'Indian Cowboys'?

After reading this NPR article on Seminole cowboys I'd like to ask if there was a similar tradition in other areas of the United Sates of Native American cowboys or cow girls and, if so, were there any notable Native American cowboys/girls?

1 Answers 2016-04-22

German Admiral Franz Von Hipper was called a "baby killer" by the English Press for his WWI raids on the English Coastline. How effective were his raids? What purpose did they serve for the German war effort?

1 Answers 2016-04-22

Is the Qur'an great literature to Arabs? (Like Shakespeare is to the English?)

Let me explain. There seems to be a consensus among the poets and professors that Shakespeare wrote some great English. The occasional high school student might gripe about not understanding it and wondering why everybody else thinks it's great, but the practitioners of the English language agree to it's higher level use of language. It's not some shody paper a high schooler wrote the Sunday before, for example.

Does the Qur'an carry the same effect to Arabs?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

To what extent did the Soviet invasion of Japanese land in the east contribute to the Japanese Empire surrendering in 1945?

In the WWII documentary series, Soviet Storm, the creators make claims that the final factor that caused Japan to surrender was not the atomic bombs but the Soviet invasion of Manchuria. The basis of this claim was that Japan had moved the majority of its industry (gasoline, steel, coal, etc) to Manchuria during the war to put it out of reach of american bombers. When the Soviets took control of this land, it decisively removed Japan's capabilities to fight a war.

The episode in question is available here

The narrator details how the will to fight persisted after the atomic bombings and only subsided after losing Manchuria. Coming from a Russian produced documentary, obviously some bias may exist but how accurate are the claims made?

3 Answers 2016-04-21

How significant were reasons other than slavery for the civil war?

Liberals say it was all about slavery. Conservatives say slavery played no role or just a small part. What side is correct?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

I apologise in advance if this question isn't strictly in the usually form of this subreddit, but could someone recommend an accurate TV show/youtube channel explicating famous battles?

[deleted]

2 Answers 2016-04-21

How Accurate was the claim that Allied forces could have defeated Germany during the Polish Campaign of 1939?

During the Nuremberg Trails Siegfried Westphal (and possibly other German generals) stated that Germany would not have stood a chance against Allied Forces if the Allies had attacked during the invasion of Poland in 1939. How accurate is this reflection?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Africans to the Americas

I guy at work today was claiming that Africans were among the first people to reach the Americas. Upon a simple google search i discovered a couple articles arguing evidence for Africans encounter, traded, and shared religion with the native americans. I'm very skeptic to this idea and the sources found. The most common idea i saw was that the Egyptians sailed to the new world but it is my understanding that people back then in general didn't have the seafaring capabilities to cross an entire ocean. What is the truth in all this?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Is there currently any published or ongoing research into the relationship between Video Games and History?

Apologies if this is a poor question that should not be in this subreddit as i'm unsure if it violates the rule on scope.

Video Games and History is an area of research I find so very interesting yet I am struggling to find much on it. I'm interested in how people can learn history through video games, how historical representation affects historical understanding and how popular video games might effect which history is currently popular or popular opinions of particular figures. There seems to be a decent amount on Film, TV and Fiction but none for Video Games so I'm just wondering if anyone knows any works on these or related areas that they could direct me to or make me aware of? Particularly if there is any historiographical discourse.

Many Thanks.

3 Answers 2016-04-21

It's been asked before who the earliest historical person named is. But what are the earliest known words, and what language are they in? In other words, what is the oldest existing sample of writing?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

What makes folk music sound folksy and historical?

I couldn't help but notice similarities between a few different folk songs, but I couldn't identify what it was that made them sound so "old timey." Is there anything more to it than just association?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

In a time where women had virtually no rights, how were Queens taken seriously?

2 Answers 2016-04-21

Did Harriet Tubman really lead an operational ground combat unit?

I keep hearing that she was a Union spy of sorts, which is plausible. However, I have difficulty believing a Union general in the 1860s would ever bestow command authority of a ground combat unit to an illiterate black lady. As wonderful as the lady was, no commanding general or commanding officer in any era could possibly believe she would be a competent military leader. Is there any credible source to confirm or deny this "fact"?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Was the Titanic attempting to capture the Blue Ribband on it's maiden voyage?

I've seen arguments for both sides so wondering what you guys think/find.

Thanks!

Sorry if this is the wrong sub for this.

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Was Mussolini on the same level of fascism as other leaders of the time period such as stain and hitler? Was Italy just as infamous and brutal as the other axis powers?

I've always been interested by Italy's role in WW2, yet from what I've read they seemed to just piggyback off of the brutal reputation gained by empires like the Soviet Union and 3rd reich. It seems like mussolini's government collapsed against the allies and made a fool of themselves in the eyes of other axis leaders. Were they really as pathetic as they seem or were they more powerful than that?

