I'll admit that this is mostly speculation based on mere exposure to historical sources, but it seems like merchants were a somewhat tolerated if generally disliked and unfavored aspect of medieval Western society, and have grown to the point where we mostly have a capitalistic 'merchant' society. I was wondering what the focal points for this change might have been.

Hello historians,

I remember reading about somebody who said that "this war is fought over the issue of slavery" (or something similar) during the civil war, however, I have not been able to retrieve that bit of information. Can any of you help me out?

Thanks in advance

Would the original ancient Greek audience have seen Odysseus as embodying Hellenistic reason and overcoming Oriental decadence (the lotus eaters) and dominating irrational nature (the sirens, the cyclops) so that he could get home and claim his property?

Or to them was it nothing more than a good yarn?

Or do we even know?

I know that:

• It placed strain on French finances
• Led to the convening of the Assembly of Notables + aristocratic revolt
• 'American spirit' influenced it in a sense
• Used as an example of revolutionary success and increased the ambitions of those wishing for reform in France

Answering the contribution of the two elements (American war + grievances) separately would be greatly helpful

I've read citations in Marx's Capital that were part of a survey of laborers perceptions of and famailiarity with common christian ideas amd characters. And apparently some were considerable ignorant even confusing Satan and Christ apparently.

So, it got me thinking, before the age of mass comminications, were people as religious as we commonly perceive them to be?

How long does it take for countries to go from breaking peace to declaring war? Months? Years? Is there a "typical" rate, or is there no general timeframe to be found in the examples of history?

I've gotten myself roped into a pet history project here, fellas.

I'm reading up on the reunification of Poland during the reign of Wladyslaw I the Elbow-High (or Short) until the early 1330s. Particularly I'm interested in Krakow and Lesser Poland / Małopolskich.

That said, I'm trying to get a good feel for the broader region and am interested in trade routes and major trading cities and centers. All I'm aware of at the moment is from Krakow and Nowy Sacz down into Hungary... but where in Hungary? Were the Poles and Hungarians dealing much with the ascendent Bohemians at the time? With the Teutonic Order in charge up along the Baltic coast, is the grain trade even going at this time?

TL;DR If I was a Polish merchant from Krakow in 1300, where would I be taking my business?

Did European Settlers get diseases from the Natives the same way the Natives got diseases from the Europeans?

I understand that this is probably an issue of dispute and am more interested in knowing the range of opinions than "the answer." I have heard it thrown about that the worst/most decisive error made by Germany during WWII (save probably the invasion of Russia) was the decision to stop attacking RAF airfields and begin bombing London in an ultimately futile effort to destroy British morale. I have also heard that, to the contrary, the airfield bombing was also unlikely to ultimately succeed given the RAF's inherent advantages as the defending air force and so the error was minor or irrelevant. My instinct is to lean against the more dramatic reading since people have an incentive to punch up the importance of individual crux moments for dramatic purposes, but I'm curious to hear informed opinions on the issue.

I can only find her father's name: Artabanus. If anyone has more info about the very unlucky bride, I'd love to know!

Bonus question: If no to the main question, when did the idea of the "Thieves Guild" become popular in media?

I see that the USS Shangri La went was the first to be refitted in 1955, and the USS Oriskany the last refit to be completed after a two year overhaul in 1959. Obviously, all 14 carriers would not be out of commission at the same time.

• How many months did the average switch from straight deck to angled deck take, and could it have been done during a ship's normal scheduled maintenance time while not deployed?

• I would assume it was phased so that one ship would be 75% done while another was around 25% done, was this the case?

• Did any foreign powers (e.g. the Soviets or Chinese )make significant moves due to the fact that the U.S. Navy was in this transitional period?

Though perhaps they're not analogous, this question was in part prompted by consideration of the Black Panthers and their community efforts (such as the famous "Free Breakfast for Children"). Did any of the republican groups (especially ones more militant in contrast to other nationalists) develop or attempt anything similar for the Catholics?

edit: I don't know why I wrote "/social", that's not the correct term haha

There is a good deal of talk about "how the Irish became white", but were they seen as "inferior white people", or were they truly seen as a separate, inferior race of humans, by the English?

I've always heard it described as a method of encryption but that doesn't seem too plausible to me.

The Yucatecos at one point had been nearly conquered by the indigenous Maya state of Chan Santa Cruz. The Yucatan had good relations with Texas after its breakaway from Mexico and good relations with the US. President Polk asked Congress to intervene in favor of the white Yucatecos under siege against the Mayan armies. There is a plaque in Chan Santa Cruz that talks about one of the Mayan generals having his forces skirmish with a contingent of US Marines. I was wondering if anyone had any details about this supposed event and if the plaque is accurate that the Maya army destroyed the small US Marine contingent.