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fugitive slave laws

(Encyclopedia)fugitive slave laws, in U.S. history, the federal acts of 1793 and 1850 providing for the return between states of escaped black slaves. Similar laws existing in both North and South in colonial days ...

Ferguson, Patrick

(Encyclopedia)Ferguson, Patrick, 1744–80, British army officer in the American Revolution. He invented an early breech-loading rifle in 1776. Ferguson fought at Brandywine and Charleston before he was assigned to...

Gibbons, James

(Encyclopedia)Gibbons, James, 1834–1921, American churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic church, b. Baltimore. Ordained in 1861, he became secretary to the archbishop of Baltimore in 1865, vicar apostolic of N...

Smith, Dean Edwards

(Encyclopedia)Smith, Dean Edwards, 1931–2015, American college basketball coach, b. Emporia, Kans. After playing basketball at the Univ. of Kansas (grad. 1953), Smith joined (1954) the Air Force and became an ass...

Nicholson, Francis

(Encyclopedia)Nicholson, Francis, 1655–1728, British colonial administrator in North America. Lieutenant governor under Sir Edmund Andros, he fled (1689) to England during the revolt in New York led by Jacob Leis...

Foreland, North, and South Foreland

(Encyclopedia)Foreland, North, and South Foreland, headlands of Kent, SE England, forming parts of the boundary of The Downs (a roadstead). South Foreland is 4 mi (6.4 km) NE of Dover, and North Foreland is near Ma...

Downs, North, and South Downs

(Encyclopedia)Downs, North, and South Downs, parallel ranges of chalk hills, SE England. They rise to 965 ft (294 m) at Leith Hill, Surrey. The North Downs range, extending c.100 mi (160 km) from near Farnham, Surr...

Saint Croix, rivers, North America

(Encyclopedia)Saint Croix. 1 River, 75 mi (121 km) long, rising in the Chiputneticook Lakes and flowing SE to Passamaquoddy Bay, forming part of the U.S.-Canada border; navigable to Calais, Maine. The river is used...

Uist, North, and South Uist

(Encyclopedia)Uist, North yo͞oˈĭst, o͞oˈ– [key], and South Uist, islands, two of the Outer Hebrides, Western Isles council area, NW Scotland. North Uist (1985 est. pop. 3,300), is 18 mi (29 km) long and 13 m...

North American Free Trade Agreement

(Encyclopedia)North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), accord establishing a free-trade zone in North America; it was signed in 1992 by Canada, Mexico, and the United States and took effect on Jan. 1, 1994. NAF...