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Gadsden, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Gadsden, Christopher gădzˈdən [key], 1724–1805, American Revolutionary leader, b. Charleston, S.C., educated in England. He returned to Charleston (1746) and became a wealthy merchant. At the Sta...

Franklin, State of

(Encyclopedia)Franklin, State of, government (1784–88) formed by the inhabitants of Washington, Sullivan, and Greene counties in present-day E Tennessee after North Carolina ceded (June, 1784) its western lands t...

Ingersoll, Jared, American colonial official

(Encyclopedia)Ingersoll, Jared, 1722–81, American colonial official, b. Milford, Conn. He was made (1751) king's attorney in New Haven, and later he sailed (1758) for England as a colonial agent. From a second tr...

duress

(Encyclopedia)duress dyo͝oˈrĭs, do͝oˈ–, do͝orĕsˈ [key], in law, actual or threatened violence or imprisonment, by reason of which a person is forced to enter into an agreement or to perform some other act...

Durkee, John

(Encyclopedia)Durkee, John dûrˈkē [key], 1728–82, American pioneer and Revolutionary officer, b. Windham, Conn. Durkee, a leading member of the Connecticut Sons of Liberty, led the group that forced Jared Inge...

Dos Passos, John Randolph

(Encyclopedia)Dos Passos, John Randolph dəs păsˈəs [key], 1844–1917, American lawyer, b. Philadelphia. He was admitted to the bar in 1865 and moved (1867) to New York City, where he conducted his practice. Hi...

Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan

(Encyclopedia)Duffy, Sir Charles Gavan, 1816–1903, Irish-Australian statesman. He founded (1842) the Nation, a patriotic Irish literary journal. Duffy agitated for the repeal of the union of Ireland and England, ...

coup

(Encyclopedia)coup ko͞o [key] [Fr.,=blow], among Native North Americans of the Plains culture, a war honor, awarded for striking an enemy in such a way that it was considered an extreme act of bravery. Generally, ...

Alexius III

(Encyclopedia)Alexius III (Alexius Angelus) ănˈjələs [key], d. after 1210, Byzantine emperor (1195–1203). He acceded to power by deposing and blinding his brother Isaac II. This act served as pretext for the ...

Curtis, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Curtis, Charles, 1860–1936, Vice President of the United States (1929–33), b. near North Topeka, Kans. Of part Native American background, Curtis lived for three years on a Kaw reservation. After ...