Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

black codes

(Encyclopedia)black codes, in U.S. history, series of statutes passed by the ex-Confederate states, 1865–66, dealing with the status of the newly freed slaves. They varied greatly from state to state as to their ...

blue laws

(Encyclopedia)blue laws, legislation regulating public and private conduct, especially laws relating to Sabbath observance. The term was originally applied to the 17th-century laws of the theocratic New Haven colon...

Steele, Joel Dorman

(Encyclopedia)Steele, Joel Dorman, 1836–86, American educator and textbook writer, b. Lima, N.Y., grad. Genesee College (now Syracuse Univ.), 1858. While serving as principal of the Elmira (N.Y.) Free Academy (18...

Brigham, Albert Perry

(Encyclopedia)Brigham, Albert Perry, 1855–1932, American geographer, b. Perry, N.Y., grad. Colgate Univ., 1879, M. A. Harvard, 1892. After nine years in the Baptist ministry (1882–91) he became professor of geo...

civics

(Encyclopedia)civics, branch of learning that treats of the relationship between citizens and their society and state, originally called civil government. With the large immigration into the United States in the la...

Sharon, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Sharon shârˈən [key], city (1990 pop. 17,493), Mercer co., NW Pa., on the Shenango River, near the Ohio line; settled c.1800, inc. as a city 1920. An industrial city, its chief manufactures are tex...

Buffalo, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Buffalo, city (2020 pop. 278,349), seat of Erie co., W N.Y., on Lake Erie and the Niagara and Buffalo rivers; inc. 1832. With more than 37 mi (60 km) of...

Taunton, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Taunton tănˈtən, tŏn– [key], industrial city (1990 pop. 49,832), a seat of Bristol co., SE Mass., on the Taunton River; settled 1638, inc. as a city 1864. It has been a center of the silverware ...

Dartmouth, town, United States

(Encyclopedia)Dartmouth, residential and resort town (2020 pop. 33,783), Bristol co., SE Mass., on Buzzards Bay, in a dairy region; settled c.1650, inc. 1664. Farming...

Douglas, Stephen Arnold

(Encyclopedia)Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813–61, American statesman, b. Brandon, Vt. The Democratic national convention at Charleston, S.C., in 1860 adopted Douglas's recommendations in a platform advocating non...
 

Browse by Subject