Finding Assumptions in Zinn

Finding assumptions in Zinn:

1. Find something you think is an assumption. Apply the definition: A claim the author makes or implies but does not try to prove. a. Is it a claim (a complete statement you could prove or disprove)? If you’re not sure about this, ask yourself how you would go about proving it. If you can think of a plausible answer, such as taking a survey, doing an experiment, or reading historical accounts, then it probably is a claim. b. Does he make this claim or imply it? (Check your wording to be sure it says what he means.) c. Does he try to prove it? If your answers are a—yes, b—yes, and c—no, it is an assumption. 2. Explain how it relates to his thesis.

I. Both parties will continue to agree to spend the money on banks & big business. a. Is this a claim? Yes b. Does he make it or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove it? Yes, in paragraphs 6-7, by showing a pattern from the past. d. So, it’s not an assumption. II. Patterns from the past are likely to continue into the future. a. Is this a claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove it? No(?) d. If c is “No,” then it’s an assumption. III. People who really need the money are the lower classes. a. Is this claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove it? Maybe… IV. The Dec. of Ind. says it is the responsibility of the government to ensure the right to “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” a. Is it a claim? Yes. b. Does he make or imply it? Yes. c. Does he try to prove it? No (nothing from the Dec. about gov’t responsibility). V. If the government does what Zinn wants, it would be fulfilling the responsibility described in the Declaration. a. Is it a claim? Yes. b. Does he make or imply it? Yes. c. Does he try to prove it? Debatable. VI. Something similar to the New Deal would be successful if implemented now. a. Is it a claim? Yes. b. Does he make or imply it? Yes. c. Does he try to prove it? Yes (New Deal is a “precedent”) VII. The conditions that made the New Deal possible, or similar ones, are still present today. There is some basic continuity between past and present that allows us to repeat that successful experience. a. Is it a claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove it? No. VIII. Giving the money to the middle class would work better than giving the money to big business. a. It is a claim. b. He does imply it. c. He does not try to prove it: He does not provide any basis for comparing the effects of the two approaches (for instance, by comparing numbers of jobs). IX. $700 billion would be enough for the programs he proposes to make a difference (paragraph 9): Foreclosure moratorium, help pay off mortgages, federal jobs program a. Is it a claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove this? No. X. Spending the money on big business was less beneficial than spending it on the middle class would have been. a. Yes b. Yes c. No XI. The middle class should be the ones benefitting from government spending. a. Yes b. Yes c. No XII. More people would do better economically if we were not “a warmaking nation.” (paragraph 11) a. a. Is it a claim? Yes b. b. Does he make or imply it? Seems like it. c. c. Does he try to prove this? No. XIII. The aircraft industry had to be saved by gov’t money after WWII (paragraph 8) a. Is this a claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply it? Yes c. Does he try to prove it? No [Multiple claims here: The industry was doing very badly. It was going to fail. Some people felt something had to be done. Only government could do it.]

XIV. A nation that does not make war will not have war forced upon it (paragraph 11) a. Is it a claim? Yes b. Does he make or imply this claim? Not if he intends a distinction between war making and self- defense. c. Try to prove it? No. Watch out for multiple claims in a single sentence, or even a phrase. For example, “defying the cries of socialism” contains at least two claims: 1. There were people calling the New Deal “socialism” 2. FDR defied that accusation