American history

American history

Industry: History

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American history

Enclosure Movement

History; American history

As the demand for wool heightened in England during the sixteenth century because of the emerging textile industry, Parliament passed laws that allowed profit seeking landowners to fence in their ...

Encomienda System

History; American history

The government in Spain gave away large tracts of conquered land in Spanish America, including whole villages of indigenous peoples, to court favorites, including many conquistadores. These new ...

The inventor of the cotton gin, Whitney pioneered a system of mass production of interchangeable parts. Whitney's cotton gin, which separated cotton from its seeds, met the growing demand for cotton ...

Elizabeth Cady Stanton

History; American history

Organizer of the first women's rights convention in Seneca Falls, New York, in 1848, Stanton led the struggle for woman suffrage.

Dorothea Dix

History; American history

The leader of efforts to reform the treatment of the mentally ill.

Dred Scott

History; American history

A Missouri slave, Scott sued for his freedom on the grounds that his master had taken him onto free soil. The Supreme Court ruled in 1857 that Scott was not a citizen and that Congress had no power ...

Dumbbell tenement

History; American history

Apartment buildings built to minimal codes and designed to cram the largest number of people into the smallest amount of space. The dumbbell indentation in the middle of the building, although ...