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Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Copyright law. (search)
d in America without compensation to their authors, and American books were likewise reproduced in England. And yet the English law was more just than the American, for it allowed a foreigner to secure British copyright, provided the work was first published within the United Kingdom, and the author was at the time of publication anywhere within the British dominions. A movement to secure the passage of some kind of international copyright law was begun in Congress as early as 1837, when Henry Clay presented a petition of British authors asking for the protection of their works. This petition was favorably reported upon by the select committee to which it was referred, but no further action was taken. In 1843, George P. Putnam presented to Congress a memorial signed by many leading publishers which declared that the absence of international copyright was alike injurious to the business of publishing and to the best interests of the public. After this frequent efforts were made to
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Crawford, William Harris 1772- (search)
Statesman; born in Amherst county, Va., Feb. 24, 1772; taught school several years and became a lawyer, beginning practice in Lexington, Ga., in 1799. He compiled the first digest of the laws of Georgia, published in 1802: was a member of his State legislature from 1803 to 1807; was United States Senator from 1807 to 1813, in which body he was regarded as its ablest member. In 1813 he was sent as United States minister to France, and on his return (1815) was appointed Secretary of War; but in October, 1816, he was transferred to the Treasury Department, which post he held until 1825, when he was defeated as Democratic candidate for the Presidency, having been nominated the previous year by a congressional caucus. He had four other candidates to oppose— Adams, Calhoun, Jackson, and Clay. At about that time his health failed, and he never fully recovered it. He became a circuit judge in Georgia, and was warmly opposed to nullification. He died near Elberton, Ga., Sept. 18, 183
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Curtis, George William 1824- (search)
n said, in a public speech, that General Taylor would be faithless to the Whig party if he did not proscribe Democrats. So high the deluge had risen which has ravaged and wasted our politics ever since, and the danger will be stayed only when every President, leaning upon the law, shall stand fast where John Quincy Adams stood. But the debate continued during the whole Jackson administration. In the Senate and on the stump, in elaborate reports and popular speeches, Webster, Calhoun, and Clay, the great political chiefs of their time, sought to alarm the country with the dangers of patronage. Sargent S. Prentiss, in the House of Representatives, caught up and echoed the cry under the administration of Van Buren. But the country refused to be alarmed. . . . It heard the uproar like the old lady upon her first railroad journey, who sat serene amid the wreck of a collision, and, when asked if she was very much hurt, looked over her spectacles and answered blandly, Hurt? Why, I
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Dakota, (search)
med a part of Minnesota Territory. It was a portion of the great Louisiana purchase in 1803. The Nebraska Territory was formed in 1854, and comprised a part of what became Dakota. The latter Territory was organized by act of Congress, approved March 2, 1861, and included the present States of Montana and Washington. In 1863 a part of the Territory was included in Idaho, of which the northeastern part was organized as Montana in 1864, and the southern part was transferred to Dakota. In 1868 a large area was taken from Dakota to form Wyoming Territory. The first permanent settlements of Europeans in Dakota were made in 1859, in what were then Clay, Union, and Yankton counties. The first legislature convened March 17, 1862. Emigration was limited until 1866, when settlers began to flock in, and population rapidly increased. In 1889, two States were created out of the Territory of Dakota, and admitted to the Union as State of North Dakota (q. v.) and State of South Dakota (q. v.).
