTIES TO BREAK THE STRIKE. WHEN BEATINGS AND COURT INJUNCTIONS DIDN'T STOP THE STRIKE, PRESIDENT EVELAND ORDERED FEDERAL ‘TROOPS TO CHICAGO. HOUSE, FED FROM THE PULLMAN Y] ‘SHOP, TAUGHT IN THE PULLMAN ON JULY 6, THE STRIKERS SET FIRE TO HUNDREDS OF RAILROAD CARS ALL OVER THE CITY. THE /LLINOIS NATIONAL GUARD CORNERED STRIKERS AND FIRED ON THEM. THE CHICAGO TIMES SAID THE POLICE THEN MOVED IN TO "FINISH THE JOB.” THE STRIKERS RETREATED, CARRYING THEIR DEAD AND INJURED. NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY.The Open Door Policy Sean Neen eee IUWAY UNION AND THE pen Eada Seared :PRESSION THAT STARTED IN 1893. THE CAPTAINS OF INDUSTRY LOOKED ABROAD FOR Seal tan ON EN era Ne ae Toto EXPANSION WAS NOT A NEW IDEA. EVEN PEFORE THE WAR AGAINST MEXICO CARRIED THE LINITED STATES TO THE PACIFIC, THE MONROE DOCTRINE DECLARED EXCLUSIVE US. RIGHTS TO DEVELOPMENT IN THE CARIBBEAN AND THE REST OF LATIN AMERICA, IT WAS ISSUED IN 1823, WHEN THE COUNTRIES OF LATIN AMERICA WERE WINNING INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN, LATER IN THE CENTURY, THE SAME IMPULSE Lay BEHIND THE OPEN DOOR POLICY. AMERICANS BESAN TO LOOK AT THE ISLANDS OF THE PACIFIC AND THE GREAT MARKETS OF ASIA WITH THE SANE PROPRIETARY GAZE. FROM THE START, THE DOOR HUNG BY TWO HINGES ~ MILITARY AND ECONOMIC EXPANSIONISM, | 1962, TO JUSTIFY YET ANOTHER INVASION OF (CUBA, THE STATE DEPARTMENT RELEASED & UIST OF 103 U.S. INTERVENTIONS IN OTHER COUNTRIES BETWEEN 1798 AND 1895, MOST WERE IN LATIN AMERICA AND ASIA NICARAGUA, 185: AND 1894: TO PROTECT JAPAN, 1853-54 THE OPENING OF JAPAN AND THE PERRY EXPEDITION, OS URUGUAY, 1855:T0 | PROTECT AMERICAN, INTERESTS PORTUSUESE ANGOLA, 1860: TO PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS. ARGENTINA, 1953-54. MARINES LAND IN BUENOS AIRES TO PROTECT AMERICAN INTERESTS, ee eae MN Eng Tres een AO aL Toner BY THE MID-!8005, THE U.S. HAD AMPLE EXPERIENCE IN OVERSEAS PROBES BND INTERVENTIONS. THE IDEOLOGY OF EXPANSION WAS WIDESPREAD IN THE UpPER CIRCLES OF MILITARY MEN AND POLITICIANS. er MASTERFUL RACES HAVE BEEN FIGHTING RACES, Rohit atoda psa EU ae aad ZT MMe ASSISTANT SECRETARY ro reo thn ae ata areca PAT “AMERICAN FACTORIES cane ar eae Nig CAN USE; AMERICAN SOIL IS PRODLICINS MORE THAN Nea ET aelcap ae) DTZ Tag PN me arr iescNie er) HALE-HAWAIAN ANTI-IMPERIALIST ROBERT WILCOX HELPED LEAD AN LINSUCCESSPUL INSURGENCY TO ‘OVERTHROW U.S, DOMINATION OF THE ISLANDS. aa ae DN Mor aged teetaWOULD NOT A FOREIGN ADVENTURE DEFLECT SOME OF THE REBELLIOUS ENERGY FROM STRIKES AND PROTEST MOVEMENTS ‘TOWARD AN EXTERNAL ENEMY? WOULD IT NOT UNITE THE PEOPLE WITH GOVERNMENT? PATRIOTISM WES 4 WAY OF DROWNING CLASS RESENTMENT. ‘ABTER HIS ELECTION IN 1896, PRESIDENT WILLIAM MCKINLEY MADE THE CONNECTION BETWEEN MONEY AND FLAG: Le KEAM CAAA EIA TP ed Rr fie PRBRM ER LoS CEG ELINA CEL CC r Same THIS VEAR IS GOING TO BE A YEAR OF PATRIOTISM AND DEVOTION TO COUNTRY. TAM GLAD TO KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE IN EVERY PART OF THE COUNTRY MEAN TO Bi ONE ruse, THe BLORIOUS S14es AND THE SUPREME ACT OF PATRIOTISM WAS WAR. TWO ‘YEARS APTER McKINLEY BECAME PRESIDENT, THE UNITED STATES DECLARED WAR ON SPAIN.