I get that every time two sets of people have been isolated from one another, and then come back into contact, there is an opportunity for epidemics on either side. Why was the post-1492 epidemic exchange so massively one-sided? (I gather that 90% of indigenous Americans died, whereas a relative handful of Europeans died.)

So I noticed that many of the English translations of Ancient text uses a similar language as the King James Bible. Why is this? I also noticed that when translating Native American text (the Popol Vuh for example) a more simple/modern diction is used. Why is this?

Did the political parties switch? I am curious and genuinely want to know. For some reason this always seems to be a debate and I want to know what the people of this subreddit think.

For clarity I'm talking about large scale pitched battles where there could be thousands upon thousands of corpses at the end. After the victor was decided did the winning side (or losing side for that matter) ever bother to bury or collect the fallen?

I’ve been reading about William T. Sherman and came across some details that confuse me. Apparently after Shiloh he was promoted from Brigadier General to Major General in the volunteer army. This was in May, 1862. After the fall of Vicksburg (July 4, 1863*) he was promoted to Brigadier General in the regular army. So, for over a year, he was both a Major General and (I presume he only rose one rank) a Colonel.

I am wondering why there was this disparity in ranks and if it occurred in other wars as well.

* 127 years ago today!

I've doing research on a family member who claimed to have been a pilot in the US Army Air Corps during World War II and Korea, but some details are not adding up. He was 6'6". I was under the impression that there was a maximum height requirement, but I'm not sure where to look for that information.

Some googling brings up some stories of men who were rejected for being too tall. One of them was much shorter than the man I'm researching.

A newspaper from 1945 claimed he flew a B-29 bomber. Did B-29 allow for taller pilots? Was there some way around the height regulation? Could he have gotten away with making something like that up 1945?

His enlistment information does show that he enlisted in the air corps.

Like many people, I watched the Hamilton musical yesterday. Now, I want to pick up a bio about the guy. What would be a good one to read?

The musical was based on the biography by Ron Chernow. Is that considered a good one by historians? Or is there another one you all would recommend?

I've been going through the attic in my mums house and found a two really old books. I tried to find them online and haven't been able to find any decent information on them or their authors.

The first one is called Saint Avstines religion collected from his own writings by John Brereley which dates back to 1620. I've only been able to find limited information on the author from a Cambridge University article and haven't been able to find anything about the book.

The other one is called A treatise of the written word of God composed in Latin by James Gordon Huntley printed in 1614. I've found a Wikipedia article on him (and possibly a reference to the book - except it's spelt differently) however information on the book seems pretty limited.

I'm not entirely sure what to do with the books. My mum inherited the books from my grandfather (who I presume inherited it from his grandparents - and I guess this cycle went on for 400 years), but she doesn't really seem too attached to them. I considered giving them to a museum, but unfortunately I live in a dead-zone for museums and the only ones nearby aren't interested in them. I could keep them, but I don't think they're being kept in the best condition considering the original pigskin binding is pretty beat-up and the words in the front of the book written in pencil (presumably by one of my distant relatives) are basically illegible because of how faded they are.

I was just wondering if there's anything I can do with them. I'm not sure how many books from the 17th century still exist, but I'd like it if these aren't lost to history.

Let's say there's a merchant participating in the Triangle Trade in the seventeenth or eighteenth centuries, but for some reason, his crew has managed to lose all of their provisions for the voyage from the Bahamas to the American Colonies.

What types of things would he have to buy to make sure his crew got there without mutinying for lack of food? How much of these things would he have to buy? How much would this cost him? In other words, what kind of provisions would be needed for the ship, how much of them, and how much would they cost?

I've found plenty of resources saying that sailors at the time ate mostly hardtack, salted pork, salted fish, and if they were lucky, sauerkraut to keep scurvy at bay. I've also found things like the necessity to bring both fresh water and rum to make grog in order to sanitize the water somewhat. However, I haven't found anything to tell me how much of this a ship might stock.

The reason this is important to me is because I'm running a TTRPG campaign where the players want to be pirates, and we've talked about wanting to have logistics be important, and I was wondering If I could get a baseline for which supplies they would need, how much of them they would have to buy, and how much it would cost them out of their treasure.

I understand that pirates often stole most of their supplies, but I'm still wondering how much these things would cost if they had to do it legit.

Thanks!

Do we know of any sources describing the phenomenon? Was static electricity explained by their religion or folklore?

I'm barbecuing in my backyard in central CA. Our summers can reach 115F sometimes and I've experienced the rough humid summers of the American east. How did pre Columbian civilizations stay cool? Would they call it a day around 2pm like I do when I'm working outside? I know that I'm asking about a very wide range of cultures, so I suppose I'm curious about any California based groups, any major groups in the South eastern United States where it gets crazy humid, and even the Aztecs who lived in Mexico.

I am discussing survival of the species instinct with a friend and this was raised, but I can't find any sources. Appreciate more info.

I am a recent econ graduate and soon to be history master's program student. I am used to read average academic papers, 20-50 pages, and I know how to read them efficiently. However, it has been a great struggle for me for the last couple of months when I try to read some academic history books. I know that I will be doing lots of reading in the future so I want to do it efficiently. What are your suggestions on reading long academic books?

As a note, I am currently reading "Why Europe Grew Rich and Asia Did Not: Global Economic Divergence, 1600–1850" and I agree it is lighter than Hobsbawn.

Thank you!