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Davis, John, 1761-1847 (search)
the history of New England. In 1813 he made an address on the Landing of the Pilgrims before the Massachusetts Historical Society, over which he presided in 1818-43. His publications include an edition of Morton's New England Memorial, with many important notes; Eulogy on George Washington; and An attempt to explain the inscription on Dighton Rock. He died in Boston, Mass., Jan. 14, 1847. Statesman; born in Northboro, Mass., Jan. 13, 1787; graduated at Yale in 1812; admitted to the bar in 1815; member of Congress in 1824-34, during which time he opposed Henry Clay; and was elected to the United States Senate in 1835, and resigned in 1841 to become governor of Massachusetts. He was a strong antagonist of Jackson and Van Buren, and was re-elected to the United States Senate in 1845, but declined to serve. He protested strongly against the war with Mexico, and was in favor of the exclusion of slavery in the United States Territories. He died in Worcester, Mass. April 19, 1854.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Douglas, Stephen Arnold, 1813-1861 (search)
iff, distribution, the specie circular, and the sub-treasury, they agreed on the great slavery question which now agitates the Union. I say that the Whig party and the Democratic party Stephen Arnold Douglas. agreed on the slavery question, while they differed on those matters of expediency to which I have referred. The Whig party and the Democratic party jointly adopted the compromise measures of 1850 as the basis of a proper and just solution of the slavery question in all its forms. Clay was the great leader, with Webster on his right and Cass on his left, and sustained by the patriots in the Whig and Democratic ranks who had devised and enacted the compromise measures of 1850. In 1851 the Whig party and the Democratic party united in Illinois in adopting resolutions endorsing and approving the principles of the compromise measures of 1850 as the proper adjustment of that question. In 1852, when the Whig party assembled in convention at Baltimore for the purpose of nomina
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ewing, Thomas, (search)
Ewing, Thomas, Statesman; born near West Liberty, Va., Dec. 28, 1789. While still a child his father removed to Ohio, where he settled on the Muskingum River. Thomas was educated at the Ohio University; admitted to the bar in 1816; and elected United States Senator from Ohio as a Whig and a follower of Henry Clay in 1831. In 1841 he was appointed Secretary of the Treasury; in 1849 Secretary of the Interior; and in 1850 was again elected to the United States Senate, succeeding Thomas Corwin. During this term he opposed the Fugitive Slave Law bill and also advocated the abolition of slavery in the District of Columbia. In 1851 he resumed law practice in Lancaster, O., where he died Oct. 26, 1871.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Frelinghuysen, Theodore 1787- (search)
Frelinghuysen, Theodore 1787- Lawyer; born in Millstone, N. J., March 28, 1787; son of Gen. Frederick Frelinghuysen: graduated at the College of New Jersey in 1804, and was admitted to the bar in 1808. In the War of 1812-15 he commanded a company of volunteers, in 1817 became attorneygeneral of New Jersey, which post he held until 1829, when he was elected United States Senator. In 1838 he was chosen chancellor of the University of New York, and made his residence in that city; and in 1844 he was nominated for Vice-President of the United States, with Henry Clay for President. Mr. Frelinghuysen left the University of New York in 1850 to became president of Rutgers College (q. v.), in his native State, which place he held until his death in New Brunswick, N. J., April 12, 1862.
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Fugitive slave laws. (search)
from labor. They contended that the personal rights of one class of citizens were not to be trampled upon to secure the rights of property of other citizens. The bill was supported by the Southern members and a few Northern ones; also by Speaker Henry Clay: and it passed the House of Representatives by a vote of 84 to 69. Among the yeas were ten from New York, five from Massachusetts, four from Pennsylvania, and one front New Jersey. It passed the Senate, after several important amendments,. Meanwhile some of its Northern supporters seem to have been alarmed bv thunders of indignation from their constituents, and when it reached the House it was laid on the table, and was there allowed to die. One of the acts contemplated by Mr. Clay's omnibus bill (q. v.) was for the rendition of fugitive slaves to their owners, under the provision of clause 3, section 2, article 4, of the national Constitution. In September, 1850, a bill to that effect was passed, and became a law by the
Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History (ed. Benson Lossing), Ghent, treaty of (search)
Ghent, treaty of The treaty between the United States and Great Britain, which terminated the War of 1812. The American commissioners were John Quincy Adams, James Bayard, Henry Clay, Jonathan Russell, and Albert Gallatin; the British commissioners were Lord Gambier, Henry Goulburn, and William Adams. The American commissioners assembled in the city of Ghent, Belgium, in July, 1814; the British commissioners early in the following month. The terms of the treaty were concluded Dec. 24, following, and the ratifications were exchanged Feb. 17, 1815. While the negotiations were in progress the leading citizens of Ghent took great interest in the matter. Their sympathies were with the Americans, and they mingled their rejoicings with the commissioners when the work was done. On Oct. 27 the Academy of Sciences and Fine Arts at Ghent invited the American commissioners to attend their exercises, when they were all elected honorary members of the academy. A sumptuous dinner was give
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