I know there are arguments that Thomas Jefferson fathered children via a slave.

was this a common occurrence?

how was this viewed by society at large?

So... I kind of realised today that I know basically nothing about the history of South America and Central America, beyond the names Inca, Mayan, Aztec. I want to fix this but have no idea where to begin. So I've come here. Suggest good things and places to help me learn.

I'm particularly interested in pre-european arrival, and I would be more eager to learn about the different cultures and mythologies than chronological events, but to be honest anything to give a basic intro would be good.

Sorry if this has been asked before, or is to broad of a question, but I'm pretty clueless on where to start looking, and I have no context or understanding in which to place the FAQ's. Thanks for any time you can spare.

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With little industrial base. tax revenue and manpower, how was it that they had such huge influence when compared to the powers of France, Spain, Portugal etc? How did the Dutch fleet get as large as it did?

I've often heard that, even after the Revolutionary War, people in the US first and foremost thought of themselves as a citizen of their state (e.g. "I'm a New Yorker first, American second"). When did this flip and people viewed themselves as Americans first?

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In modern times, many sayings are falsely attributed to people like Winston Churchill. Isn't it likely that writers in antiquity might make the same sort of mistake?

So, a girl at my son's high school put that in her yearbook and even attributed it to Adolph Hitler. Looking around, however, the only source for it seems to be Mein Kampf, although doing a text search of the word "sun" in Mein Kampf does not yield a result.

It also appears on the internet as credited to an A.P.J. Abdul Kalam.

Does anyone have any insight?

Edit: great answers here. Thanks!

I was reading about the "hobos" and was wondering if the USA or any other country drafted homeless person into the armed forces?

I had a showerthoughts-esque question while watching Game of Thrones:

Because of the drawbacks of heavily armored knights having low mobility, cumbersome weights, and low vision, were there specialized units who wore light armor?

Did they use daggers to sneak up on armored knights with limited vision and go after the joints in their armor? Would this have been an effective secondary unit to send in after the initial clash?

Please see title text.

Always was curious as to how Goebbels is hardly mentioned to have made any mark upon his field or any others related to it despite his supposed genius.

I've searched Google high and low and can't find an answer.

Here's the series of events:

1. Cyrus Vance resigns on April 28, 1980

2. Warren Christopher in office from April 28 to May 3.

3. David Newsom in office on May 2nd and part of the day May 3rd.

4. Richard Cooper in office part of the day on May 3rd.

5. David Newsom back in office on May 3rd and leaves on May 4th.

6. Warren Christopher back in office from May 4th and leaves on May 8th.

7. Edmund Munskie sworn in as permanent Secretary of State on May 8th.

I can't figure out why it would go Vance, Christopher, Newsom, Cooper, Newsom, Christopher, and finally Munskie. I've searched and can't find any relevant political events around that time. I do know that Vance resigned out of protest.

Help!!!

Edits - formatting

I'm doing a presentation on Andrew Marvell, a famous British poet from 1621 - 1678. It says he attended Trinity College, Cambridge at the age of 13, and I was just wondering if this is as impressive as it is today? How off would it be from the average age?

Also, as an extension to this, who was the average person attending college? Was it mostly high ranking or rich people who wanted to attend or did most people, like today, want higher education?

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This is a multi-part question: Was the Japanese invasion of the Aleutians meant to be a diversion or was there a more strategic purpose for it? Did the Japanese have larger plans for Alaska that never materialized? Why did the Japanese not reinforce the Aleutians and eventually abandon them with minimum contest. Where there any long lasting effects on military plans in the Pacific because of this invasion.

This is a re-post of my first post as I did not receive an answer. Thank you.

It doesnt make very much sense, as at that time Nazis (as far as I know) thought slavs, jews, etc. Where inferior, yet they chose to ally with a country that was one of two to not give up its jewish population and was a majority slav.

Out of the three knightly orders, which one had the most might militarily, politically, economically, and socially?

I'm aware of the direct ties to Cistercianism through the Templar Order, thanks to Clairvaux and the Troyes Fraternity. However, towards the end of their existence, things seem to have gone far off track. Why might this be?

Also, in consideration of the Teutonic Order, what exactly happened to them? I understand that they exist to this day, through the means of being classified as a charitable organization, yet this seems so far from their original clauses and beliefs.

The same with the Knights Hospitaller. As far as I am aware, the Hospitallers also exist to this day, hence where we get the word 'hospital' from. However, I'm curious as to how the organization adapted from its strong military roots into the devoted doctors that they became.

Lastly, all three organizations are considered to be fundamentally Christian. In the case of the Templars, again thanks to the Troyes Fraternity and St. Bernard of Clairvaux, most historians agree that the organization was Christian, yet not Roman Catholic. Cistercianism traces its roots much more to the Essene, an isolationist civilization in the Jewish Levant that seems to have finished at about 40 AD. So are the Templars truly Christian, at their roots? The Teutonic Order, at least in my personal opinion, seems to have used the classification as a religious order as a scapegoat for their warring and "conquering" of the Baltic region. I'm unsure as to what the history of the Teutons really is, I haven't had much time to read up on their Order. Lastly, the Knights Hospitaller. It is my opinion that the Hospitallers are the "most" Christian order out of all of the ones mentioned, due to their dedication to the treatment of the sick, regardless of how rich or poor, or where they came from (such as the Saracens).

Phew! That was a lot. I'd love to hear from everyone to see what you have to say. I've devoted quite a bit of time to studying the Templars, the Essene, the Cistercians, and even the Freemasons (I used to live next to a Lodge), but I'm pretty new regarding the Teutons and Hospitallers. Thanks a bunch, I look forward to your replies.

I'm a History major working on my Bachelors. I want to get a good working idea of what early US history was so can I get some suggestions for books about the differences between the colonies and the founding fathers?