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U.S. History/Expert Profile
Expertise
Civil War, Reconstruction, military and political, Southern politics, slavery, civil war causation, general American history. Prefer 18th/19th century, but can handle all.
Experience in the area
College level teacher. Published author.
Education/Credentials
Ph.D. in American history (LSU, 1978)
What do you like about this subject?
It's the broadest, most human of all the humanities. It's the most accurate explanation of the present. Endlessly fascinating.
What do you still hope to achieve/learn in this field?
That's easy: I'd like to write three or four more books, one of which would be about baseball history.
Something interesting about this subject that others may not know:
The vice president of the Confederacy, Alexander H. Stephens of Georgia, never weighed more than 80 pounds his entire life. He was 67 inches tall.
Something controversial or provocative about this subject
The most readable history and probably the most influential is being written by non-professional historians.
Average Ratings
Recent Reviews from Users
K = Knowledgeability C = Clarity of Response P = Politeness| User | Date | K | C | P | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alyssa | 12/31/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Wow, that's a great idea and than ..... |
| Adrienne Boucher | 07/22/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | The information he gave me is just ..... |
| Julie | 06/09/11 | 10 | 9 | 10 | Thank you, this helps a lot. I ..... |
| Sarah | 04/05/11 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thanks for the quick response! |
| Anna | 04/24/10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | Thank you for the very prompt reply! |
Recent Answers from Tom Schott
2012-01-03 1840's and slavery question:
Jobs in the North had nothing to do with it. Abolitionists, especially those who demanded an immediate end to slavery, were despised as extremist agitators. They were uncompromising on the slavery question
2011-12-30 1840's and slavery question:
Alyssa, The correct answer would be a). During the 1840s, most northerners were indifferent to slavery, but abolitionists were generally hated. At least this is how I would answer the question. Picture:
2011-10-06 civil war- use of words ma and pa:
Hi, Kathleen, 1. The vernacular pronunciation would be something more along the lines of "maw" and "paw", but that's a guess. It would also depend on whether you're talking about a person from a city
2011-09-08 Real Wage Growth:
Ilya, The place to look for this data would probably be in Historical Statistics of the United States, a reference work found in most libraries. But there's an easier way to find the exact source
2011-07-13 real reasons for those 2 US wars:
Geoff, Wherever you got this information, it is bogus and is itself laughable. The American Civil War started as a defense of the union of the states; it became a crusade against slavery in January
Answers by Expert:
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