About Christian McBurney

I was curious to learn what large mammals roamed the lands of the Narragansett, Wampanoags, and Nipmucs in what is now Rhode Island, around the time of Roger Williams’s arrival …
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After I published my book on the history of Kingston in 2004, a Narragansett Times reporter asked me who my favorite character in the book was. She expected me to …
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In the early days of the abolition movement in the United States, by necessity, abolitionist work had to come primarily from white people because, before the American Revolution, most black …
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While Massachusetts and Connecticut by the early 1800s had instituted reforms reducing the severity of corporal punishment, Rhode Island had not. Consider the crime of perjury before a court. According …
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Looking to round out your Christmas or other holiday gifts to that special person who enjoys reading Rhode Island history? Look no further. And each can be purchased for the …
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Did you know that Slater Mill, one of the most important historic sites in Rhode Island, was transferred in March 2021 to the U.S. National Park Service? I am embarrassed …
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On May 27, 1791, Thomas Mount, a white man born in New Jersey, was hanged in the small village of Little Rest, now called Kingston, in South Kingstown. What makes …
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Rhode Island history books keep flying off the presses!  This is not surprising, given the tremendously impressive and diverse history of Rhode Island.  It may be the smallest state, but …
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Esek Hopkins, the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War, hailed from Rhode Island. He has two significant honorifics in Rhode Island. First, there is a statue …
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Last spring, Patrick Donovan, the talented and hardworking curator at the Varnum Memorial Armory Museum in East Greenwich, announced his discovery of  a handwritten letter from a formerly enslaved man …
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