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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Why was cannabis illegalized in the U.S.?
There seems to be a notion that cannabis was illegalized due to capitalism. I've read some theories as to how this happened, and one of them goes something like this:
Commissioner of the National ...
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What did a 19th century New Orleans Yellow Fever immunity passport look like?
In response to proposals for a so-called "immunity passport" system to be developed so that people who have recovered from COVID-19 can return to life as usual (without being subject to ...
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What is the context for Glennon's 1956 intelligence gathering trip to the USSR?
In 1956, my father, John J. Glennon (Librarian of the Institute of the Aeronautical Sciences, now the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics) was one of the few fluent Russian speakers in ...
Glennon
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What did US presidential ballots look like when unpledged electors were offered?
Unpledged presidential electors have run in at least four US presidential elections. In 1960, 14 were elected.
In this age, where the electoral college is almost a mere formality and we rarely think ...
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How did 18th-century gubernatorial elections in Vermont compare to similar elections in other states?
In an disorganized way I have been reading various things about the 18th-century history of Vermont and I wondered whether their way of choosing and installing governors was unique, or the same as ...
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Was Frederick Douglass right that in his day 'religious slaveholders are the worst'? If so why would this be?
I am quoting from the autobiography of Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), who as many readers will probably know escaped from slavery in Maryland in 1838, settled in Massachusetts and became an anti-...
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How was immigration from Latin America handled before the passage of the Immigration & Nationality act of 1965?
I know that in the United States, before the passage of the Immigration & Nationality act of 1965, immigration was controlled by the Immigration Act of 1924.
It limited the number of immigrants ...
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Is today (April 8, 2020) the first time the NYTimes has had content superimposed on its name?
I notice that today's print edition of the New York Times has part of it's front page infographic overlaid on the name of the paper. As a frequent reader, this stands out to me because while this kind ...
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Why did the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company have a banking company?
I am reading newspapers from Savannah, GA 1842 (Oct. & Nov.) and they often mention the Georgia Railroad and Banking Company (originally called Georgia Railroad Company). I am not understanding ...
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How did the tomato become the iconic pin cushion design?
When I was growing up, my mother had a pin cushion shaped and colored like a tomato. I recently discovered that my wife's grandmother has one too, which led me to discover that tomato pin cushions are ...
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What would a criminal defense attorney charge in late 19th century America?
What would a criminal defense attorney charge on the American frontier in a murder trial in 1885? I am specifcally interested in what it would have cost three cowpokes to mount a murder defence in ...
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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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Can anyone identify this uniform? Is it from Sweden or USA?
I have 2 photos of my husband's grandfather Edwin Albin (1884-1962) that were taken in Minnesota in 1906. I’m hoping to find out more about the uniform Albin is wearing. Albin's father Claus August ...
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When the 'speedy trial' amendment was written, how long did trials usually take?
The Sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution promises "the right to a speedy and public trial," to prevent the accused from being held without a conviction for a long pretrial period. What ...
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Who would have used this c1890s canvas bag?
I have an OLD canvas bag measuring 14 x 11", opens to two pouches. It has a leather strap on the back that makes it look like it was possibly used as a backpack.
Printed on the front is "2 SEP.CO. ...
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In 1940s/50s how did refugees earn US citizenship?
I'm writing a piece about a polish refugee at the start of WW2 and I am trying to figure out the process for an unaccompanied minor, whose parents are supposed to be dead if that makes a difference, ...
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How is Phi Beta Kappa and Skull and Bones historically connected to Sigma Pi Phi fraternity also known as the Boulé?
According to the history of Sigma Pi Phi Fraternity also known as the Boulé the organization was founded in 1904 by Henry McKee Minton and five other men
Sigma Pi Phi fraternity was formed in ...
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What did "Dr." after a person's or a business's name mean around the turn of the 20th century in the USA?
I am putting together a historical presentation about a late-19th / early 20th-century U. S. ruralite who was involved in many things including operating a general store. I have seen the abbreviation "...
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What is the source of the cartoon against the US war in Vietnam ending with "I just get killed"?
There was an antiwar cartoon that showed a sequence of persons from the United States, each with words suggesting they had little or no responsibility for the war, e.g. "I just do the ...
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Was United Fruit Company connected to the Rockefeller family?
Was United Fruit Company connected to or controlled by the Rockefeller family?
Wikipedia says:
The directors of United Fruit Company (UFCO) had lobbied to convince the Truman and Eisenhower ...
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Why was the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo signed there?
The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo which ended the Mexican-American War was signed "at the main altar of the old Basilica of Guadalupe", or possibly in an adjacent building. This is a major Catholic ...
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Looking for information on "Schwartz Toy Mfg. Corp." and products
I found a stuffed animal in my attic of a masked mouse with a label having "Schwartz Toy Mfg. Corp." on it. The spelling differs from FAO Schwarz, and I can't find much on Google except a few sites ...
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Christmas trees - real or fake? When did the U.S. Christmas tree consumer begin preferring artificial trees to real trees?
Source: National Christmas Tree Association via Statista.
Background
Our family was watching (again) A Christmas Story last night, and during the scene where the Old Man is bargaining to purchase a ...
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Why did the US give up the portion of Vancouver island below the 49th parallel but insist on keeping Point Roberts?
Point Roberts remained US territory because the Americans insisted on maintaining the strictest interpretation of the Treaty of Oregon, even though it was pretty much useless being a tiny exclave. But ...
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Did any American political party have a legal personality anywhere at any time? Did it ever lapse?
After the War of Independence, some institutions such as the Bank of the United States were granted legal personality by the state or federal authorities. Of course, some of them ceased to exist (inc. ...
