Questions tagged [sources]
For questions regarding primary and secondary evidence that allows us to draw conclusions about historical happenings. Use this tag for requests for analysis of specific sources. More general questions on how historians study sources should be tagged with historiography.
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Is this a photo of a historical reinactment of an 1868 treaty signing?
I've stumbled up this image in the National Archives describing the 1868 treaty between the Navajo and United States, which was signed when the Navajo were released from Bosque Redondo.
https://...
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Who claimed Alexander had a hairy heart?
From Avellaneda's Continuation of Don Quixote, chapter 6, p. 34 (circa 1614, translated by Yardley 1784 apparently after the French of Le Sage 1705 but it all seems very confusing). Don Quixote says:
...
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Did the Dutch eat their Prime Minister?
According to this article an angry—one might add hungry—Dutch mob feasted on the mutilated remains of their ‘Grand Pensionary’ (i.e. Prime Minister) De Witt and his brother:
There are accounts of ...
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Did the Prussian king Friedrich Wilhelm IV. (1795 - 1861) ever write: "Das Volk ist mir zum Kotzen" = "The people makes me sick"?
Where does the Prussian king write "Das Volk ist mir zum Kotzen" = "The people makes me sick," as claimed in 6:26 in Die Revolution von 1848 I musstewissen Geschichte?
The video ...
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Is there a standard authority on the textual history of the authors of antiquity?
Given a book coming to us from ancient Greece/Rome (no reason to necessarily limit just to those two, if there's a wider answer), is there a standard way for me to find out how the text came down to ...
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What is the original provenance of Lincoln's "of the people, by the people, for the people" and why is Wikipedia so confused?
I was curious about the provenance of Abraham Lincoln's famous Gettysburg Address proclamation regarding government "of the people, by the people, for the people", so I looked it up on ...
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Where can I find Japanese oil production figures through WWII?
I am searching for scientific or statistical sources for data on petroleum production in Japan from 1920 till 1945. I had found some statistics in League of Nations Statistical Bulletins, but there is ...
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When did Albertus Magnus write 'On Animals'?
When is it most likely that Albertus Magnus finished writing On Animals ?
I can't seem to find any guesses more accurate than "within his lifetime"
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How do we know when Nero was born?
If I go onto Wikipedia, I can see an answer of when he was born. But I can't really follow the sources. How do historians know when Nero was born?
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How reliable is Herodotus' report on Babylonian sacred harlotry?
I'm looking for confirmation regarding Herodotus' report on sacred harlotry in Babylon:
The foulest Babylonian custom is that which compels every woman of the
land to sit in the temple of Aphrodite ...
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Where was gunpowder invented/ discovered?
There are many people on the internet claiming that India discovered/ invented gunpowder for eg, many of these claims quote Dr. Gustav Oppart (acs.org, and see below). Wikipedia says that gunpowder ...
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Did William Ward write "An Address At a Meeting of the Society for Political Information held at the Talbot Inn in Derby, July 16th 1792"?
William Ward (1769–1823) the Baptist missionary assistant to William Carey (1761-1834) was a Derby man and, as a youth at any rate, a radical. He is said to have been the author of "An Address At ...
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Sources for tracking a ship in the 1840s
I am trying to determine the itinerary of a Danish ship that traveled in the "East Indies" 1841–43. I have its name, captain, departure from and return to Copenhagen.
Additionally, I have ...
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Was there an Act of Oblivion in 1686 for those involved in the Monmouth Rebellion 1685?
K.W.H. Howard The Axminster Ecclesiastica 1660-1689 is an annotated reprint of an old Axminster Church record book. In a FN p. 113 it states
“Act of Oblivion 1686. A general amnesty for those ...
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When did Lincoln claim that "Vicksburg is the key" to winning the civil war?
In researching the Civil War, I've seen a quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln, come up several times. The most complete version of the quote I have found comes from this website which gives the quote ...
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