There’s a lot of controversy in the gaming world because of The Sims 4 added a Japanese inspired world including a fairly accurate Shinto shrine in an upcoming DLC pack. Gamers from South Korea are saying that the presence of the shrine is offensive due to the history between Japan and South Korea but I do t really understand why they’re so upset, could someone here shed some light on this please?

Isn't it harder to attack in winter? Why would you not wait for spring or summer?

Weird question but I was watching a movie set in US colonial times and I kept wondering how they dyed their clothes different colors...sorry if this is a dumb one lol.

There is a lot of talk about Columbus day, and how it should be changed because he was a horrible man. I have heard a lot of claims, but have never been able to find some good trustworthy sources on the subject. So did Columbus actually do so many bad things or is it modern overexageration? And could you also maybe point me in the directions on some sources?

I'm talking legitimate drinking buddy, go over there house for Thanksgiving friendship.

I recently heard Akhil Amar make this claim on an episode of Throughline on NPR.

To paraphrase, he says that the 13th amendment elevated former slaves from counting as 3/5ths of a person to 5/5ths, which increased the population of Southern states, which led to increased political power.

Here is the quote so I don’t misrepresent him.

“And then there’s this moment, it’s the oh crap moment. Cause now we’ve gotten rid of slavery, so what happens to 3/5ths? It becomes 5/5ths cause now technically everyone is free. Oh, so actually the south is going to have more seats in the electoral college than ever before, more seats in the House of Representatives, and they’re not letting their people vote. We’ve gotten rid of slavery and we’ve actually just made the former confederacy more powerful politically than ever before. What have we done?”

How true is this?

Hi, As a French, and so European, i always had this representation, because of what i’ve being taught, that slavery in europe (the territory of europe) was non-existent and that slavery only occurred in colonies. Yet, in France it is also being known that french ports like Bordeaux, Saint-Nazaire, Nantes to be « black trade ports ». If so, were there around these ports slavery markets? Then, did Europeans could buy during the black trade slavery a slave to work on their properties? Did labor in the Renaissance was, in Europe, performed by black slaves, and if this happened, why do we have a lack of representation of this past reality in history books or paintings?

I see a lot of posts on social media outlining Columbus’s barbarity, but not many of them have any sources. I’m sure Columbus committed his fair share of atrocities, but was he really as bad as people claim?

I'm trying to research more about Dowager Cixi and the role she played during and after the Taiping Rebellion, looking at a timeframe of around 1850-70. However, there are a lot of conflicting sources on her life, and I'm not sure which source to trust. Would anyone here happen to be familiar with the Qing Dynasty, particularly during the mid-19th Century?

I’m Katie Barclay, Deputy Director of the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence in the History of Emotions, Associate Professor and Head of History at the University of Adelaide.

I’m the author of several books, edited collections, articles and books chapters in the field of history of emotions, gender, and family life. I’m especially interested in Scotland, Ireland and the UK, but sometimes spread my wings a bit further. My books include: Love, Intimacy and Power: Marriage and Patriarchy in Scotland, 1650-1850 (2011); Men on Trial: Performing Emotion, Embodiment and Identity in Ireland, 1800-1845 (2019); the History of Emotions: A Student Guide to Methods and Sources (2020); and Caritas: Neighbourly Love and the Early Modern Self (2021). As suggests, I’m interested in what people felt in the past, how it shaped gendered power relationships, and what this meant for society, culture and politics - especially all sorts of family relationships.

As I’m in Australia, I’m going to bed now, but will be back to answer questions between 8am and 12pm ACDT, which is 530 to 930pm Eastern Time (NY). In the meantime, ask away.

Ok that's me for today. I have to go to a meeting now (boo!) and do my job. I am really sorry I didn't get to all the questions, but I hope you enjoyed those that I did. Cheers!

I can think of a number of royal marriages that lead to the unifications of states (like Spain for example) and had massive impacts on history in Europe, but I’m not as familiar with such phenomena elsewhere. Were royal marriages of equal importance around the globe, or is Europe somewhat different for some reason?

During the Scanian war and the preceding Second northern war, there were active guerrillas on the Danish side, called Snapphanar or Free companies. They were a mix of regular 'ranger' type soldiers, guerrillas and bandits. The books I read on them usually summarise their violence exercised on the civilian population as 'banditry', 'burning farms', 'plundering' and that they 'took what they needed from civilians', as did the armies operating in the theater of war. I have read that Charles XII foragers in the march to Poltava would wrap a steel band around the head of local farmers and crush their skulls as a method of interrogation (for food, intelligence). The punishment for the guerrillas was very severe, breaking of limbs, dying on the stake etc. The question is, what level of violence did these Snapphanar exercise on the population. What did they do when they plundered and burned a homestead? Kill all the men? Rape and kill the women?Torture? Slaughter animals for food? Is there an Ockhams razor assumption to be made? How do historians approach such broad generalisations such plunder, burning?

Thanks

I’m a big fan of Classic metal, and am especially interested in the role women played in the genre and the difficulties they faced succeeding in a very male-dominated industry where, ironically, male singers were doing their best to sing like women. So here’s a bunch of questions that I haven’t been able to find answers to:

1. Is it true that Ann Boleyn of Hellion fame ghost-played keyboards for the Runaways?

2. Why was Ann Boleyn ‘allowed’ to keep the band name “Hellion” in the 1985 split with the male members of the original lineup?

3. What inspired Jutta Weinhold of Zed Yago to leave a successful career as a professional singer to start a metal band?

4. What happened to Japanese Doom Metal band Velle Witch?

5. How did Rhiannon Tomos come to be a part of Welsh metal band Y Diawled and why did their partnership/the band end?

6. Videos of Y Diawled performances show what appears to be a very nonplussed group of Welsh people doing their best to support the band, how did the contemporaneous Welsh view what ultimately was a very important NWOBHM band?

7. who was the first woman-led metal band?

I’ve seen claims that Iron Maiden was the first “full stage show” east of the wall, and also claims that Hellion was the first US band to play there at all. Who was first?

In 1860, Republican Abe Lincoln's running mate was Republican Hannibal Hamlin. But in 1864 Lincoln ran on the Union ticket with Democrat Andrew Johnson. I understand why but I don't understand how. Who made the decision to dump Hamlin and put Johnson on the ticket?

Is Lincoln responsible for picking Andrew Johnson? If not, who is?

Also, were John Wilkes Booth and the other plotters motivated by the opportunity to put a Tennessee Democrat into the Presidency? Did Abe Lincoln sign his own death warrant by putting Andrew Johnson in the Vice Presidency?

The version of Norse mythology we have today has been filtered by a Christian society, yet I basically never hear anyone talk about how the legitimacy of the stories are in doubt. It's just generally accepted that Thor did this and Baldr did that.

Specifically, when ancient middle eastern kings gifted European kings with camels and/or elephants, did the middle eastern kings think that the animals would be useful to European kings, or were they supposed to be an oddity, meant to be a wonderful spectacle?