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Ethnic composition of antebellum Massachusetts
What was the ethnic composition of Massachusetts in the decades before the Civil War? I am particularly interested in knowing what percentage of the population claimed English, Scottish, North Irish, ...
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Is this character based on a real person?
In the 2014 historical novel Natchez Burning, by Greg Iles, chapter 29:
A black Mississippian who left his native state in the early 1950s to go to law school, Quentin Avery fought on the front ...
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Did most colleges in the United States have semesters that began in September and ended in January during the 1890s?
I have been researching college calendars from the 1890s and have found that their semesters are very different from most "modern" semesters in the United States. Here are two examples: Texas, Bryn ...
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What was the logic behind state censuses?
Conducting genealogy research, I always liked when my targets were in times and places where they have state censuses to back up the federal census. Frequently, the state census is conducted in years ...
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What patriotic music might have been popular for Independence Day in 1866?
I am on a search for American patriotic music that would have been performed at a New England (specifically, Portland, Maine) Independence Day celebration in 1866. I would like to find a list of ...
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Were weapons allowed in Carpenters Hall during the first and second continental Congresses?
During the founding of the nation, what restrictions were in place at public forums related to the carrying of weapons (fire arms, knives, small caliber pistols, etc.), especially during the ...
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What impact did Georgists have on the Sixteenth Amendment, and vice versa?
The Sixteenth Amendment, which allows the federal government to directly tax citizens' incomes, was ratified in 1913. That seems to be the same period of time (late 19th and early 20th centuries) that ...
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Has a US President's family member ever been indicted or arrested during or after the Presidential term?
No United States president has ever been indicted or charged with a crime during or after their presidency. (According to my search / this Quora post)
Has a president's family member ever been ...
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Was there a well-known controversy about homosexuality in the U.S. State Department in the late 1960's?
In 1969, a film called Don't Drink the Water was released. It was based on a play by Woody Allen, and Woody remade it in 1994. In the 1969 version, an American family called the Hollanders is touring ...
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When did US federal government's revenue exceed combined state and local revenue?
Approximately when did the US federal government's revenue become larger than state and local revenue?
Even after the Constitution in 1787 the federal government's revenue was still much smaller than ...
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Did "errand boys" really have to wear handcuffs attached to the briefcase?
In a Donald Duck comic published in 1994 (possibly conceived up to a few years prior, and possibly "set" in the 1950s), Donald Duck is forced to become an errand boy. The boss gives him a ...
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Why was 'France' excluded from Henry Lane Wilson's clique during the Mexican Revolution?
The book by Friedrich Katz, The secret war in Mexico, mentions that the USA minister Henry Lane Wilson organized in part the overthrow of president Madero during the first phase of the Mexican ...
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Is the argument for a means test on public education a new one?
In the United States, the last Democratic debate a widely discussed proposal for free tuition for all students who attend public Universities ( State and Land-Grant Universities ) came up.
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Was Frisbee criticized in the Soviet Union?
In the U.S. of the 1950s, the Space Age and molded plastic flying discs (Frisbees) were both novel. New materials and a supposed resemblance to UFOs made this linkage irresistible for early disc ...
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Why did many scientists spy for the Soviet Union and contribute to their atomic program?
I want to understand why some scientists collaborated with the Soviet Union and its atomic program during and after the WWII. What I want to know is if there were some specific characteristics or ...
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What actions did the USA take in 2003 to prevent other countries from coming to Iraq's aid?
When the US invaded and occupied Iraq in 2003, I believe that neighboring countries and one of their major arms suppliers- Russia- stood down, at best.
What actions did the USA take to dissuade any ...
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Thomas Cole's Political Commentary
I'm studying Thomas Cole's "Course of Empire" paintings, but despite what is implied through the artwork itself, I cannot find any references from Cole himself regarding his political motivations.
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Were there 'voting irregularities' in early Utah history?
I'm reading excerpts from Among the Mormons, which is a collection of primary-source documents regarding Utah history from the Mormon migration to, roughly, the Great Depression.
One of the pieces ...
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Is there any evidence of racism from the US Supreme Court Justices who decided Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)?
I am trying to know more about the personal lives of the 8 Justices engaged in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), and whether personal opinions (e.g. racism) might have affected their decision.
I did ...
user8309
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How successful was the Anti-Imperialist League?
America's imperialist era was characterized by informal empires and the annexation of various states, such as the Philippines. Eventually, people such as William J. Bryan found out about the immoral ...
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A memorial Georgia (U.S.) plaque
This memorial plaque lists the numbers of Georgians who served in various wars and details the casualties. What I find odd is that for WWI, Korea, Vietnam, and Gulf round numbers are given for the ...
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Is Edwin M. Stanton related to Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
After reading part of an American history book over the weekend, I have a frankly dumb question.
Is suffragette Elizabeth Cady Stanton related at all to Reconstruction-Era Secretary of War Edwin M. ...
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Is there any (other) record of white people being sold into slavery in America?
Awhile back I asked a question about a book The Boy John: Story of a White Slave written in 1897. The book tells the story of a white boy who was sold into slavery. His master made him stay outside ...
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Did Washington ever impose any sort of investment ban on Nazi germany?
There is archived coverage about multinational companies, headquartered in the US, that have had operations in Nazi Germany, like here. While these multinationals appear to have received some public ...
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Were families allowed to watch boys swim naked at the YMCA before the 70s?
from Minneapolis Tribune, 1950 as cited in Medium
And does "families" mean female siblings would have been allowed to watch or was it just the parents?
I found American High Schools Mandated ...
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