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Reconstruction

(Encyclopedia)Reconstruction, 1865–77, in U.S. history, the period of readjustment following the Civil War. At the end of the Civil War, the defeated South was a ruined land. The physical destruction wrought by t...

electoral college

(Encyclopedia)electoral college, in U.S. government, the body of electors that chooses the president and vice president. The Constitution, in Article 2, Section 1, provides: “Each State shall appoint, in such Man...

Fort Wayne

(Encyclopedia)Fort Wayne, city (2020 pop. 263,886), seat of Allen co., NE Ind., where the St. Joseph and St. Marys rivers join to form the Maumee River; inc. 1840. It...

Freeport, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Freeport. 1 City (2020 pop. 23,973), seat of Stephenson co., NW Ill., on the Pecatonica River; inc. 1850. It is a trade and manufacturing center in a ...

Owen, Robert Dale

(Encyclopedia)Owen, Robert Dale, 1801–77, American social reformer, b. Scotland; son of Robert Owen. He studied at his father's New Lanark school and in Switzerland. In 1825 he went to New Harmony, Ind. There he ...

lilac

(Encyclopedia)lilac, any plant of the genus Syringa, deciduous Old World shrubs or small trees of the family Oleaceae (olive family), widely cultivated as ornamentals. Since colonial days, the common lilac has been...

Bontecou, Lee

(Encyclopedia)Bontecou, Lee bŏnˈtəko͞o [key], 1931–, American artist, b. Providence, R.I. Bontecou is best known for the abstract sculptures she created from 1959–1967, three-dimensional wall reliefs made o...

Booth, Edwin

(Encyclopedia)Booth, Edwin, 1833–93, one of the first great American actors and the most famous of his era, b. “Tudor Hall,” near Bel Air, Md. After years of touring with his father, Junius Brutus Booth, serv...

Broadway

(Encyclopedia)Broadway, famous thoroughfare in New York City. It extends from Bowling Green near the foot of Manhattan island N to 262d St. in the Bronx. Throughout its length Broadway is chiefly a commercial stree...

Pilgrimage of Grace

(Encyclopedia)Pilgrimage of Grace, 1536, rising of Roman Catholics in N England. It was a protest against the government's abolition of papal supremacy (1534) and confiscation (1536) of the smaller monastic propert...