I understand that Benjamin Franklin was a slave owner who became an abolitionist later in life. I was once on a tour and the guide said that Franklin did oppose slavery, but did believe that in white superiority. Is this true? I cannot find evidence of it anywhere.

Or was the collectivization primary implemented to place agriculture under the control of the state?

Unlike WW2, where the Nazis were clearly the "big bad guys" (imperialism,fascism, and all that came with that) , I believe that Germany's representation in WW1 of being "bad guys" was probably due to entente winning and propaganda that comes with that and also the 2nd world war that definitely tainted Germany's reputation heavily later on in history.

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I could be wrong, but the only reason Britain joined the war was their alliance with Belgium and the Schlieffen plan, giving Britain the opportunity to stomp the mainland European world power, and crown the UK as the only European power. This could say that they were the "bad guys" as they joined to advance their imperialism and remain the world super-power.

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Sorry if this is a FAQ. I always wonder why people shit on Germany in WW1 and how this is probably due to us British and colonies/USA/France (I'm from New Zealand) being the victors, and the whole "the victors write history" thing.

I've heard it said that the Ming Dynasty had the potential to be the kick-off point for the industrial revolution, centuries before it developed in England. What is the accuracy of this?

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One would think that they could gather a lot of resources at their disposal.

I'm just curious about this, I read it on wikipedia. What do they mean by "first true empire". Was it called that, because it expanded quickly for its time? Did it have anything to do with its organized military that turned it into a strong long lasting empire?

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Thank you

Watching a western and they’re hanging someone in this particular scene. For some reason I wondered if the hangmen were given a traditional pay or if it had to do with how many people they hung.

So I keep reading everywhere that the US and a few other countries took on Nazi scientists after the end of WW2. I'd imagine this is more like forced service rather than actually being hired though, so I'm curious, what was their experiences?

Were they monitored the entire time? Given accommodations/told to find one or forcibly kept somewhere (prison-like)? Were they given work assignments or were they allowed to choose what they wanted to work on? What were their interactions with their American colleagues like? Was this whole experience an opportunity they CHOSE, or was this imposed on them? Did they ever do interviews about the Nazi regime (I'd imagine lots of folks would be curious)? Were they ever allowed to leave the country and visit Germany (or anywhere really, like maybe a vacation or something)? Were they clandestinely monitored, or was it 100% obvious, like with cameras and a guard at all times? If they were ESSENTIALLY a prisoner doing labor, how was their personal lives, as in, were they allowed to have a significant other and 'intimate' times (cause if the only SO they were allowed were wives they married before or during the war, I highly doubt they'd ever get the chance to be romantically involved with anyone)?

Having read a number of questions and answers about the topic on this subreddit, it occurs to me that I know very little about how the Spanish came to control Mesoamerica (for instance, I get that the Spanish allied with various disgruntled city states, but how did they come to control those city states later on?). What books would you all recommend that give a good, accurate overview of this series of events for someone who is not well-versed in Latin American history?

I've been doing a lot of genealogical digging recently, and I've been looking through records of very very very distantly related noble ancestors from the middle ages. In many cases, historical rulers often have incredibly approximate dates of birth (usually just "circa [year]" or a range of several years), but have the precise date of their death listed, sometimes with even the day of the week. Was this due to funerals being more likely to be recorded than births, dates of birth being absent from baptismal records, or something else entirely?

He died in the 80s, so what happened after WW2 and how did people treat him after WW2?

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I'm thinking, to get out of serfdom or was it morse important for other parts of the society?

I've always heard about women becoming a big part of the American war effort and industrial process during WWII, learning specialized skills and helping to build tanks, ships and so on. But then there's the picture of America in the 50s, with housewives who mostly devoted their time to their children while their husbands worked. Is this a wildly inaccurate picture of post-war America? Did any of the female skilled labor continue on to a career?

Not trying to start a debate, but I was curious after hearing the news about Hungary banning gender studies as a university subject

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