I'm writing an essay on Victorian England, and at the root of it is the claim that the Victorians had a fascination for classification.

Ideas that emerged mostly in the Victorian era:

• Evolution
• Sexology
• Psychoanalysis

I've even found sources that say the rooms within the home would ideally only be used for one specific function. So, you could ONLY sleep in a bedroom, cook in a kitchen, read in a library, etc (though this tended not to apply to lower class families for obvious reasons).

Could anyone help me to simply find a source that agrees with the fact that the Victorians liked to classify things? i.e., they were unusually keen on/pioneered that sort of mindset.

And, of course, if anyone wants to smack my essay in the face, please let me know if I'm completely wrong about this assertion.

Hello,

I have a question about medieval working conditions: There are a lot of medieval mineshafts under the city I live in, and I was wondering how miners made their living under the feudal system where land was key. Obviously, farmers would grow what they needed and sell the rest/give it to their lord as tribute. Miners couldn't eat silver or gold etc, so how did they get paid? Did they sell the coal themselves, or did it belong to their lord?

I'm also interested in other non-agricultural but non-skilled jobs at the time and how they worked.

Asked this question a few months ago, never got an answer, still interested in knowing.

Who wanted to be polite? Why? When? What ideas replaced this?

I've contemplated asking this for a while now.

This may stem from my lack of knowledge, but in my eyes certain weapons are associated with certain cultures/people. Axes and the like with Vikings or Germanic peoples, and Egypt (or whatever the region would have been known as) and things like the Kopesh.

Does this arise for a practical purpose? Did they design these weapons specifically to overcome some problem? Or did they appropriate the weapon from tools they've used. Was it something cultural?

It seems like there should be a reason that certain regions used certain weapons provided I'm correct that they did in the first place, for all i know this could be a pop-history understanding that plays out in popular culture but is in no way historically accurate.

I'm not particularly sure what time period specifically I'd like an answer for, but I imagine the Viking age and what ever age the Kopesh was used is what I had in mind, and explanations as to why they were used as weapons.

The Ottomans fought several wars against various Iranian dynasties throughout their reign. Why did they focus their territorial conquests north and west, instead of aiming to control this constant threat?

I don't need a specific tribe or time period, any information on how they handled, survived through, and what they thought of more extreme weather hazards would be awesome!

Also, weren't there more troops mobolized at the time of the revolution in 1917 so shouldn't it of been easier to put down?

No facial hair, thick eastern european accent, and other characterizations that seem to fit the mold of the iconic figures in cinematic horror.

I read that before Greek independence, Anatolia was also referred to as Greece.

Before the Greek War of Independence, when someone educated spoke of "Greece" in the Modern Sense, how far did that area encompass?

Are there examples of genocide in the ancient or classical world? The first thing that came to my head was Rome's destruction of Carthage, but they were destroying a city, and not a people, so would this count?

So the other day, my Latin American history professor mentioned the idea of the "wheat eaters" and "corn eaters". He said repeatedly that there was 4, and after I looked it up I could only find 3, the other being "rice eaters" (obviously from east Asia). However, I could not find out what the fourth one is. I would assume it's something about Africa since Europeans, Native Americans, and east Asians are covered already.

Thank you!

I would love to learn about the most pivotal and powerful floor speeches. What are considered the most important votes that have changed the tide of history? Greatest filibusters? How have the rules of the Senate and the House evolved over time? What were the most powerful congresses and what were the weakest?

I'm looking for non-fiction books. Can be topic specific, but would appreciate a few broad overview. I find the era so fascinating. Thanks!

Due to the current republican primary contest the history of contentious american presidential elections has caught my eye, and the election of 1860 has caught my eye in particular. I've been trying to find good books on the subject but am having some difficulty determining which books are by reputable historians.

Can anyone please suggest a good book by a reputable historian on the topic of the election of 1860, or other contentious american elections?

did they always have a fire going somewhere and transfer? or was it flint and steel?

We aren't.

EDIT:

"There is scarcely anything so exasperating to me as the idea that the natives of this country have no sense of humor and no faculty for mirth. This phase of their character is well understood by those whose fortune or misfortune it has been to live among them day in and day out at their homes. I don't believe I ever heard a real hearty laugh away from the Indians' fireside. I have often spent an entire evening in laughing with them until I could laugh no more. There are evenings when the recognized wit or story-teller of the village gives a free entertainment which keeps the rest of the community in a convulsive state until he leaves them. However, Indian humor consists as much in the gestures and inflections of the voice as in words, and is really untranslatable."