The United States of America is a nation-state stretching across North America between Canada and Mexico, plus Alaska in the continent's northwest, the mid-Pacific archipelago of Hawaii and several territories in the Pacific & Caribbean. Founded by European émigrés rebelling from British control in ...
2
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0answers
40 views
How has enforcement of the USA-Mexico border changed over time?
Illegal immigration into the United States across the USA-Mexico border has been a big hot-button issue in recent years.
As many people here may already know, a person from Mexico wishing to travel ...
0
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1answer
102 views
Battle of Seattle [closed]
The "Battle of Seattle," a large civil protest that led to sporadic rioting in 1999, is commonly portrayed as influential in the sociology of Western activism, and in the contemporary history of ...
6
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5answers
383 views
What incentives are in place for American soldiers to go fight in Iraq?
I am from Brazil, a country that has not fought any war since WW2. If you join the army, go fight in Iraq and then return, what will the USA pay you? Is there a health plan for life, a pension, or ...
3
votes
3answers
201 views
Why Americans like to enroll in military services despite huge risks involved?
Working in US military is one of the riskiest jobs in America because of the regular engagement in battles compared to other military in the world.
I live in a third-world country. Even in my ...
7
votes
1answer
102 views
Why did the states that were born out of the Louisiana purchase adopt a common law system, and not a civil law system?
The French system of laws is a civil law system that is based upon the Napoleonic Code, and further back the Justinian Code. The legal system in Louisiana is now bijuridicial retaining some of the ...
5
votes
4answers
253 views
US: Who turned the (originally) “anti-slavery” GOP into the “pro-business” party?
It is my understanding that the Republican Party (of the US) arose from the anti-slavery movement, and, more specifically, as a reaction against the 1854 repeal of the Missouri Compromise.
And yet, ...
-1
votes
1answer
49 views
American History Dating To The 1700's - Ben Franklin [closed]
Can anyone put in context the history of the 1700's, with specific events and circumstances, that are evidence of why Ben Franklin conclusively divided mankind into three classes - immovable, movable ...
5
votes
3answers
186 views
How compare the rights and conditions of the American slaves to those of Russian serfs?
How compare the rights and conditions of the 19-th century American slaves to those of the 19-th century Russian serfs?
3
votes
3answers
171 views
Why did George H. W. Bush select Dan Quayle as his running mate in 1988?
I've just been revisiting some quotes from Dan Qualyle. For example:
I believe we are on an irreversible trend toward more freedom and
democracy – but that could change.
and
We are ready ...
9
votes
5answers
316 views
Why have officers in the U.S. army tended to “top out” at the level of Major?
In the U.S. army, something like 75%-80% of newly-commissioned Second Lieutenants are promoted to First Lieutenant (around age 25), perhaps 75%-80% of First Lieutenants are promoted to Captain (ages ...
11
votes
2answers
271 views
Why did the USA stay out of the League of Nations?
Woodrow Wilson, who was President of the USA at the time of the League's creation, was the person who pushed for the inclusion of the League in the Treaty of Versailles in the first place. Why is it ...
2
votes
1answer
60 views
What does 'trade in' mean in this article on the Westway project?
A little background so you know where we are at. I'm doing a paper concerning the Westway project* specifically the period immediately before the collapse of the project in which hundreds of ...
-5
votes
1answer
90 views
Who really put to flight American hostages in America's embassy in Tehran in 1979? [closed]
Was it by Canadians or CIA? That's all! I think it doesn't need more contexts as it is a very clear question.
Please when you try to answer ( if you have an answer ) forget movies and imaginary ...
4
votes
2answers
138 views
“Brown-Bread Eater” meaning as used in an insult
The American Pageant (Bailey, Kennedy, Cohen, 2006) on p. 507 remarks:
...regular Republicans denounced Greeley as an atheist, a communist, a free-lover, a vegetarian, a brown-bread eater...
...
4
votes
1answer
41 views
Past US invovlement in Iran and Iraq
If I remember correctly that the U.S did switch sides between sides supporting both Iraq and Iran at some point due to some sort of Cold War Reason. So my question is did the U.S. back empowerment of ...