4 Answers 2016-04-21

When did raping and pillaging stop being an accepted aspect of war?

Before I begin, yes I'm aware that this still happens in places like Africa and in the current war with ISIS, but by and large it's not seen as something that should be allowed to happen by the world stage.

When reading about wars in the Medieval Era and earlier, most battles consisted of sieges, and if successful, the following raping and pillaging of the inhabitants. By all accounts that I've found, this seems to have just been accepted as the way things were. When did that viewpoint change? I know it was a serious problem as recently as WWII on the Eastern Front, but were those instances seen as "normal"?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

What are the odds that copies of lost Greek & Roman works such as On The Ocean will ever be rediscovered?

Occasionally archeology will turn up a cache of ancient writings such as the Nag Hammadi library or the dead sea scrolls. Or more recently scientists found a way to read previously unreadable texts from Pompeii using x-rays.

Do archeologists/historians have hope that we'll ever rediscover these highly cited lost works, or is there a consensus that most of what will be dug up already has been?

(reading pompeii scrolls: http://www.nature.com/news/x-rays-reveal-words-in-vesuvius-baked-scrolls-1.16763)

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Could anyone help me understand better the Guardianship of the Jurist in Iran and its relation to Khomeini?

I'm currently learning about Middle Eastern history in general, specifically Iran at the moment. However, I'm having difficulty figuring out what the Vilayet-i Faqih / Guardianship of the Jurist system is. Also, I know Khomeini ends up the Supreme Leader after Mohammed Reza Shah is exiled (correct me if I'm wrong there) - but how does his rule relate to the Guardianship?

Thank you so much in advance for any insight you can give!

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Why is the Queen the most powerful piece in chess?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Historians, in polls, have consistently ranked Andrew Jackson as one of the top Presidents. Why?

This wikipedia page outlines 18 different polls since 1948, asking various folks (typically historians) to rank the presidents and their relative "greatness". Andrew Jackson has always fared well, and even though his reputation (as evidenced by poll results) took a slight dip 10 to 15 years ago, he is now firmly back in the top ten.

My question is, why? What were his notable accomplishments that cause him to be ranked higher than folks like James Monroe, Lyndon Johnson, Ronald Reagan, or John Adams?

I get that increasing modern standards have colored our attitudes about him (and as a Cherokee Nation Citizen, I have zero love for the guy), but why does his reputation seem to be ticking back up? By almost any modern definition he committed genocide. It's my understanding he forced the removal of the Cherokee specifically to provide further plantation land for southerners. It would seem to me that a legacy like this would have to be balanced by an even more massive legacy of public good to counter it (such as Lincoln's suspension of Habeus Corpus is balanced by him, uh, saving the entire nation and bringing about an end to slavery). But I never hear what this "positive" legacy of Jackson is.

It's often said that were it not for Watergate and his resignation, the accomplishments of Nixon would have made him be considered one of the very best Presidents ever. Yet his poll average places him at 33, behind such presidents as Hayes, Garfield, and Arthur, and even behind Herbert Hoover. Was Watergate and the dragging out of the Vietnam War really that much worse, comparatively speaking than the systematic murder of 25 percent of the Cherokee Nation?

I just don't understand why his reputation was A) high to begin with, and B) why it seems to maintain itself, and even slightly improve.

5 Answers 2016-04-21

Seeking advice, undergraduate research, vikings

Over the summer, I'd like to put together a research paper for a conference. My current plan is to expand upon a paper that I wrote for a class on the validity of the Icelandic sagas as historical documents (for this, I compared Snorri's account of Harald Hardrada's service in the Varangian Guard to some Greek sources).

Can anybody recommend some good primary sources to compare the Icelandic sagas (secondary sources) to?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Why is the 'given name' + 'surname' method of naming people so widespread today? Did every culture in history use this process?

[deleted]

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Where comes the idea that the people of the ancient times were more stupid than we are today?

If the idea is true, does this apply to the Greeks of Ancient Greece as well? Ancient Greece seemed to have been rife with geniuses unmatched with anyone of modern days. What about the general masses of Ancient Greece? Were they as intellectual as the high philosophers, such as Aristotle for example?

To be fair, reading works over a thousand years old, I seem to find it likely that those authors would still be more intelligent than the average of today's modern age.

1 Answers 2016-04-21

Can someone tell me about the government of Weimar Germany?

My professor said that the individual cabinet ministers were elected, instead of appointed. How was this carried out in practice? Were they elected by national elections? Was this a good system?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

When people say 90% of *european country* was farmers during the middle ages, what does that mean?

I mean, new technologies were invented in so many fields during the late middle ages, and afterwards, even though until the 1800s most europeans were "farmers", so how does this work? Were the few blacksmiths that existed working 24/7 without any sleep, or were farmers expected to grow crops and also participate in every other field they had time for?

1 Answers 2016-04-21

4335 / 7255

Back to start