Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

lese majesty

(Encyclopedia)lese majesty or leze majesty both: lēz măˈjĭstē [key] [Fr. lèse majesté, Lat. laesae maiestatis (crimen)=(crime of) violating majesty], offense against the dignity of the sovereign of a state o...

Hay-Pauncefote Treaties

(Encyclopedia)Hay-Pauncefote Treaties hā-pônsˈfo͝ot [key], negotiated in 1899 and 1901 by Secretary of State John Hay, for the United States, and Lord Pauncefote of Preston, British ambassador to the United Sta...

Gibbons v. Ogden

(Encyclopedia)Gibbons v. Ogden, case decided in 1824 by the U.S. Supreme Court. Aaron Ogden, the plaintiff, had purchased an interest in the monopoly to operate steamboats that New York state had granted to Robert ...

Frauds, Statute of

(Encyclopedia)Frauds, Statute of, basis of most modern laws requiring that certain promises must be in writing in order to be enforceable; it was passed by the English Parliament in 1677. In the United States, alth...

Lee, Fitzhugh

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Fitzhugh, 1835–1905, Confederate cavalry general in the American Civil War, b. “Clermont,” Fairfax co., Va.; nephew of Robert E. Lee. He campaigned against the Comanche in Texas and later w...

Fox Quesada, Vicente

(Encyclopedia)Fox Quesada, Vicente vēsānˈtā fōks kāsäˈᵺä [key], 1942–, Mexican political leader, president of Mexico (2000–6). Raised on a ranch in rural central Mexico's Guanajuato state, he became ...

republic

(Encyclopedia)republic [Lat. res publica,=public affair], today understood to be a sovereign state ruled by representatives of a widely inclusive electorate. The term republic formerly denoted a form of government ...

Alexandria, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Alexandria. 1 City (2020 pop. 45,275), seat of Rapides parish, central La., on the Red River; inc. 1818. It is a trade, rail, and medical center for a rich agricultural and timber area. ...

Ginsburg, Ruth Bader

(Encyclopedia)Ginsburg, Ruth Bader, 1933–2020, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1993–2020), b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Joan Ruth Bader. A graduate (1954) of Cornell, she attended Harvard Law School, then...

Jefferson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy. After 1809, Jefferson lived in retirem...
 

Browse by Subject