askhistorians

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When did the Continental/US navy start to build Man o' Wars and Ships of the Lines?	10
Queen Anne's War in the West Indies	10
Is it true that President Andrew Jackson survived 103 duels, beat up his assassin so hard that his senators had to pull him away, kill 2100 red coats with the help of Pirates, and invited a bunch of people to eat 1400 pounds of cheese?	10
How historically accurate are the ships depicted in the show "Black Sails"?	9
It's considered misleading to say privateering is basically "legal piracy" and thus can easily be proven, with historical facts, why that's wrong. But did anyone living in the Age of Sail with a negative view towards privateering referred to privateering as "legal piracy" in some way or another?	9
Every source I've read tells me that privateers were private persons and ships authorized by the government. But no source ever said WHO they were and what branch of government authorized them. WHO could afford to launch a privateer ship in the 1700's?	9
During the Age of Sail in times of war (e.g. War of Spanish Succession, American Rev., Napoleonic Wars) how risky was it to travel and tour around by boat/ship or just sail for pleasure? How risky was it if I were just a civilian and I encounter an enemy's warship?	8
Were pre-teen/teen boys in the Royal Navy as officers in training unique to the Napoleonic Era? Or does the situation of pre-teen/teenage boys entering the Royal Navy to go through similar processes of officers in training go back several decades, say, at the time of the Seven Years' War?	8
Were slave ships ever used to transport slaves from one plantation to another?	8
Did the North and South states have conflict/tension with each other before the American Civil War? What were the earliest accounts of North/South conflicts or tensions with each other?	8

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