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Jayhawkers

(Encyclopedia)Jayhawkers, term applied to free-state guerrilla fighters opposed to the proslavery “border ruffians” during the struggle over Kansas in the years prior to the Civil War. Later, during the war, it...

Olathe

(Encyclopedia)Olathe ōlāˈthē [key], city (1990 pop. 63,352), seat of Johnson co., NE Kans., suburb of Kansas City; inc. 1858. In an area of livestock farms, Olathe grew markedly in the late 20th cent. Kansas St...

United States, Great Seal of the

(Encyclopedia)United States, Great Seal of the, official impression that validates a United States government document. It was adopted by the Continental Congress in 1782 and, with only minor changes in the design,...

Shelby, Joseph Orville

(Encyclopedia)Shelby, Joseph Orville, 1830–97, Confederate cavalry commander in the American Civil War, b. Lexington, Ky. He made a considerable fortune in rope manufacturing in Kentucky and Missouri. While in Mi...

Zacatecas, state, Mexico

(Encyclopedia)Zacatecas säkätāˈkäs [key], state (1990 pop. 1,276,329), 28,125 sq mi (72,844 sq km), N central Mexico. Zacatecas is the capital. Lying on the central plateau, Zacatecas is a state of semiarid pl...

gross national product

(Encyclopedia)gross national product (GNP), in economics, a quantitative measure of a nation's total economic activity, generally assessed yearly or quarterly. In estimating the GNP, only the final value of a produ...

governor, in government

(Encyclopedia)governor, chief executive of a dependent or component unit in a political system. In the United States, a governor is the chief executive of each state and is elected by the people of the state. In th...

Santa Maria, city, United States

(Encyclopedia)Santa Maria, city (1990 pop. 61,284), Santa Barbara co., S Calif., near San Luis Obispo Bay; founded 1874 as Central City, renamed 1882, inc. 1905. A growing city, it has an economy based largely on a...

Lancaster, cities, United States

(Encyclopedia)Lancaster. 1 Uninc. city (1990 pop. 97,291), Los Angeles co., S Calif., in Antelope Valley and in the Mojave Desert; laid out 1894. It developed as a trade center for an irrigated farming area and has...

Kansas-Nebraska Act

(Encyclopedia)Kansas-Nebraska Act, bill that became law on May 30, 1854, by which the U.S. Congress established the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. By 1854 the organization of the vast Platte and Kansas river c...
 

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