How does the state identify the unknown citizen in the poem's subtitle?

If you are referring to The Unknown Citizen by W.H. Auden, the state identifies the unknown citizen by the state-allocated letters and numbers, JS/07 M 378, on his marble monument.

Interestingly, the subtitle states that the unknown citizen's marble tomb has been erected by the state. As marble is expensive, we may surmise that this unknown citizen must have distinguished himself in some way when he was alive. Indeed, as the poem explains, this unknown citizen was the perfect resident. He lived for the 'Greater Community,' purchased life and health insurance according to law, delighted his employers with his work ethic, satisfied social psychologists with his social prowess, held politically correct beliefs during his life, and had the requisite number of children for a man of his station. When he lived, he even purchased every home appliance the modern man should have possessed, on installment plans, of course.

Unfortunately, for all the trouble he took to endear himself to his government, the state only remembers him with a marble monument in the event of his death; he doesn't even have a name, and all traces of individuality have been erased from history. The unknown citizen has become a sad caricature of true humanity.

What type of laws were codified when Napoleon was in charge? How did the process work?

The Code civil des Français, informally called the Napoleonic Code or the Code of Napoleon, was established by Emperor Napoleon I in 1804. (I've linked an English translation of the full text of the code, if you like reading law codes and have several hours to spend.)

It is actually one of the first examples of a civil law code, which established simple, consistent rules that the government was to follow based on the written code itself, as opposed to a common law code, in which most decisions are made by courts according to past precedent and custom. You can sort of think of civil law as "law written down" and common law as "law by custom". (Most real-world systems are actually some mix of this; the US is generally considered a "common law" system, but we do have thousands of pages of written statutes.)

Prior to the Napoleonic Code, almost all legal systems around the world were based on common law, laid down by judges. During the Middle Ages, these judges were typically feudal lords such as dukes and princes. (Indeed, the word "court" today refers to both judicial courts and courts of nobles because those were once the same thing.) Good judges could lay down very good laws that would adapt to changing circumstances; but it was also easy for incompetent or corrupt judges to make very harmful laws. One of Napoleon's goals was to create a system of law that was incorruptible, or at least much harder to corrupt, by clearly and explicitly stating what the laws were in a way that would require minimal interpretation by judges. This marked a radical shift in the way laws were written which has been influential to this day, particularly in Europe and in countries colonized by France.

The Napoleonic Code was progressive in some ways, establishing equal rights for all adult White men. But it was also regressive relative to the laws established immediately prior in the French Revolution; Napoleon restored slavery and made family and marriage codes much harsher on women. In practice, even the "equal rights for men" were more honored in the breach than the observance; while formal noble titles were wiped away, France remained in a state of very high wealth and income inequality.

In "The Minister's Black Veil," the passage beginning "that mysterious emblem" is the first suggestion that the veil is a symbol. What might the...

The villagers in "The Minister's Black Veil" suggest that the black veil symbolizes either a secret sin or a great sorrow. The popular theory within the village seems to be that the veil is a symbol of sin; however, for Hawthorne, I think that the veil symbolizes something more abstract and, ultimately, more pervasive. Throughout the story, the veil has the effect of driving everyone away from Mr. Hooper and isolating him from others. After he dons the veil, they can no longer identify with him or understand him and everyone drifts away. I think that ultimately, for Hawthorne, the veil symbolizes isolation from others and that no matter how hard we try to connect with others we will always be isolated because others can never truly understand us.

What is the conflict in "The Gift of the Magi?"

We can answer this question in a few ways. 

From one perspective, we can say that the conflict rests on poverty.  Della and Jim are a loving couple, but they do not have enough money.  So, when Christmas comes around, they cannot buy a gift that reflects their love for one another. So, they are frustrated, particularly Della. 

As the story progresses, Della and Jim come up with a plan independently.  Della decides to sell her hair to buy Jim a chain for his watch.  Jim decides to sell his watch to buy combs for Della's flowing hair.  As you can see, in the end, they both have gifts that cannot be used.  From this perspective, the conflict is outdoing each other in love.  This type of conflict is beautiful.  This is why O. Henry calls them wise and why he calls the story, "The Gift of the Magi." 

Where did Hitler die?

The death of Adolph Hitler occurred in Berlin, Germany on April 30, 1945, in the Fuhrerbunker, a subterranean air raid shelter that Hitler had been living in since the beginning of the year. Nazi German forces were on the verge of collapse and Berlin had been effectively cut off from military support. In April of 1945 Adolf Hitler married his long time partner, Ava Braun. While accounts of the exact cause of death differ, the couple took their own lives as Russian military forces closed in on the Nazi headquarters during the Battle of Berlin. Ava Braun committed suicide by administration of cyanide, while Hitler died of a self-inflicted gunshot to the temple, possibly in conjunction with administration of cyanide.

Frangipani House Summary

Stated simply, this is a book about Mama King:  a strong, elderly woman in Guyana who is condemned to a rest home by her daughters.  Mama King has been ailing physically for a while, and is almost seventy.  Both of Mama King's daughters live in America and pay to have their mom moved to Frangipani House, a rest home for "aged old folk - black folk." 

What Mama King's daughters don't understand is that their mom's ailments are fleeting.  She recovers after a while and longs to get away from the rest home.  Miss Trask, the Matron of the place continually exhibits control over the patients and finds joy in confining them further.  Mama King finally realized that it is Frangipani House that is killing her, not her age. 

Mama king continually grumbles about her state.  She misses her work.  She misses her friends.  She even misses "hardship."

I am going lazy-handed to meet my Maker. Me mother dead with sod in her hair. Me father dead with rice grass underneath him. And me I sittin' till me bones get sore waitin'.

Actually, things are a bit worse than this in that people are stealing Mama King's clothes and no one is mailing her letters to her daughters.  Even the shots that Mama receives aren't doing their job.  Throughout the story, Mama King shares her memories as she plans to escape from Frangipani House. 

Mama King refuses to give up by insisting she take back control of her own life despite her age.

According to Howard Zinn, how and why did the United States take the Southwest from the Mexicans? What does Zinn say about how the war started? Why...

"He seems to have lost all respect for Mexican rights and is willing to be an instrument of Mr. Polk for pushing our boundary as far west as possible."  Colonel Ethan Alien Hitchcock

Howard Zinn retells the history of the Mexican-American War as a tale of deception and imperialism on the part of the United States government. After the Louisianna Purchase, large swaths of land in the southwest were part of an independent Mexico. The United States instigates a rebellion by Texas to declare independence from Mexico. The rebellion was successful and the United States quickly admitted the state to the Union. President James Polk is described as an expansionist at heart and despite civilian and military sentiment against a war with Mexico, he plows ahead with his imperial agenda. Polk would make it a habit of agitating Mexico. Soon after his inauguration he sent troops to the Rio Grande River, which was actually in Mexico, to enforce that river as the boundary between Texas and Mexico. Soon after this action, the Mexicans responded with the aggression that Congress needed to declare war on Mexico. The motives for the war are described by Zinn in the following excerpt:

Accompanying all this aggressiveness was the idea that the United States would be giving the blessings of liberty and democracy to more people. This was intermingled with ideas of racial superiority, longings for the beautiful lands of New Mexico and California, and thoughts of commercial enterprise across the Pacific.

The war was a striking success for the United States. With the American triumph, Mexico had lost about one-third of its territory, including nearly all of present-day California, Utah, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico.