Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

235 results found

city government

(Encyclopedia)city government, political administration of urban areas. The English tradition of incorporating urban units (cities, boroughs, villages, towns) and allowing them freedom in most local matters is gene...

Penn, William, founder of Pennsylvania

(Encyclopedia)Penn, William, 1644–1718, English Quaker, founder of Pennsylvania, b. London, England; son of Sir William Penn. Penn became involved in the affairs of the American colonies when in 1675 he was ap...

Leyner, Mark

(Encyclopedia)Leyner, Mark, 1956–, American writer, b. Jersey City, N.J. His hyperliterate postmodernist short stories, collected in I Smell Esther Williams (1983), My Cousin, My Gastroenterologist (1990), and To...

Burnet, William, 1688–1729, English colonial governor in America

(Encyclopedia)Burnet, William, 1688–1729, English colonial governor in America; son of Gilbert Burnet. As governor of New York and New Jersey (1720–28), he advocated extending the trade with Native Americans, t...

Morrow, Dwight Whitney

(Encyclopedia)Morrow, Dwight Whitney, 1873–1931, American banker and diplomat, b. Huntington, W.Va. He practiced law in New York City and entered (1914) the banking house of J. P. Morgan & Company. After the ...

McCosh, James

(Encyclopedia)McCosh, James, 1811–94, Scottish-American philosopher and educator, b. Ayrshire, Scotland, grad. Univ. of Edinburgh, 1833. He was called to the United States in 1868 to become president of the Colle...

Hopkinson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Hopkinson, Francis, 1737–91, American writer and musician, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Philadelphia. A practicing lawyer, Hopkinson was also an accomplished poet, essayist, and mus...

Annapolis Convention

(Encyclopedia)Annapolis Convention, 1786, interstate convention called by Virginia to discuss a uniform regulation of commerce. It met at Annapolis, Md. With only 5 of the 13 states—Delaware, New Jersey, New York...

Englewood

(Encyclopedia)Englewood ĕngˈgəlwo͝od [key]. 1 City (2020 pop. 33,659), Arapahoe co., N central Colo., o...

Evans, Lewis

(Encyclopedia)Evans, Lewis, c.1700–1756, colonial surveyor and geographer, b. Wales. Evans carried out several assignments for Benjamin Franklin. His travels and studies of the colonies nearest him bore fruit in ...