Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume XVI.djvu/208

This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
188 UNITED STATES UNITED STATES (Literature)

not yet (1876) been organized. For a notice of the negotiations respecting the annexation of Santo Domingo (1869-'71), see Grant, Ulysses S., vol. viii., p. 160. Since the outbreak of the Cuban rebellion, the relations between Spain and the United States have frequently been disturbed. The capture of the steamer Virginius on the high seas under the United States flag on Oct. 31, 1873, by the Spanish man-of-war Tornado, for a time threatened war. The Virginius was taken to a Cuban port, and several of those on board were summarily shot on the charge of being connected with the insurrection. On Dec. 16 the steamer was given up to the United States, and two days after the survivors of those on board were surrendered. In the spring of 1876 Spain paid the United States $80,000 for the relief of the families of those executed. In 1868 a secret organization, known as the Ku-Klux Klan, made its appearance in the south, and numerous outrages were committed by its members on colored citizens and others who favored the congressional plan of reconstruction. On April 20, 1871, congress passed an act to enforce the provisions of the fourteenth amendment, by which cognizance of these offences was given to the United States courts, and several convictions were had under its provisions. On May 31, 1870, an act had been passed (amended Feb. 28, 1871) to enforce the provisions of the fifteenth amendment, the design of which was to protect colored citizens in their right to vote. An act of March 1, 1875, prohibited the denial of equal rights in inns, public conveyances, theatres, &c., to any one on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude. On May 10, 1876, an exhibition of American and foreign arts, products, and manufactures was opened at Philadelphia, under the auspices of the government, in accordance with the act of congress of March 3, 1871. The undertaking has been carried on chiefly by private enterprise and state appropriations, but the act of congress of Feb. 16, 1876, appropriated $1,500,000. (See Philadelphia.)—The following is a list of the presidents and vice presidents of the United States:

PRESIDENTS.  States of which citizens.  Terms.



 George Washington  Virginia  April 30, 1789, to March 4, 1797.
 John Adams  Massachusetts  March 4, 1797, to March 4, 1801.
 Thomas Jefferson  Virginia  March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1809.
 James Madison  Virginia  March 4, 1809, to March 4, 1817.
 James Monroe  Virginia  March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825.
 John Quincy Adams  Massachusetts  March 4, 1825, to March 4, 1829.
 Andrew Jackson  Tennessee  March 4, 1829, to March 4, 1837.
 Martin Van Buren  New York  March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841.
 William Henry Harrison[1]  Ohio  March 4, 1841, to April 4, 1841.
 John Tyler  Virginia  April 4, 1841, to March 4, 1845.
 James Knox Polk  Tennessee  March 4, 1845, to March 4, 1849. 
 Zachary Taylor[1]  Louisiana  March 4, 1849, to July 9, 1850.
 Millard Fillmore  New York  July 9, 1850, to March 4, 1853.
 Franklin Pierce  New Hampshire  March 4, 1853, to March 4, 1857.
 James Buchanan  Pennsylvania  March 4, 1857, to March 4, 1861.
 Abraham Lincoln[1]  Illinois  March 4, 1861, to April 15, 1865.
 Andrew Johnson  Tennessee  April 15, 1865, to March 4, 1869.
 Ulysses S. Grant  Illinois  March 4, 1869 (still In office).
 
VICE PRESIDENTS.
 
 John Adams  Massachusetts  April 21, 1789, to March 4, 1797.
 Thomas Jefferson  Virginia  March 4, 1797, to March 4, 1801.
 Aaron Burr  New York  March 4, 1801, to March 4, 1805.
 George Clinton[1]  New York  March 4, 1805, to April 20, 1812.
 Elbridge Gerry[1]  Massachusetts  March 4, 1813, to Nov. 23, 1814.
 Daniel D. Tompkins  New York  March 4, 1817, to March 4, 1825.
 John Caldwell Calhoun[2]  South Carolina  March 4, 1825, to Dec. 28, 1832.
 Martin Van Buren  New York  March 4, 1833, to March 4, 1837.
 Richard Mentor Johnson  Kentucky  March 4, 1837, to March 4, 1841.
 John Tyler  Virginia  March 4, 1841, to April 4, 1841.
 George Mifflin Dallas  Pennsylvania  March 4, 1845, to March 4, 1849.
 Millard Fillmore  New York  March 4, 1849, to July 9, 1850.
 William Rufus King[1]  Alabama  March 4, 1858, to April 18, 1853.
 John Cabell Breckinridge  Kentucky  March 4. 1857, to March 4, 1861.
 Hannibal Hamlin  Maine  March 4, 1861, to March 4, 1865.
 Andrew Johnson  Tennessee  March 4, 1865, to April 15, 1865.
 Schuyler Colfax  Indiana  March 4, 1869, to March 4, 1873.
 Henry Wilson[1]  Massachusetts  March 4, 1873, to Nov. 22 1875.

The chief justices have been as follows: John Jay of New York, Sept. 26, 1789, to June 29, 1795; John Rutledge of South Carolina, July 1, 1795, to Dec. 15, 1795 (appointed in the recess of the senate, presided at the August term, rejected by the senate); Oliver Ellsworth of Connecticut, March 4, 1796, to October, 1800; John Marshall of Virginia, Jan. 31, 1801, to July 6, 1835; Roger Brooke Taney of Maryland, March 15, 1836, to Oct. 12, 1864; Salmon Portland Chase of Ohio, Dec. 6, 1864, to May 7, 1873; and Morrison Remich Waite of Ohio, appointed Jan. 21, 1874. William Cushing of Massachusetts, appointed Jan. 27, 1796, and John Jay, reappointed Dec. 19, 1800, declined.

UNITED STATES, Literature of the. The literary history of the United States may be treated under three distinctly marked periods, viz.: a colonial or ante-revolutionary period (1620-1775), during which the literature of the country was closely assimilated in form and

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Died in office.
  2. Resigned.