askhistorians

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I've seen conspiracies asserting that U.S. prison systems are a legal continuation of slavery very often on Reddit. Does this idea have credible historical merit? What historically is the relationship between U.S. prisons' use of "free" labor and the end of slavery, if any?	1692
An image gets passed around (link in body) that roughly says: "Stalin tried to have Yugoslavian leader Tito killed 22 times, Tito sent a sassy threatening letter in reply and Stalin stopped." Did this actually happen, and if so why/how did Tito have this kind of power for intimidation?	265
What caused so many recreational drugs to become illegal in the past century, and why is that illegality an international norm?	200
It's not uncommon to see people wearing facemasks to prevent getting sick in part of Asia such as Japan, Korea, China etc. What historically is/are the reason(s) behind this cultural difference, and why did it never catch on in "western" cultures?	164
When South American countries with socialist governments fail either economically or politically the blame is often pinned on the USA. Is this negative reputation is historically justified? Did the USA really work to overthrow South American governments due to their economic policies alone?	146
As a westerner it can be confusing to see people from parts of Asia (Japan, Korea, etc) wearing facemasks to prevent catching disease in public places. What historically is the reason behind this cultural difference, and why did it never catch on in "western" cultures?	84
In Europe, the Middle-east, Asia, and the Americas civilizations rose with empires, golden ages, and slow,steady technological/governmental progress. Why and when was African/Native Australian civilization (minus Egypt) advancement stagnated compared to these other regions?	4
Many conspiracy theories are centered around organized crime. Historically in the U.S., was organized crime seen as a potential threat to a legitimate democracy, and if so were safeguards against it put in place?	1
Is the combat triangle interpretation of medieval RPG games such as Runescape correct? Were wizards actually weak against archers and strong against knights?	0
Is there a legitimate case to be made that slavery was not the primary cause for the US civil war?	0

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