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Sherman, William Tecumseh

(Encyclopedia)Sherman, William Tecumseh, 1820–91, Union general in the American Civil War, b. Lancaster, Ohio. Sherman is said by many to be the greatest of the Civil War generals. Sherman was promoted to lie...

Orléans, French royal family

(Encyclopedia)Orléans ôrlāäNˈ [key], family name of two branches of the French royal line. The house of Valois-Orléans was founded by Louis, duc d'Orléans (see separate article), whose assassination (1407) c...

Jefferson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy. After 1809, Jefferson lived in retirem...

Djibouti, country, Africa

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Djibouti jēbo͞otēˈ [key], officially Republic of Djibouti, republic (2015 est. pop. 828,000), c.8,900 sq mi (23,057 sq km), E Africa, on the Gulf of Aden. It is bounded by Eritrea (N), Ethi...

migration

(Encyclopedia)migration, of people, geographical movements of individuals or groups for the purpose of permanently resettling. Normal internal migration has been characterized by a population shift from rural t...

small arms

(Encyclopedia)small arms, firearms designed primarily to be carried and fired by one person and, generally, held in the hands, as distinguished from heavy arms, or artillery. Automatic small arms were develope...

Van Buren, Martin

(Encyclopedia)Van Buren, Martin, 1782–1862, 8th President of the United States (1837–41), b. Kinderhook, Columbia co., N.Y. He was again the presidential candidate of the Democratic party in 1840, but he was ...

criticism

(Encyclopedia)criticism, the interpretation and evaluation of literature and the arts. It exists in a variety of literary forms: dialogues (Plato, John Dryden), verse (Horace, Alexander Pope), letters (John Keats),...

hydrogen

(Encyclopedia)hydrogen hīˈdrəjən [key] [Gr.,=water forming], gaseous chemical element; symbol H; at. no. 1; interval in which at. wt. ranges 1.00784–1.00811; m.p. −259.14℃; b.p. −252.87℃; density 0.08...

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...