Rhode Island & American Revolution

After summarizing events in the American colonies leading up to the American Revolution, this lecture will examine the early acts of resistance by Rhode Islanders, the colony’s declarations of renunciation and independence, its privateering era, the two occupations of Aquidneck Island to include the Battle of Rhode Island, and its overall military contributions. The lecture will conclude with a summary of its overall contributions and the Revolution’s impact.

About the presenter: After a 21-year career as an infantry officer in the Army, Fred Zilian was an educator at Portsmouth Abbey School, where he taught history, ethics, and German, and an adjunct professor of history and politics at Salve Regina University. He now lectures on a wide variety of subjects, gives literature and poetry readings, and offers tours of Newport, the Battle of Rhode Island (1778), and Boston. Zilian holds a Ph.D. in international relations/strategic studies from the Paul H. Nitze School of Advanced International Studies, Johns Hopkins University. He is the author of numerous articles, essays, and book reviews on a wide variety of subjects in numerous publications and platforms from the Wall Street Journal to the Newport Daily News. For 10 years he was a regular columnist for the Newport Daily News. He has also published a book: From Confrontation to Cooperation: The Takeover of the National People’s (East German) Army by the Bundeswehr. For 20 years he performed as Abraham Lincoln in his one-man play, “Honest Abe.”
This program is part of a series of events coordinated around the recent release of THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, a film by Ken Burns, Sarah Botstein & David Schmidt. Corporate funding for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was provided by Bank of America. Major funding was provided by The Better Angels Society and its members Jeannie and Jonathan Lavine with the Crimson Lion Foundation; and the Blavatnik Family Foundation. Major funding was also provided by David M. Rubenstein; The Robert D. and Patricia E. Kern Family Foundation; Lilly Endowment Inc.; and the following Better Angels Society members: Eric and Wendy Schmidt; Stephen A. Schwarzman; and Kenneth C. Griffin with Griffin Catalyst. Additional support for THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was provided by: The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations; The Pew Charitable Trusts; Gilbert S. Omenn and Martha A. Darling; Park Foundation; and the following Better Angels Society members: Gilchrist and Amy Berg; Perry and Donna Golkin; The Michelson Foundation; Jacqueline B. Mars; Kissick Family Foundation; Diane and Hal Brierley; John H. N. Fisher and Jennifer Caldwell; John and Catherine Debs; The Fullerton Family Charitable Fund; Philip I. Kent; Gail Elden; Deborah and Jon Dawson; David and Susan Kreisman; The McCloskey Family Charitable Trust; Becky and Jim Morgan; Carol and Ned Spieker; Mark A. Tracy; and Paul and Shelley Whyte. THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION was made possible, in part, with support from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
[Photo Credit: Plan de Rhode Island et les differentes operations de la flotte-françoises et des troupes americaines commandées par le Major General Sullivan contre les forçes de terre et de mer des Anglois depuis LOC. https://www.loc.gov/item/gm71000885/, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons]