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XYZ Affair
The XYZ Affair was a diplomatic incident that occurred in 1797-98, involving diplomats from the United States and Revolutionary France. Amidst rising tensions between the two nations, President John Adams sent envoys to Paris to negotiate...

Definition
Battle of Jemappes
The Battle of Jemappes was a decisive battle in the War of the First Coalition (1792-97), part of the French Revolutionary Wars (1792-1802). On 6 November 1792, a French army under General Charles-François Dumouriez defeated an Austrian force...

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15 Military Leaders of the American Revolution
The American Revolutionary War (1775-1783) was intially a rebellion carried out by the Thirteen Colonies of British America against Great Britain, sparked by the issue of taxation without representation. It soon blossomed into a War of Independence...

Definition
James II of England
James II of England (r. 1685-1688) reigned briefly as the king of England, Scotland, and Ireland until he was deposed by the Glorious Revolution of November 1688. James, also known as James VII of Scotland, was the fourth Stuart monarch...

Definition
Demonstration of 20 June 1792
The Demonstration of 20 June 1792 was a final attempt by the sans-culottes of Paris to reconcile King Louis XVI of France (r. 1774-1792) with the French Revolution (1789-99). Prompted by the king's veto of popular decrees, the people invaded...

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Portrait of John Hancock, c. 1765
John Hancock (1737-1793), a wealthy Boston merchant and future American Founding Father and signer of the Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas by John Singleton Copley, 1765.
Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

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Benjamin Franklin
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790), statesman and signatory of the Declaration of Independence, oil on canvas portrait by Joseph-Siffred Duplessis, painted in Paris, c. 1785.
National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D.C.

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Peyton Randolph
Peyton Randolph (1721-1775), a prominent politician from colonial Virginia, who served as president of the First Continental Congress (1774). Although Randolph died before the American Declaration of Independence, he is sometimes counted...

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Pulling Down the Statue of King George III
On 9 July 1776, American Patriots and Sons of Liberty pull down the statue of King George III of Great Britain in New York City, shortly after George Washington read the United States Declaration of Independence. Two months later, the British...

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Stratford Hall
Stratford Hall Plantation in Westmoreland County, Virginia. It was a residence of the prominent Lee family of Virginia and the birthplace of two signers of the Declaration of Independence, Richard Henry Lee (1742-1794) and Francis Lightfoot...