Questions tagged [united-states]
The United States of America is a sovereign state stretching across North America between Canada and Mexico, 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 the 1700s, the US spread across the continent by conquest and land-purchase to become the most powerful country on the planet after the Cold War in the 1900s.
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How well did American bombers fight enemy fighters in World War II?
Normally, fighters shoot down bombers. but sometimes bombers "turn the tables" and destroy enemy fighters. My understanding is that American bombers did this from time to time against weaker ...
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What caused the stagnation in real wage growth in the later half of the 20th century?
During that time, U.S. per capita GDP grew briskly, "average" (mean wages) grew slowly, and "median" wages grew hardly at all. What reasons do economists cite for the differences ...
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Why was slavery profitable in the Southern colonies and not New England?
Why didn't Colonists in New England import massive numbers of Slaves?
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When did abolition of property qualifications for voting begin in the USA?
I understand that voting qualifications in the USA are a state matter and this didn't all happen in one blow. But which states were the first and last to abolish property qualifications for voting? ...
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Were there duststorms in Louisiana in the 1930's?
I am researching the dust-bowl era of the US, and am wondering if the dust-bowl impacted Louisiana. I know it was mostly in Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico etc. But I am wondering if it is plausible for a ...
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Has a book ever secretly been written with gold ink?
I heard a story that goes as follows:
A prospector struck gold and didn't want to share. So this man was trying to hide his gold from all of his other partners. The story says that he melted the gold ...
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What was the wealth distribution in US antebellum North / South
My question relates to the following quote from chapter XI of the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass:
I had very strangely supposed, while in slavery, that few of the comforts, and ...
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Which state capital did the Apollo 11 command module NOT visit after it returned from the moon?
According to Wikipedia, after Apollo 11 returned from the Moon:
The command module Columbia went on a tour of the United States, visiting 49 state capitals, the District of Columbia, and Anchorage, ...
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Was slavery really on the way out in the antebellum USA?
Gail Jarvis, in an encomium to the Dunning School writes:
William A. Dunning fervently opposed slavery but his reading of the trends of the times led him to the conclusion that the institution was ...
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When was the last time someone was condemned to slavery as a punishment in the United States?
These question and answer have established than even after the abolition of slavery by the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution, felons have been sentenced to be "sold as slave" for a ...
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What was the reasoning behind the Washington Committee's complaint to the Liquor Tax during the Whiskey Rebellion?
The tax was on distilled liquor and the first ever levied by the United States on a domestic product. The town of Washington, Pennsylvania, held a meeting concerning this tax and they adopted a ...
MCW♦
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Was American slavery economically advantageous primarily due to being able to also sell offspring?
It seems to me that the cost of a slave, which might have been 800 dollars, was something like 2 or 3 years salary for a Chinese laborer on the transcontinental railroad project -- they made literally ...
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Can anyone identify this 19th century US military uniform?
I found this among our family photos and am trying to figure out who it might be.
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Did Zolmy Khalilzad lobby for the Taliban in the 1990s?
Only Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) recognized the legitimacy of the Taliban government in 1996-2001.
Many Afghans on Twitter and Facebook claim that Zolmy ...
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How were smallpox vaccines enforced in the US?
Smallpox was eradicated in 1977 thanks to a massive worldwide vaccination campaign. But how did the US government enforce the smallpox vaccine, given that you needed 90+% vaccinated to achieve herd ...
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Have there been any other US presidents besides JFK that were groomed from birth to be president?
I know it was Joe Jr who was groomed, and then JFK took his place after Jr's death.
"From a very young age, Kennedy was groomed by his father and predicted to be the first Roman Catholic US ...
MCW♦
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How common was Nixon-esque espionage in 20th-century American politics?
During the Watergate scandal, President Nixon's supporters were reportedly fond of saying, "Everyone does it." When I listened to Slate's Slow Burn podcast recently, I remember them saying ...
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What was wrong with carrying a bag on one's back in a town in the USA in the first decades of the 1900?
A geologist working in the field needs a container for rocks specimens:
The collecting-bag may be in the form of a pouch to carry at the side, a knapsack, or a
rucksack. If one is working afoot the ...
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Was the first use of glass teleprompters in Lyndon Johnson’s speech to the UN’s 20th anniversary celebration? (1965)
I came across a short video recording of his speech at c-span.org
I was surprised by the appearance of the sleek glass devices that appear to be teleprompters beside the podium. They appear almost ...
MCW♦
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What percentage of US population descended from immigration per immigration year?
The title question is somewhat ill-defined because, of course, most Americans living today descended from immigrants from different years: one of your grandpas is a Mayflower descendant, another one's ...
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What was the timetable for the arrival of the 100,000 man Japanese garrison at Rabaul?
Early in 1942, the Japanese seized the natural port of Rabaul on New Britain Island. This was to protect its existing base at Truk, in the Carolines, and also to provide a forward base for operations ...
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Why was Truman considered a heavy underdog in the 1948 election?
The 1948 (election) link to wikipedia states:"The election is considered to be the greatest election upset in American history.1[3]" with no less than three sources.
One possible reason might have ...
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What is the source of this quote about hope and POWs?
I seem to recall someone who was a POW, possibly held by Japanese, saying something like that the people that survived were the ones that gave up hope of getting out and the people that died were the ...
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Will we ever get anything like the LBJ & Nixon White House recordings for contemporary presidents?
There are fantastic recordings of Lyndon Johnson's phone calls where for instance he discusses his apprehensions about Vietnam with Robert Macnamara. Likewise we have recordings of Richard Nixon ...
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What were the reasons for the Federal Art Project?
From August 29, 1935, until June 30, 1943 United States promote what they called Federal Art Project.