11
votes
3answers
2k views
Why did Ford pardon Nixon?
Gerald Ford's pardon of Nixon for the crimes he committed during his presidency was quite an unpopular and controversial move. Why did he make this decision?
4
votes
1answer
63 views
When did Harvard give its last entrance exam?
I saw this article pointing out how different college admissions used to be, pre World War II. Entrance exams are still used around the world today but it seems like no American universities give out ...
9
votes
5answers
244 views
Since the inception of the United States, has the term “America” ever referred to something more than simply “the United States”?
Today we use the terms America and the United States as synonyms. The official name of the country is The United States of America. But prompted by a question on another forum, wherein an author ...
4
votes
1answer
242 views
How did the “Forty Niners” get to California in 1849?
How did the "Forty Niners" get to California in 1849?
In 1849, the Panama Canal would not have been built for over 50 years, meaning that ships from the U.S. east coast would have had to sail all the ...
4
votes
4answers
153 views
What precipitated the rise of social safety nets in the United States?
In the United States we received changes in the social safety net over the past century with the big changes coming in the form of social security and medicaid/medicate as well as other programs. The ...
3
votes
3answers
163 views
Was the death toll in the atomic bombing of Japanese territory greater than was expected by the US?
It is known that the US tried to justify their atomic bombing of Japanese cities by claiming they were aimed at military targets such as a plant and a bridge. Yet the bombs destroyed much more than ...
9
votes
1answer
201 views
Did Jefferson really say this quote about patriotism?
Who said this quote?
Patriotism is not a short frenzied burst of emotion, but the long and steady dedication of a lifetime.
I've seen some sources claiming it was Thomas Jefferson and others ...
3
votes
1answer
220 views
Did JFK win the presidential election by fraud?
Based on sources such as Chicago Tribune, Encyclopedia Britannica, Slate Magazine and many other books, it is said that JFK's father played a significant part in making him president. In the book, "If ...
5
votes
4answers
367 views
What factors led to the rise of political parties in the United States?
I know that at the time the Constitution was drafted partisan political parties did not exist, not in the way that we conceive of them today, and George Washington did not have a political party. ...
10
votes
4answers
697 views
Why Did the US Drop Nuclear Weapons on a Weakened Japan
Why did the United States drop two nuclear bombs on the Japanese mainland when they were already on the wining side?
6
votes
1answer
79 views
What were the conditions that Peter Stuyvesant found when he arrived in America?
I have been studying Peter Stuyvesant recently, and would like to know two things about him and New Amsterdam:
What were the conditions that he found when he arrived in New Amsterdam? By this I mean ...
4
votes
1answer
103 views
What is the meaning behind Thomas Nast's political cartoon “Compromise--Indeed!”?
I'm struggling even with this explaination here: http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0127.html
Who is holding the gun? That website explains:
Dominating this picture is the ...
6
votes
1answer
246 views
After the Civil War, which states had the most problems with rejoining the Union?
Once the American Civil war ended, did some states encounter more difficulty than others when it came to rejoining the Union? What circumstances or conditions might have contributed to their issues?
4
votes
2answers
102 views
Have there been gay riots in the US?
I was wondering has there ever been uprisings in the history of the US that were for gay rights or started by gay people?
14
votes
2answers
3k views
Why did the Federalist party collapse?
The Federalist Party in the United States was a significant political force during the early years of the United States' history. Wikipedia doesn't really cite reasons why the party declined and ...
-3
votes
3answers
425 views
What are historical examples of globalization in action? [closed]
What specific things in society demonstrate globalization to the fullest extent?
For example, every country in the world has electricity. Would this be a successful candidate for the representation ...
4
votes
3answers
176 views
Did Ted Kennedy turn to the Soviet Union for help winning an election?
Reading an interesting article in Forbes, I was dumbfounded by the idea that Ted Kennedy might have sought out Yuri Andropov's help to run for president against Ronald Reagan in 1984. A relevant ...
9
votes
1answer
394 views
Did the Soviet Union know when DEFCON levels changed?
The US military uses a scale of alert readiness called DEFCON, with DEFCON 5 being the lowest alert level and DEFCON 1 being the highest, preparing for imminent nuclear war. At least once during the ...
