Apologies if this is too, well, broad. Is there any particular reason why certain forms of music should have come from certain parts of the world?

For example, western European music progressed from baroque, to classical, to dance forms like the waltz. Jazz evolved from African American communities in New Orleans and Harlem. I believe ragtime was a precursor to jazz.

Eastern music is very different, though. Japanese traditional music doesn't have much of a 4/4 or 3/4 feel to it; it's generally quite free flowing (again, I cannot be absolutely sure of this; it's just what I've heard) while Indian classical music regularly incorporated time signatures that a Western audience wouldn't perceive as 'normal'.

Melodically, we have the harmonic minor and other scales (Byzantine scales?) that we tend to associate (perhaps erroneously) with Arabic music. Music based in the Phrygian mode sounds Hispanic. Standard major scales, we tend to associate with, say, country music.

Are there cultural/geographical reasons that music would evolve in a specific way? Why would music that was traditionally mainly major/minor scales (I really didn't want to say this, because I'm not sure at all) come from Germany, and not from India? Why would metal originate from places like Sweden, and not, say, Polynesia? Why would Russian music be so depressing, and not cowboy music?

This is, I suppose, essentially me asking for a musical equivalent of Guns, Germs and Steel. Apologies for the wall of text, and thanks for giving it a read! :)

I watched a documentary on Black Brazilians which said "the Brazilian Government is the only Government to publicly apologize for slavery in their country." After watching a french movie called The Roundup have a lot of questions.

~Has the French Government ever formally apologized to the victims and their families of The Holocaust?

~ Was their ever anything equal to an Underground Railroad where Jewish people could escape before or during the Roundup?

~ How are Germans treated in France today?

~ My French Teacher told us about a time he told a joke to a German friend mentioning the Gestapo and the German didn't know who or what they were. So, In Germany do they not teach about was the nazi party did to the Jewish people? I can understand that it is a touchy subject, but how is the holocaust taught in schools ?

~Were Germans and Jewish people married during the round-up? If so were they split up?

I've been reading "Battle Cry of Freedom' by James McPherson and I noticed a brief mention when discussing the political machinery of the C.S.A. that there were libertarian politicians who served as legislators during the Civil War. I tried a quick search here and on google to find more information but I don't know if I'm using incorrect terms or what but I'm hoping there are some civil war experts who could guide me.

Who were they? I want to know where I could find some more information on this group of legislators, specifically what were their views, beliefs and what role did they play in the C.S.A.? They seemed to cause Jefferson Davis more than a small amount of difficulty, where were they from? What political groups were they affiliated with before the Civil War? What happened to them during reconstruction?

Hi Ii was just wondering if anyone knows of any materials that talk about the portrayal of the Welsh in Victorian times. I'd like to know this as I am very interested in finding out how my people were viewed and portrayed during these times.

For instance, during the French Revolution, were revolutionaries meeting at bars/taverns to form the resistance? Are there any other types of revolutions where bars/taverns were a central meeting point? Did this even happen?

It seems that aside from Philo's Contemplative Life there's not much information out there on the 1st C. BCE sect that he calls the Therapeutae. Can anyone recommend other sources that investigate the sect's origins, beliefs and practices?

Did Britain only believe her land rights stopped at the boundaries of Indian habitation? Or did Britain believe that land from East coast to West coast, with exception to French or Spanish territories, was rightfully hers?

Edit: spelling

During Black History Month each year we hear about all sorts of African-American figures who otherwise might be pretty obscure. But never about Hiram Revels, who on this date in 1870 became the first black senator, and thus the first black member of Congress.

All over the country we have schools named for Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Barbara Jordan, even schools named for pro athletes of African-American descent. But neither a Google search nor a search of the Geographic Names Information System turned up anything named for Revels except a Methodist Church in Mississippi. Was he later involved in something that tarnished his reputation, or was he seen as merely a Reconstruction token, his election a historical embarrassment?

I realize there was no exact 'point' the Empire fell, but when it was a faint shadow of what it was what happened to the wealthiest citizens in the most prosperous areas? What happened to the commoners in the less prosperous areas?

Edit: An sub/clarifying question: Was there any sort of stigma regarding true 'Romans'? For instance, were there ever hostilities the conquered peoples had against the Romans for being conquered? Did they discriminated against the ‘Romans’ once the might of the legions wasn't at their back? Or were they assimilated to the point that they identified more as being Roman than whatever they traditionally were?

Edit 2: You guys are awesome.

If I were a German farmer, besides caring for animals stored inside, fixing tools, and gathering wood/water, what would I do during the winter? Sleep all day? Did people go to one anothers houses and play games like cards/chess/story telling?

I was watching the Daily Show and they showed clips from Fox News about different interputations of the reasons for the civil war and how Licoln could have bought all the slaves or mandated they be paid. John Stewart then made a claim that Licoln had actually tried to do just that in the border states but was throughly resisted in getting any traction with these plans. So this question popped into my head from there. Any more details around Lincoln's plans or of any slave owner that changed independently would be interesting

I have heard ever since i little boy that foreign powers wanted to unite both countries for a multitude of reasons and every time there is a feud between the two (like the recent Constitutional Treaty's nationality resolution) and any country makes a say on the matter, Dominican media makes a patriotic explosion regarding sovereignty and "foreign powers attempting to merge the two countries when they have nothing in common", which is also a widely held notion in the general population.

Is there any truth to this or is just propaganda?

Condemning a person for using cuss words sounds very modernist. Did this Commandment have any interesting context? Perhaps the word swear was referring to something else.

Context : I was just listening to Dan Carlin's Hardcore History when he mentioned some Alsatian people just "gave the keys" of some forts in the Maginot line, because there were supposedly "German".

While this strikes me as completely false on a personal level, I welcome some examples.

In much the same manner that contemporary religions blame homosexuals and their sins for gods never ending punishment. My question is thus: How then could Roman Catholicism occur, if, Romans would blame and often persecute Christians? Thanks in advance!