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Black, Jeremiah Sullivan

(Encyclopedia)Black, Jeremiah Sullivan, 1810–83, American cabinet officer, b. Somerset co., Pa. Admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1830, Black became a successful lawyer. As U.S. Attorney General (1857–60) und...

Upshur, Abel Parker

(Encyclopedia)Upshur, Abel Parker ŭpˈshər [key], 1790–1844, American cabinet officer, b. Northampton co., Va. Admitted (1810) to the bar, he practiced law in Richmond, Va., and held state offices. When most of...

Kerman

(Encyclopedia)Kerman kĕrmänˈ [key], city (1991 pop. 311,643), capital of Kerman prov., E central Iran. It is noted for making and exporting carpets. Cotton textiles and goats-wool shawls are also manufactured. K...

Samnites

(Encyclopedia)Samnites sămˈnīts [key], people of ancient Italy. Their country was Samnium. The Samnites were Oscan-speaking and therefore should be included among the Sabelli. The Tabula Agnonensis, a bronze tab...

Reed, Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Reed, Joseph, 1741–85, American Revolutionary political leader and army officer, b. Trenton, N.J. He studied law, was admitted (1763) to the bar, and then went to London to study at the Middle Templ...

Olaf I

(Encyclopedia)Olaf I (Olaf Tryggvason) ōˈläf trügˈväsōn [key], c.963–1000, king of Norway (995–1000), great-grandson of Harold I. His early life of exile and slavery is surrounded with romantic legend, a...

Stone, Lucy

(Encyclopedia)Stone, Lucy, 1818–93, reformer and leader in the women's rights movement, b. near West Brookfield, Mass., grad. Oberlin, 1847. In 1847 she gave her first lecture on women's rights, and the following...

Brownlow, William Gannaway

(Encyclopedia)Brownlow, William Gannaway brounˈlō [key], 1805–77, U.S. politician, governor of Tennessee (1865–69), known as the “Fighting Parson,” b. Wythe co., Va. Brownlow won a large following in E Te...

labor, in economics

(Encyclopedia)labor, term used both for the effort of performing a task and for the workers engaged in the activity. In ancient times much of the work was done by slaves (see slavery). In the feudal period agricult...

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 ...