2012 Top Ten of Polemic for History

Trial of Louis Riel: The trial of Louis Riel took place in Regina, Canada in 1885. Louis Riel had been a leader of a resistance movement by the Métis and First Nations people of western Canada against the Government of Canada in what is now the province of Saskatchewan. Known as the North-West Rebellion, this resistance was suppressed by the Canadian military, which led to Riel's surrender and trial for treason. The trial, which took place in July 1885 and lasted five days, resulted in a guilty verdict. He was also given a
Millburn Academy: Millburn Academy is a six-year secondary school in Inverness, Scotland. It serves the portion of Inverness east of the River Ness along with rural areas to the south of the city's reach, with a catchment area that includes the primary schools of Crown, Daviot, Drakies, Inshes, Raigmore and Strathdearn. The school runs parallel to the 'Mill Burn' which was originally used for a Whisky distillery. The distillery is now gone and has been replaced by a chain hotel
Westward Expansion Trails: In the American Old West, overland trails were built by pioneers and immigrants throughout the 19th century and especially between 1829 and 1870 as an alternative to sea and railroad transport. These immigrants began to settle much of North America west of the Great Plains as part of the mass overland migrations of the mid-19th century. Settlers emigrating from the eastern United States were spurred by various motives, among them religious persecution and economic incentives, to move to destinations in the
History of the Incas: The Incas were most notable for establishing the Inca Empire in Pre-Columbian America, which was centered in what is now Peru from 1438 to 1533, and represented the height of the civilization. The Inca state was known as the Kingdom of Cuzco before 1438. Over the course of the Inca Empire, the Inca used conquest and peaceful assimilation to incorporate the territory of modern-day Peru, followed by a large portion of western South America, into their empire, centered on the Andean mountain range. However
New Jersey Plan: The New Jersey Plan was a proposal for the structure of the United States Government presented during the Constitutional Convention of 1787. Principally authored by William Paterson of New Jersey, the New Jersey Plan was an important alternative to the Virginia Plan proposed by James Madison and Edmund Randolph of Virginia
Connecticut Compromise: The Connecticut Compromise was an agreement reached during the Constitutional Convention of 1787 that in part defined the legislative structure and representation each state would have under the United States Constitution. It retained the bicameral legislature as proposed by Roger Sherman, along with proportional representation of the states in the lower house or House of Representatives, and it required the upper house or Senate to be weighted equally among the states; each state would have two
Mormon Trail: The Mormon Trail is the 1,300-mile (2,100 km) long route from Illinois to Utah that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints traveled for 3 months. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails System, known as the Mormon Pioneer National Historic Trail
Amnesty Act: The Amnesty Act of 1872 is a United States federal law passed on May 22, 1872, which removed most of the penalties imposed on former Confederates by the Fourteenth Amendment, adopted on July 9, 1868. Section 3 of the Fourteenth Amendment prohibits the election or appointment to any federal or state office of any person who had held any of certain offices and then engaged in insurrection, rebellion, or treason. However, the section provided that a two-thirds vote by each House of the Congress could override
Nunavut Land Claims Agreement: The Nunavut Land Claim Agreement was signed on May 25, 1993, in Iqaluit, by representatives of the Tunngavik Federation of Nunavut, the Government of Canada and the Government of the Northwest Territories. This agreement gave the Inuit of the central and eastern Northwest Territories a separate territory called Nunavut. It is the largest Aboriginal land claim settlement in Canadian history
Timeline of scientific experiments: The timeline below shows the date of publication of major scientific experiments