Augustus II or Frederick-Augustus I was Elector of Saxony and King of Poland. He was born in 1670 at Dresden and died in 1733. He was the second son of John George III, elector of Saxony. He succeeded his brother in the electorate in 1694, and the Polish throne having become vacant, in 1696, by the death of John Sobieski, Augustus presented himself as a candidate for it and was successful. He joined with Peter the Great in the war against Charles XII of Sweden, invaded Livonia, but was defeated by Charles near Riga, and at Clissow, between Warsaw and Cracow. In 1704 he was deposed, and two years later formally resigned the crown to Stanislaus I, now devoting himself to his Saxon dominions. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles at Pultowa, the Poles recalled Augustus, who united himself anew with Peter. The two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania, but the Swedish general Steinbock defeated the allies at Gadebusch, on December the 20th, 1712. The death of Charles XII put an end to the war, and Augustus concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed in Poland against the Saxon troops, but through the mediation of Peter an arrangement was concluded by which the Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom. Augustus now gave himself wholly up to voluptuousness and a life of pleasure. His court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe. The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of their king, and the last years of his reign were characterized by boundless luxury and corruption of manners. His wife left him one son. The Countess of Konigsmark bore him the celebrated commander Marshal Saxe (Maurice of Saxony). Research Augustus II
A ballot is a method of secret voting. Voting by ballot signifies literally voting by means of little balls (called by the French ballottes), usually of different colours, which are put into a box in such a manner as to enable the voter, if he chooses, to conceal for whom or for what he gives his suffrage. The method is adopted by most clubs in the election of their members - a white ball indicating assent, a black ball dissent. Hence, when an applicant is rejected, he is said to be blackballed. The term voting by ballot is also applied in a general way to any method of secret voting, as, for instance, when a person gives his vote by means of a ticket bearing the name of the candidate whom he wishes to support. In this sense vote by ballot is the mode adopted in electing the members of legislative assemblies in most countries, as well as the members of various other bodies. In ancient Greece and Rome the ballot was in common use. In Britain it had long been advocated in the election of members of Parliament and of municipal corporations, but it was only introduced by an act passed in 1872. Research Ballot
The Buckshot War was an event which occurred in 1838 in Philadelphia where control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives depended upon the choice of a United States Senator. In the election, the Democratic party candidates for the Legislature were elected by small majorities; but their Congressional candidate was defeated. Thereupon the Democratic judges cast out 5000 Whig votes, claiming fraud. The Whig judges then issued certificates of election to both their Congressional and Legislative candidates, and these returns were accepted by the Whig Secretary of State. At the opening of the Legislature at Harrisburg on December the 4th 1838, armed partisans were present. The Whig Senate adjourned because of the mob, and in the House tow warring bodies assembled. The Whig Governor called on the militia, and tried, without effect, to obtain Federal aid. The Democratic House was finally recognised on December the 25th. Research Buckshot War
A candidate is a person who seeks or is nominated for an honour, office or position. The term comes from the Latin candidatus, a candidate, literally meaning a person dressed in white, because, among the Romans, a man who solicited an office, such as the praetorship or consulship, appeared in a bright white garment known as the toga candida. Research Candidate
Canonization is a ceremony in the Roman Church, by which deceased persons are declared saints. The pope institutes a formal investigation of the miraculous and other qualifications of the deceased person recommended for canonization; and an advocate of the devil, as he is called, is appointed to oppose the canonization and submit evidence. If the examination is satisfactory, the pope pronounces the beatification of the candidate, the actual canonization generally taking place some years afterwards, when a day is dedicated to his honour, his name inserted in the calendar of the Saints, a solemn mass is celebrated by the pope, and his remains preserved as holy relics. Research Canonization
A cumulative vote is a system by which every voter is entitled to as many votes as there are persons to be elected, and may give them all to one candidate, or may distribute them among the candidates, as he thinks fit. The principle was first introduced into Britain by the Elementary Education Act of 1870. Research Cumulative Vote
The Equal Rights Party was an American women's suffrage organisation of 1884 headed by Belva Lockwood who was its self-nominated Presidential candidate, her platform advocating woman suffrage. Research Equal Rights Party
The Greenback Party was an American political party organized in a Greenback Convention at Indianapolis, on November the 25th, 1874, which assembled to adopt resolutions opposing the Specie resumption bill proposed at that time in Congress and passed on January the14th, 1875. The Greenback party platform advocated the withdrawal of all national and State bank currency, and the substitution therefore of paper currency issued by the Government, and that coin should only be used in payment of interest on the national debt. The Greenback Presidential candidate in 1876, Peter Cooper, of New York, received 81,740 votes, chiefly from the Western States. Research Greenback Party
The Liberal Republican Party was an abortive offshoot from the regular American Republican party in 1870 to 1872. Its origin was a reaction from the coercive measures to maintain the newly-granted rights of the negroes and suppress the Ku Klux Klan organizations. A union of the Liberal Republicans and the Democrats was first formed with considerable success in Missouri in 1870 and 1871. They advocated universal suffrage, universal amnesty, a reform of the tariff and a cessation of the unconstitutional laws to cure Ku Klux Klan disorders. A general convention assembled at Cincinnati in May, 1872, and nominated Horace Greeley for President, whom the Democrats also nominated. He was defeated because many Democrats refused to vote for him. B Gratz Brown, of Missouri, was the candidate for Vice-President. Research Liberal Republican Party
In the American political campaign of 1840 the Whigcandidate, Harrison, was a military man of plain manners. One of the Democratic papers, scoffing at the Whigs for taking a candidate not of the first calibre, advised that Harrison be given a log cabin and a barrel of hard cider, and he would stay contentedly in Ohio. This was taken up by the Whigs as a slogan, and really helped to make their candidate popular with the masses. Log cabins were erected in great numbers in the cities, and were carried in processions, accompanied with barrels of cider. Research Log Cabin and Hard Cider
The Probert Encyclopaedia was designed, edited and programed by
Matt and Leela Probert
Abbreviations
Research Augustus II
