Category Archives: Uncategorized

Burnside: A “Want of Success”

Posted on June 22, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published by the Newport Daily News on June 18, 2014.) Ambrose Everett Burnside, Rhode Island’s most famous Civil War general, had a military career with actions sometimes very competent and praiseworthy but at other times incompetent … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ambrose Burnside, Ambrose E. Burnside, American Civil War, Battle of Fredericksburg, Civil War, Fred Zilian, General Burnside, Rhode Island generals, sideburns | 4 Comments

From Slavery to Greatness

Posted on May 9, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published by the Newport Daily News on May 7, 2014.) Next to Martin Luther King, Frederick Douglass was probably the greatest African-American in US history. Unlike King, Frederick Douglass—born Frederick Bailey in February 1818—was not killed … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Civil War, Fred Zilian, Frederick Douglass, New Bedford, slavery | Leave a comment

The Seeds of Inhumanity: Rwanda’s Genocide

Posted on April 9, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay, abridged, was originally published by the Newport Daily News on April 8, 2014, as “After Rwanda, can world say: ‘Never again?.’”) Twenty years ago this month, the world watched what was probably the fastest genocide in modern history … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged causes of ethnic violence, causes of genocide, causes of killing, causes of murder, Fred Zilian, genocide, Hutu, inhumanity, roots of genocide, roots of inhumanity, Rwanda, Rwanda genocide, Tutsi, United Nations | 5 Comments

Julia Ward Howe, Author of Battle Hymn, Spent Much of Her Life in Portsmouth

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published as “Beyond the ‘Battle Hymn,’” in the Newport Daily News on March 22, 2014.) Julia Ward Howe, a talented, independent-minded woman of the 19th century—poet, writer, playwright, preacher, lecturer, and reform leader—spent much of her life at … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American Civil War, Battle Hymn of the Republic, Civil War, Fred Zilian, Julia Ward Howe, Mother's Day, Oak Glen, Portsmouth, Rhode Island, women's suffrage, world peace | 3 Comments

Rhode Island’s Industrial Might Boosted the Union’s War Effort

Posted on February 26, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published by the Newport Daily News on February 19, 2014.) Many historians consider the Civil War the first “modern war,” by which they are referring to two things. It was the first war to mobilize the … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ambrose Burnside, American Civil War, Civil War, Civil War Economy, Civil War industry, Civil War manufacturing, Fred Zilian, George Corliss, Rhode Island Economy in the Civil War, Rhode Island in the Civil War, Union Economy, William Sprague | 1 Comment

What the Robins Tell Me: Climate Change Is Our Problem

Posted on February 16, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was published originally by the Newport Daily News on February 12, 2014.) Even before Rachel Carson’s book Silent Spring in 1962, I was environment-curious. Sixty years ago in northeast New Jersey, I watched the trash men haul away … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged air pollution, air pollution in China, carbon dioxide, carbon dioxide in atmosphere, climate change, environment, Framework Convention on Climate Change, Fred Zilian, global warming, Kyoto Protocol, Silent Spring, Zilian | 5 Comments

Did American Education Forget Gettysburg?

Posted on January 6, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published in The Lincoln Forum Bulletin, Fall 2013. On the 150th anniversary of the greatest, most significant battle since the Revolutionary War, America—but for historical circles and the celebrations in Gettysburg itself—appears disinterested. Abe Lincoln, our … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, American education, American history, Battle of Gettysburg, Civil War, education, Fred Zilian, teaching of American history, teaching of the Civil War, Zilian | Leave a comment

Rhodes Remains “All for the Union”

Posted on January 3, 2014 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published by the Newport Daily News on December 31, 2013, as “Despite hardships, soldier remained ‘for the Union.’”) The year 1863 was filled with mud, battles, hunger, comradeship, and firmness in commitment to God and country for … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged 2nd Rhode Island Volunteer Regiment, All for the Union, American Civil War, battle, Civil War, Civil War diary, Elisha Hunt Rhodes, Fred Zilian, Gettysburg, war | 1 Comment

The Decline of Thanksgiving

Posted on November 30, 2013 by Fred Zilian

(The essay was originally published by the Newport Daily News on November 27, 2013.) An important threshold was crossed two years ago when Wal-Mart and Toys R Us moved their opening or early bird specials from very early Black Friday … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged American values, Christmas commercialism, commercialism, consumerism, decline of America, Decline of Thanksgiving, Fred Zilian, holidays, Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving and Christmas, Zilian | 3 Comments

The Gettysburg Address

Posted on November 26, 2013 by Fred Zilian

(This essay was originally published in the Newport Daily News, November 19, 2013, as “Gettysburg Address Defined Our Purpose as a Free People.”) One-hundred fifty years ago, on November 19, 1863, at a ceremony to honor the fallen in the Battle of … Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Abraham Lincoln, American Civil War, Civil War, Fred Zilian, Gettysburg, Gettysburg Address, Lincoln, Zilian | 6 Comments

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