We've all seen it in movies and cartoons but has that actually ever worked?

I started playing Bioshock Infinite, and early in the game, I picked up an audio recording of Father Comstock declaring Lincoln an 'idiot' for emancipating the slaves, saying he was emancipating them from food, clothing, shelter, and 'good honest hard work'. He said that the slave owners were sponsors of the negro man, and now what will they do without them?

So what I'm asking is did the slave owners subscribe to this philosophy or did they have a different opinion of the Great Emancipator?

I've always wondered how people from very different regions, with no roots in common, were able to understand each other, and even learn new languages, back in the days were "grammar books" were not available. For example, Christian missionaries trying to teach the Bible in Africa, or Spanish conquistadores with the native Americans.

What was the turning point (or turning points) that allowed the United States to emerge as the dominant country in global politics? How did the rise and fall of other world powers affect this?

My grandmother grew up in Ukraine when it was pat of the USSR. She despises Ukrainians, claiming they were worse than the Nazis. When I ask her about Stalin, she says he was among the better leaders of the USSR, in terms of treatment toward the Jews. From my understanding however, Ukraine was devastated under Stalin's rule, whether it be pogroms against Jews or famines against Ukrainians in general. So, what was it really like for Jews under the Stalinist regime, pre WWII, during WWII, and after WWII?

What did Rome look like before it became an imperial superpower? I know that Roman culture was from very early on influenced by the Greek city states in southern Italy, but there must be some truth to what Octavian said about "finding a city of bricks and leaving it a city of marble". I also know that most of the characteristic marble monuments was built during the era of the five "good emperors", a century later. Do we know of any specific ancient Latin building techniques/styles? I'm trying to imagine Rome as it was c. 350-400 BC, but I don't really have a clue as to how it might have looked!

Let's say a crime is committed on a Venice's merchant colony on Constantinople. Do the Byzantines interfere or it's all on the Venetians? If it's Venetian jurisdiction, who was the authority on such matters (was it appointed by the government, chosen by locals) ?

I say Venice and Constantinople, but I'd be interested in other Merchant Republics and important cities too.

My grandfather (now deceased) fought in the war, and I've been able to find in his old papers that he was with the Battery B 138th AAA Gun Battalion, however I CANNOT for the life of me figure out the larger division, etc. that that group was under. His personal records were lost to the '73 fire, so the only hope I have of getting an idea where he might've gone through the war is to track his unit's movements. Any help at all for where to look? searching for just the info I have turns up little. I think I need to be able to search more broadly. Thanks in advance, folks!

Are there any merits to these "doing history" acts? I'm not a fan of battle reenactments (a recent thread brought this idea to the forefront of my mind) or recreated towns like Colonial Williamsburg. I see them as telling us more about ourselves now than they do about the past and I think it's a mistake (detrimental?) to use them as ways in which history/the past is taught to the public and to students.

I've read some stuff about place, memory and history: Making Place, Making Race: Performances of Whiteness in the Jim Crow South by Steven Hoelscher; To Die For by Cecilia Elizabeth O'Leary come to mind ...even Phalaniuk's Choke has a few interesting insights into this phenomena.

I am however a fan of walking tours and i'm not sure if there is some conflict with me holding on to these two POV regarding ways of performing history. I would really like to hear from other historians as I try to flesh out my own ideas. Merci!

I've been thinking a lot about this, but I've got no historical knowledge whatsoever. I've thought about asking one of my friend who is studying to be an history teacher, but whenever the subject of medieval time comes around he goes on a rant about how ''It wasn't that great! Stop!'' even when we're talking about D&D...

Where do we get our idea of this medieval fantasy world ala D&D, Game of Thrones, King Arthur,etc? And is it truly bad to have these stories like that? I know it's important to show people that living in that era would NOT have been fun, but is it so wrong to wish to live in that medieval ''fantasy''?

I'm sure the answer will be no, it's not wrong and yes it's important to know about what really was going on back then, but I'm looking for maybe an interesting discussion on the topic.

My dad read this a long time ago (unfortunately, he can't remember the source) and has been looking for something to back this up for a long time (I've looked some too). I asked this about 3 months ago with no response, so I thought I might as well try again. Thanks for your help!

I know it's a very large time area, but I'm greatly interested in a few books to read about the region.

Specifically, I'm interested in:

• Three Kingdoms of Korea, up until Goryeo
• Pre-warring States/Qin China
• Chinese relations with Korea & Japan during these times
• Japan up through the Asuka especially, but up until the Kamakura era in general

Something in depth enough that can teach me more than a general history textbook of the region/wikipedia, but not too detailed as to warrant a tens of thousands of pages.

Very specific, I suppose. Sorry if it's inappropriate.