As a British person who doesn't know about American history between the establishment of the Colony of Virginia in 1607 by the Puritan Stuarts up until 1900 excuse me if this post has any inaccuracies.

I know of Ken Burns's 1990 series The Civil War which (just looking at the amount of threads on this subreddit alone referring to the series) was extremely well received by the public, non-academic crowd with it causing a resurgence of interest in the topic as well as receiving countless awards. The series (from what I've read) made author-historian, Shelby Foote a household name in the American public & academic circles. What was the state of ACW historiography prior to Burns's documentary? Disregarding Foote's work.

Foote's 3-part tome on the ACW, The Civil War: A Narrative was published (1958 - 1974) several decades before Burns aired. By the time Foote rose to fame in Burns's series had the main topics of conversation surrounding the ACW's historiography changed in any major way? Possibly causing Burns's use of Foote as the main consultant to flaw his series & make it outdated before it had even left nappies? Did historian's opinions of Foote's work change (for better or worse) after 1990?

Prior to 1990, What caused the lack of public interest in the ACW? Was there also a lack of ACW coverage in history lessons? What was it about the series that made the public sit up and listen?

Did Burns's series change American perceptions of earlier & later causal/consequential events (e.g. American Revolution, War of 1812, Reconstruction era, Rise/Resurgence of the KKK: 1865-1870's, 1915-1944 and the Civil Rights Movement)?

And lastly, can Foote's work & Burns's series still be used as introductory tools for a newcomer wanting to learn about the ACW, it's causes & effects?

Cecil Rhodes: I know a bit about him (coloniser of Rhodesia and diamond mining fame and also due to the Rhodes scholarship), but what did he do that is so controversial and why has it become an issue now?

I'm headed there in May and I'd love to read a bit about the past of the country before seeing it for myself. I'm not really an history buff though so I'd prefer something a layman can process.

I will also take any suggestion if historical fiction especially is it's well researched.

Many Thanks!

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I'm contemplating writing a novel about a Rhodesian man who serves in the Light Infantry during the Bush War and once Rhodesia becomes Zimbabwe, he moves to South Africa and serves in the 32 Battalion. Any firsthand account from these units or of Rhodesian/South African soldiers during the period? Thanks!

I've been doing some reading recently on George Washington and this question came to mind. Did the Continental Congress ever have a solid plan of what they would do should the Commander in Chief be killed or captured?

I understand that throughout Revolution, there seemed to be a revolving door of "2nd in commands" to Washington, and they all seemed fairly incapable or possibly even corrupt (i.e. Charles Lee and Horatio Gates). Would it have fallen to someone like Nathanael Greene or Benjamin Lincoln?

Going through the "On this day" area of Wikipedia, I saw this. What's the story behind taking over 100 years to ratify the 13th amendment? Kentucky didn't do it until 1976.

Edit: I realize unanimity is not a requirement for an amendment to make it's way into the Constitution. But why did Mississippi and Kentucky take so long to ratify it even as a symbolic measure?

Hello, I hope this is the right subreddit for this. Title says it all, it can be books articles webpages documentaries, whatever you think it's good material.

Thanks in advance.

I was reading about the Star of India, built in 1863, and that prompted me to wonder this. To my understanding 1863 seems to be quite a late year for an exclusively sailing vessel to be built. Obviously enthusiasts today still sail sailing ships, but the Star of India wasn't an enthusiast's ship.

One of the things I've seen during the discussion of President Obama's nominee for the Supreme Court is his stance on guns. My understanding is that the ruling of the Heller case was what created the modern interpretation that gun ownership is an individual right, not requisite upon being a member of a militia. What was the prevailing judicial precedent on the Second Amendment prior to this ruling? If you have any information on how laypeople viewed it as well, I'd also be interested in hearing in that.

I learned about bad position of christian subjects in empire. Young male childern were taken from parents/mothers and made into elite wariors Jannisaries and politicians. Taxes was very hard to pay, large population in Serbia, Bosnia, Rumelia accept islam to enhance personal position and to make life easier and lower taxes. It all seems to me that they were not tolerant society and state, more true Orient/Asian empire. In last few months I read about Turkish rewriting of Ottoman history and erasing or hide unwanted parts to get to public. Armenian ethnic cleansing/genocide and many more events that take part in era of Ottoman empire on teritories with non-muslim people.

Sorry for English, not my native.

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I was reading texts that said that Sunday church attendance in China exceeded that of Europe. How could a communist country boast such a large Christian population?

So I have heard the surname "Holland" a lot in in the USA. You would think this would mean it indicates that they are from the Netherlands. But I never hear this last name in the Netherlands. So i was wondering what this surname means in the USA and where it comes from.

What was the transition of the federalist and anti federalist parties into the democratic republicans to the democratic and republican parties?