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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Which languages did H.P. Lovecraft understand?
H.P. Lovecraft (1890-1937) wrote his stories (including the "Cthulhu Mythos") in English, but his Wikipedia page notes that several French authors provided commentary on his stories. It doesn't ...
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Did Robert F. Kennedy call Police Review boards a "sinister movement against law enforcement" in the 1960's?
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On multiple Fraternal Order of Police websites, they state that Robert F. Kennedy was opposed to Police Review boards and called them a "sinister movement against law enforcement" ...
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When did the Soviets get the ability to drop a nuclear bomb on the United States?
I'm researching the history of the Cold War and I have the impression that the Soviets failed to develop a bomber capable of flying from Russia to the United States until 1956, when the Tu-95 bomber ...
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What should I read to understand the New Deal coalition?
I'm interested in learning about the history and the structure of the New Deal coalition formed during the 30s up until its end in the 60s from an academic perspective, particularly with regards to ...
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What percentage of US households had electricity and telephones in 1940?
I'm trying to find a published source giving the percent of U.S. households having electricity and percent having telephones in 1940 (+/- a year or two). Not interested in the rural vs city divide per ...
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Did the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo intend for Mexicans to live in the USA but under Mexican law? [closed]
The text of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo seem to have allowed Mexicans living in California and New Mexico to make some choices: (1) leave or stay and (2) become a US citizen or remain a Mexican ...
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What is the correct English terminology to refer to New Mexico and Texas under Spain, then Mexico?
I am finding a strange inconsistency in sources between those about New Mexico's history and those about Texas. As I know, New Mexico and Texas both started as parts of New Spain, under Spanish rule, ...
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How did economic composition change during the world wars?
I'm trying to understand how economic composition changed during the world wars in various countries.
One route would be following the expenditure approach to gdp accounting, but in more detail. For ...
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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? ...
MCW♦
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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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Has the U.S. Navy ever commissioned the building of a warship overseas?
Many foreign navies have commissioned foreign shipyards to build warships and submarines for them. Most recently, Russia purchased to amphibious dock landing ships from France (that sale is currently ...
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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 ...
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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 ...
MCW♦
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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 ...
