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Stonington

(Encyclopedia)Stonington stōnˈĭngtən [key], town (1990 pop. 16,919), New London co., extreme SE Conn., on a peninsula jutting into Long Island Sound; settled 1649 from Plymouth, inc. 1662. Fishing has declined,...

Civil War, in U.S. history

(Encyclopedia)Civil War, in U.S. history, conflict (1861–65) between the Northern states (the Union) and the Southern states that seceded from the Union and formed the Confederacy. It is generally known in the So...

Stockton, Robert Field

(Encyclopedia)Stockton, Robert Field, 1795–1866, American naval officer, b. Princeton, N.J. He left the College of New Jersey (now Princeton) to enter the U.S. Navy at 16 and served in the War of 1812 and in the ...

Pinckney, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Pinckney, Thomas, 1750–1828, American political leader and diplomat, b. Charleston, S.C.; brother of C. C. Pinckney and cousin of Charles Pinckney. At the outbreak of the American Revolution he join...

Fort Niagara

(Encyclopedia)Fort Niagara, post on the southern shore of Lake Ontario, at the mouth of the Niagara River, NW N.Y. It was strategically located on the water route to the fur lands. French explorer Robert LaSalle er...

Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Sidmouth, Henry Addington, Viscount, 1757–1844, British statesman. He entered Parliament in 1784 and in 1789, through the sponsorship of William Pitt, became speaker of the House of Commons. He subs...

Ghent, Treaty of

(Encyclopedia)Ghent, Treaty of, 1814, agreement ending the War of 1812 between the United States and Great Britain. It was signed at Ghent, Belgium, on Dec. 24, 1814, and ratified by the U.S. Senate in Feb., 1815. ...

Macomb, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Macomb, Alexander məkōmˈ [key], 1782–1841, American army officer, b. Detroit, Mich. He entered the army in 1799. In the War of 1812, as brigadier general in command at Plattsburgh, N.Y., in the a...

Biddle, James

(Encyclopedia)Biddle, James, 1783–1848, U.S. naval officer and diplomat, b. Philadelphia. He became a midshipman in 1800. At the beginning of the War of 1812 he was first lieutenant on the Wasp; he later commande...

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