Bias Witihin the Chapter "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress"

Within the first chapter entitled, "Columbus, the Indians, and Human Progress", from the book A People's History of the United States, the author Howard Zinn displays a bias more so in favor of the Indian tribes as opposed to the Europeans. The chapter describes the history of the discovery (at least in the sense of letting Europe know it existed since there were original inhabitants) and the soon following exploitation of the Americas by Christopher Columbus and his crew. Zinn pays very close attention to the treatment of the American Indians and the violence and cruelty brought upon them.
Christopher Columbus arrived upon the shores of the Bahama Island in October 1492 where he and his men were greeted by generous Arawak Indians showering them with gifts and hostility. Columbus was at first under the impression that he was in Asia (which was actually about 3/4 of the way farther east), from where he had promised the monarchs Spain that he would retrieve gold in return for the financing of his expedition. Being unfamiliar with these inhabitant of the island, he and his men soon exploited the Indians by taking over-advantage of their generosity, mistreating them, killing them, raiding their villages, and even enslaving them. He saw this as an opportunity to bring not only gold back to Spain but also slaves. This happened not just on the island that originally came upon but others in the Caribbean islands and against different tribes of Indians as well. This encounter between the two "worlds" of the time had a great negative effect on Indian civilizations.
Zinn makes it apparent how terribly the Indians were retreated, but he does not wish to sentimentalize their suffering. In the same way, he makes it clear how greedy and selfish the Europeans and their intentions were but does not desire to make them appear overly-atrocious. The bias that Zinn exemplifies in this chapter displays the struggles of the most negatively effected group, the Indians, while at the same time not forcing the reader to comfort to his bias, rather just informing the reader of the occuring and allowing him develop his own opinion without a sense of external influence.