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bossism

(Encyclopedia)bossism, in U.S. history, system of political control centering about a single powerful figure (the boss) and a complex organization of lesser figures (the machine) bound together by reciprocity in pr...

Rauschenberg, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Rauschenberg, Robert rouˈshənbûrgˌ [key], 1925–2008, American painter, b. Port Arthur, Tex., as Milton Ernest Rauschenberg. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, with Josef Albers at Blac...

Santa Fe Trail

(Encyclopedia)Santa Fe Trail, important caravan route of the W United States, extending c.780 mi (1,260 km) from Independence, Mo., SW to Santa Fe, N.Mex. Independence and Westport, Mo., were the chief points where...

Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel

(Encyclopedia)Santos Calderón, Juan Manuel, 1951–, Colombian government official and political leader. From a politically influential family, he studied at the Univ. of Kansas, London School of Economics, Harvar...

Jefferson, Territory of

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Territory of, in U.S. history, region that roughly encompassed the present-day state of Colorado, although extending 2° farther south and 1° farther north, organized by its inhabitants (1...

Midwest

(Encyclopedia)Midwest or Middle West, region of the United States centered on the western Great Lakes and the upper-middle Mississippi valley. It is a somewhat imprecise term that has been applied to the northern s...

Dust Bowl

(Encyclopedia)Dust Bowl, the name given to areas of the U.S. prairie states that suffered ecological devastation in the 1930s and then to a lesser extent in the mid-1950s. The problem began during World War I, when...

Wade, Benjamin Franklin

(Encyclopedia)Wade, Benjamin Franklin, 1800–1878, U.S. senator from Ohio (1851–69), b. near Springfield, Mass. He moved (1821) to Ohio and studied law. He was successively prosecuting attorney of Ashtabula co.,...

Caddo

(Encyclopedia)Caddo kădˈō [key], Native North Americans whose language belongs to the Caddoan branch of the Hokan-Siouan linguistic stock (see Native American languages). These people gave their name not only to...

abolitionists

(Encyclopedia)abolitionists, in U.S. history, particularly in the three decades before the Civil War, members of the movement that agitated for the compulsory emancipation of the slaves. Abolitionists are distingui...
 

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