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Sierra Madre, mountain system, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Sierra Madre dĕl so͝orˈ [key] is a tumbled, broken mass of uptilted mountains that touch the Pacific coast but form into no clearly defined range. It spreads over S Mexico between the volcanic belt...

Milan Decree

(Encyclopedia)Milan Decree, issued Dec., 1807, by Napoleon I of France in an attempt to enforce the Continental System. Designed to strengthen the Berlin Decree, it authorized French warships and privateers to capt...

McKean, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)McKean, Thomas məkānˈ, –kēnˈ [key], 1734–1817, political leader in the American Revolution, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. New London, Pa. He settled at New Castle, Del., and b...

plate tectonics

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Plate tectonics: Map of the world showing major plates and plate boundaries CE5 Plate tectonics: Schematic model of the oceanic crust, showing the three types of plate boundaries plate tect...

Baldwin, Abraham

(Encyclopedia)Baldwin, Abraham, 1754–1807, American political leader, b. Guilford, Conn. After serving as a chaplain in the American Revolution, he studied law and in 1784 was admitted to practice in Georgia. He ...

Eastern Highlands

(Encyclopedia)Eastern Highlands, c.2,400 mi (3,860 km) long, general name for the mountains and plateaus roughly paralleling the east and southeast coasts of Australia (including Tasmania) and forming the Continent...

dowry

(Encyclopedia)dowry douˈrē [key], the property that a woman brings to her husband at the time of the marriage. The dowry apparently originated in the giving of a marriage gift by the family of the bridegroom to t...

court system in the United States

(Encyclopedia)court system in the United States, judicial branches of the federal and state governments charged with the application and interpretation of the law. The U.S. court system is divided into two administ...

seafloor spreading

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Schematic model of the oceanic crust, showing seafloor spreading seafloor spreading, theory of lithospheric evolution that holds that the ocean floors are spreading outward from vast underwate...

apprenticeship

(Encyclopedia)apprenticeship, system of learning a craft or trade from one who is engaged in it and of paying for the instruction by a given number of years of work. The practice was known in ancient Babylon, Egypt...