askhistorians

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Did defenders of Jim Crow legislation explicitly argue that its purpose was to stop blacks/poor whites from voting, or did they publicly use other justifications like dealing with 'election irregularities' and 'fraud'?	5849
Is there a reason why the spread of Islam followed dry and arid climates in a bizarrely consistent way?	4218
I'm a Chinese immigrant to the US in the mid-to-late 19th century. I'm here to get a US wage and use my earnings to help my family back home. If I'm paid in U.S. currency, how do I get this into my family's hands in a way that lets them buy goods back in China?	183
Were terror attacks committed against the Soviet Union? If so, what were they like, how did they compare to modern terrorist attacks, and did the U.S./NATO support any of them?	79
The Luddites are known for their aggressive opposition to textile automation during the Industrial Revolution, but they themselves were often textile workers. What was the response of OTHER groups (nobility, clergy, farmers, merchant class, etc.) to the same phenomenon during the time period?	59
Did "big" 19th century industries of the U.S. West (mining, railroads, oil etc.) ever engage in outright violence with competitors/employees/locals in the region in order to further their own gains? If so, did the government (local or federal) ever support this violence in the name of industry?	35
Thomas Piketty writes that, in contrast to other continents, nearly twenty percent of African capital was owned by foreigners in 1970, well after independence. When did countries in Asia and the Americas escape this kind of foreign ownership? Was it a natural process or one forced by independence?	28
Did proponents of Jim Crow laws ever defend them as non-racial 'election security/integrity' measures? Did the average white northern voter understand that they were designed explicitly to stop black people from voting, or did they think there were other reasons?	20
Why do Ukraine's sub-national boundaries consist of weird geometric squiggles?	17
I'm a 19th-century U.S. farmer, living in a like-minded community days away from any real state authority. But recent settlers from a new ethnic/religious group have moved in and are starting to use OUR land, OUR water, and OUR resources. Is there a way to settle this, or does it get violent?	10

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