Dictionary Definition
rapine n : the act of despoiling a country in
warfare [syn: rape]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
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References
- 2000 The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language - Fourth Edition
Extensive Definition
Daniel Rapine (1768 - 1826) was the second
mayor of Washington,
D.C., elected by the city council in June 1812 and serving for
one year.
Rapine was a bookseller and printer, moving to
Washington from his birthplace of Philadelphia
to open a bookstore in the new capital. He served on the City
Council from 1802 to 1806 and then again in
1812, when
Congress
restructured city ordinances to create a council of aldermen for the city, which
will then elect the mayor. Both Rapine and the incumbent
(appointed) mayor, Robert
Brent, sought the office from the council, who voted to a tie
between the two candidates; the matter was settled by a coin toss,
which gave the office to Rapine.
At that time, the mayor was an employee of the
Federal
government, with power to levy only very small taxes on the
citizens of Washington City. Rapine raised money in two significant
acts: by addressing the Congress and asking for appropriations for
the city — especially after the War of 1812
was declared, when he received federal money to fund the city's
defenses — and by creating a city lottery, whose proceeds went to
the creation of two schools and a public water
works.
Rapine returned to the bookselling business after
his term as mayor, although he was also appointed a justice
of the peace for Washington
County by
President James
Madison. He served as Postmaster of the
House of Representatives in the 1820s, until his
death in May 1826.