Reputed to have created more than 200,000 separate works, FAP artists
created posters, murals ...
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Who was the US town Hayden in Arizona named after?
Is the town Hayden, AZ named after Charles Hayden?
Charles Hayden was the principal of Stone & Hayden, which owned the Kennecott mines. Hayden AZ was founded in 1911 according to the Wikipedia ...
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What is the reason for the modern prominence of the Confederate battle flag, as opposed to some other Confederate flag?
It seems whenever there's news of some protests in the USA, the Confederate battle flag will almost invariably show up in the associated photoreports.
Granted, this may just be observer bias due to me ...
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How did East Indies oil lose its "top billing" in the Pacific War as the war went on?
The road to Pearl Harbor appeared to begin with the American embargo of oil (and other items) in July 1941. The Japanese decided that they had to 1) cripple the American Pacific fleet and 2) obtain ...
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I need to know the dates this uniform was used
Attached is a picture of my relative in a USA military uniform. I would like to know when this uniform was in use and what branch of service and rank the soldier held.
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Could Thomas Jefferson have ever heard Mozart's Symphony No. 40, KV. 550?
The third president of the United States was a lifelong admirer of W. A. Mozart. Or rather, of Mozart's music; he arranged to meet Mozart in Paris when he was Minister to France (August 1784–September ...
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How useful were Chinese contributions to the defeat of Japan in WWII?
While there is no doubt China contributed a lot of blood and treasure in the War with Japan, how useful were those contributions given that Japan was strangled by a the navy, bombed by the air force ...
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Are states affected by federal law before admission to the union?
I was curious whether a territory would be affected by federal law before it was ratified as statehood. For example, if a federal law passed in 1934, would it impact Hawaii which was admitted on ...
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During WW2, why did the USA occupy Clipperton Island?
Clipperton Island is a little place southwest of Mexico. It is a very small island, owned by France, but I'm not sure if anyone inhabited it at the time of WW2.
Wikipedia says the US occupied this ...
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Were political parties in the U.S during 1918 as polarized generally as they are now? [closed]
There was a pandemic in 1918, and there is one now as well, but were political parties back then as polarized generally as they are now in the United States.
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Were mattress labels inspired by public outcry?
If you're an American consumer, you likely know the "mattress tag", labels attached to mattresses, pillows, stuffed animals, and pet beds, which often begin "This tag may not be removed under penalty ...
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Can anyone identify this uniform, approximate year, and aircraft?
It's U.S. from the interwar years, but I don't know much more than that.
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What quality were Japanese troops in Japan in 1945?
Sources such as Basil Collier's "The Second World War: A Military History" list the Japanese forces during the war as being 6 million. My understanding is that the background of these troops ...
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Why was Eisenhower chosen to be Supreme Allied Commander in Europe?
Dwight D. Eisenhower "Ike", graduated from West Point in 1915 ranked 61st in a class of 164 better known for his abilities on the football field than in the classroom. Upon graduation from ...
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Was Japan known to be a potential threat to the USA in the 10 year period prior to 1941
In the years leading up to the Pearl Harbor attack, did non-military Americans see Japan as a potential threat to the USA?
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Why was the Tulsa Port placed at Catoosa?
I was looking at various maps of Oklahoma, and the question came to me of
why does the Tulsa Port of Catoosa even exist.
Tulsa lies on the Arkansas River, which is considerably larger than the ...
MCW♦
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Was New Hampshire's prohibition on non-Protestant officeholders enforced in the last decades of its existence?
In the context of Jewish History, it is often said that New Hampshire was the last state to remove legal disabilities on Jews in 1877 (which technically pushes the US quite far down the timeline for ...
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What was the nature and extent of forced or coerced sterilization in Puerto Rico from the 1940s-1970s?
During the period from the 1950s to the 1970s, if not earlier, female sterilization rates in Puerto Rico were extremely high (see e.g. "Voluntary Sterilization-A World View", Presser, ...
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Why was Independence Day in America established on July 4?
July 4 is the date that the Declaration of Independence was ratified. Why was that the date chosen for Independence Day, rather than any of these dates (not to the exclusion of others; these just seem ...
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What were the long-term effects of Reconstruction in the South?
After the American Civil War, the South was in ruins and there was doubt about how the Southern states would treat newly freed slaves. So the US government instituted a 15-year policy known as ...
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Were there U.S. weapon restrictions during 19th century?
Prior to the 20th century, I'm curious as to how the 2nd amendment was understood:
A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and ...
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Did the "unexpectedness" of key events argue against a "third strike" at Pearl Harbor?
Japan's Admiral Nagumo has been criticized for not launching a "third strike" at Pearl Harbor, specifically to destroy the dry docks, fuel stores, repair facilities and other key ...
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Is the position of women as portrayed in the Mad Men series historically accurate?
I found similar questions about a game (closed as off topic), a play (7 upvotes) and a movie (9 upvotes) so I am unsure if this is an acceptable question for this SE.
In the Mad Men series, which ...
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Did legal interracial marriage hit a nadir that was above 50% in 1948?
Did legal interracial marriage hit a nadir that was above 50% in 1948?
Explain XKCD for this comic, which is currently down so I'm using an archive... said:
Since the establishment of the United ...
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Why was air support not provided during the Battle of Mogadishu, 1993 (Black Hawk Down)? [closed]
During the Battle of Magadishu (1993) multiple Black Hawk helicopters were shot down and a group of soldiers were pinned down under unexpected enemy resistance.
Air support was provided by both MH-60 ...
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Why did North America economically prosper, and maintain stable government and South/Central America didn't?
Disclaimer: I understand this is a generalized statement and doesn't account for every scenario (for example: the US civil war).
In general, why, over the course of our whole history, have the United ...
MCW♦
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