Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Embargo Act of 1807

(Encyclopedia)Embargo Act of 1807, passed Dec. 22, 1807, by the U.S. Congress in answer to the British orders in council restricting neutral shipping and to Napoleon's restrictive Continental System. The U.S. merch...

embargo

(Encyclopedia)embargo ĕmbärˈgō [key], prohibition by a country of the departure of ships or certain types of goods from its ports. Instances of confining all domestic ships to port are rare, and the Embargo Act...

Nonimportation Act

(Encyclopedia)Nonimportation Act: see Embargo Act of 1807. ...

Nonintercourse Act

(Encyclopedia)Nonintercourse Act: see Embargo Act of 1807. ...

Chapultepec, Act of

(Encyclopedia)Chapultepec, Act of: see Pan-Americanism. ...

act of God

(Encyclopedia)act of God, in law, an accident caused by the operation of extraordinary natural force. The effect of ordinary natural causes (e.g., that rain will leak through a defective roof) may be foreseen and a...

Union, Act of

(Encyclopedia)Union, Act of. For the union of England and Scotland (1707), see Great Britain; for the union of Ireland (1800) with Great Britain, see Ireland. ...

Settlement, Act of

(Encyclopedia)Settlement, Act of, 1701, passed by the English Parliament, to provide that if William III and Princess Anne (later Queen Anne) should die without heirs, the succession to the throne should pass to So...

Freedom of Information Act

(Encyclopedia)Freedom of Information Act (1966), law requiring that U.S. government agencies release their records to the public on request, unless the information sought falls into a category specifically exempted...

Tenure of Office Act

(Encyclopedia)Tenure of Office Act, in U.S. history, measure passed on Mar. 2, 1867, by Congress over the veto of President Andrew Johnson; it forbade the President to remove any federal officeholder appointed by a...