3
votes
1answer
62 views
Why did Jefferson have to 'Stretch the Constitutional Breaking Point' for the Louisiana Purchase?
Because the U.S. Constitution did not explicitly grant the president the power to purchase territory, when the 'Now or Never' moment came to purchase the Louisiana territory, he had 'stretched ...
7
votes
3answers
190 views
Is the USA Congress explicitly patterned after the British Parliament?
I have always presumed this to be the case. They have a similar form: two chambers, the lower representing "all the people" and the upper representing, very roughly speaking, "institutional forces" ...
10
votes
0answers
78 views
Are photos of WWII US Navy damage reports available online?
I have located a PDF of the USS Marblehead's Bomb Damage Report from 4 Feb 1942. The report lists plates of photographs which are not included in the report I have found.
Do copies of this report ...
5
votes
1answer
99 views
Upper-class male cohabitation in mid-19th century USA
James Buchanan is often considered to be the first (and only so far?) gay American president. The major piece of evidence for this (at least according to wikipedia and some popular articles on this ...
22
votes
7answers
3k views
Was the secession of the Confederate states illegal?
Putting aside their reasons for wanting to do so and all the emotional responses they would provoke, was the secession of states from the Union to eventually form the Confederacy an illegal act in ...
3
votes
1answer
60 views
Did the founding fathers think civil wars would be frequent?
I think I remember learning that one of the founding fathers (Thomas Jefferson maybe?) wrote (in a Federalist Paper maybe?) that there would need to be a civil war about once a generation to sustain ...
6
votes
3answers
168 views
Natural born citizen
From what I understand, the so-called "birther movement" in the US asserts that Barack Obama is not eligible to be president of the USA because he allegedly wasn't born in the US and therefore is not ...
-1
votes
1answer
189 views
What is the historicity of the film “Revolution.com - USA: The Conquest of the East”?
This is a Russian version of a French film from mid-2000s "Revolution.com"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O3QxDgft148
It shows how US government and government-sponsored NGOs organize "color ...
4
votes
2answers
154 views
How significant was the US military role during the NATO campaign in Libya?
The NATO campaign in Libya was started by the UK and France, and the US was later also involved. How significant and vital was the US assistance in this campaign?
Edit: I am primarily interested in ...
6
votes
1answer
114 views
Did American Indians disrupt railroads in their regions?
In the Old West, many railroads went through Indian-occupied areas. Are there any documented instances of the Indians ever sabotaging the railroads? Please provide dates and circumstances where ...
8
votes
1answer
79 views
What kind of wood was the standard decking for Aircraft Carriers in World War 2?
I know that both Japan and the United States used wooden decks on their WWII Aircraft Carriers. Was there a specific, "ideal" standard type of wood that was utilized by either country? If so, what ...
0
votes
1answer
68 views
What is the source of the Senate-as-saucer story?
A famous (though perhaps fictional) simile often quoted to point out
the differences between the House and Senate involves an argument
between George Washington, who favored having two chambers ...
4
votes
2answers
66 views
Georgia's Ruling by O. Henry
O. Henry's 1900 story, "Georgia's Ruling", http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/ohenry/bl-ohenry-georgia.htm describes a dire social problem related to the USA land laws and the "land ...
6
votes
0answers
26 views
Which of LBJ's fellow representatives were less active than him in the House?
In the first book of Robert Caro's series on Lyndon Johnson, The Path to Power, he observes that in his time as a member of the House of Representatives, LBJ had introduced only 5 bills of national ...
9
votes
1answer
161 views
Were there weapons that a private citizen could not legally own in 1789 in the US?
For example: a canon, certain types of muskets etc...
Were there laws for whether women or freed slaves could not own specific weapons?
2
votes
1answer
65 views
When did USA start to help developing countries?
In 2006, the United States government gave $23.53 billion in overseas development assistance.
When did these programs start?
3
votes
1answer
561 views
Difference between V-5 and V-12 Navy programs during WWII
I was curious if there was a difference between the V-5 and V-12 Navy programs during World War II. I have found a lot of information on V-12 program specifically ...
