As an european I have been pondering this for a while now. Granted, in school we are not taught much about the U.S. Civil War since it doesn't concern us. But pretty much everyone has heard of Gettysburg, some way or the other. I hear Gettysburg mentioned in some context at least once a year.

I understand that it was a decisive battle that ended the Confederate hopes of invading the North. But really what other kind of strategic significance did it have? Yeah a lot of people died and it dealt a moral blow to the South. But Lee escaped with his army and survived to fight for another 2 years or something.

In Vicksburg, on the other hand, Union took control of the Mississippi River and effectively cut the Confederacy in two. Strategically a hugely more significant victory.

Are the reasons mostly just that Gettysburg is more action packed than Vicksburg? Or is it because of the locale with Gettysburg on Northern soil and Vicksburg deep in the south?

Edit: SIEGE of Vicksburg (silly me)

Alterations include changes within the alphabet, major rules in spelling, etc.

When I was getting my degree in history I had to cite everything in my papers. I was wondering, why is it that books for the public don't tend to have bibliographies, footnotes, or end notes. I know that some do, but I've read books in the hundreds of pages and sometimes they will just have further readings if that.

And why is human sacrifice/bloodletting so widespread in the history of that region?

I just finished watching the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan again. As the ramps for the troop carriers dropped, the soldiers were hammered by machine gun fire. It seems like it would have been so basic and easy to have a metal shield available that the soldiers could carry and hide behind as they exited the boat. Why wasn't this done?

What are some resources one could turn to for information regarding the terminology of the components of common household items during the Victorian era? Things like beds, mirrors, bathroom utilities, kitchen utilities, furniture, etc. Specific to upper-class lifestyles.

Are there any manuals or instructions that would have been used by bladesmiths to make weapons?

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For a long time I assumed Crassus was the richest man in Rome, I've even heard it said that adjusted for inflation (if such a thing is even possible across cultures and aeons) he is the richest man of all time.

However recently in some places I've seen people suggest that Pompey was significantly more wealthy.

Who was richer?

I'm not asking if the Nativity actually happened as described. I'm just asking if thats plausible a thing an innkeeper would say?

In my European history class, I was told that the matchlock took about two minutes to load, while a wheel lock only took about one. I don't know the firing rate of matchlocks or wheel locks, but I do know that Napoleonic infantry was expected to fire about 4-6 shots per minute with a flintlock. From about 12 seconds to two minutes seems like an extreme difference. Did it really take that long, or is it just an exaggeration?

Hi Ask Historians! I'm not sure that this is the right sub but thought I would ask anyway.

Is it that there were civilisations that we just don't know about? Or was there something stopping us from building civilisations for this time period?

I know the South (Confederates) was a rebel state and the North (Union) was obligated to fight to keep the nation together, but who truly started the war? Was the South preparing for war before it began?

In another thread on this subreddit, somebody said that the samurai in Japan were simply people who were legally permitted to carry weapons. But I've heard that there were sects of Buddhist warrior-monks called the sohei who carried weapons (they're awesome in Total War: Shogun 2). Were they categorized as samurai?

What company/factory supported the ideals enough to make devices of torture and death?

My Grandfather fought in the USMC during the Banana Wars. Was wondering if there is any way to learn more about his service record knowing only his name (I don't know what unit he was in)? Thanks for any help!

I can't seem to find any good information on this topic. I figured that since the United States had a pretty good record on free speech, there must have been some citizens who objected to the Indian Wars, much like the protests that occurred during the Mexican War and the Civil War.

So was something akin to Scottish Gaelic still spoken in Scotland by commoners or nobles or did they speak Scottish in today's terms of English with a thick accent?

Hi Historians!

It's a fact that we currently live in a world where the woman sexual objectification lives among us: Ads, movies, fashion, etc.

I'd like to know when this began? What epoch? Do we have information of how did it begin?

Another though related that I have is that in the very beginnings, women and men would wear the same type of clothes, so when did we started to make a difference with male clothes/female clothes?