By William H. Benson
The Parallel Lives
Of The NOBLE AMERICAN RELIGIOUS THINKERS AND BELIEVERS:
Roger Williams VS. Cotton Mathers
NEW ARTICLES
biweekly column
Readers, please look for my column that I completed today, some ideas on Jonathan Winthrop’s sermon “A Model of Christian Charity.” It should post in a few days.
NEW YEAR’S DAY RESOLUTIONS
NEW YEAR’S DAY RESOLUTIONSNEW YEAR’S DAY RESOLUTIONS by William H. Benson January 1, 2004 On January 1, 1831 William Lloyd Garrison, the abolitionist, began publishing the Liberator in Boston. It carried its motto on the first page: “I am in earnest. I will not...
HARRY TRUMAN
HARRY TRUMANHARRY TRUMAN by William H. Benson December 18, 2003 On the morning of December 5, 1950 President Harry Truman was reading in the Washington Post a most unflattering commentary on Margaret’s singing performance the evening before in Washington. With...
CHILDREN’S LITERATURE
CHILDREN’S LITERATURECHILDREN’S LITERATURE by William H. Benson December 4, 2003 Horror has never held my attention. I have tried to complete a Stephen King novel numerous times, and invariably after a couple of chapters of gruesome and fanciful scenes, I give...
WILLPOWER AND GRATITUDE
WILLPOWER AND GRATITUDEWILLPOWER AND GRATITUDE by William H. Benson November 20, 2003 M. Scott Peck said in his book The Road Less Traveled that life’s two greatest possessions are a forceful will and a grateful attitude. A person who has a forceful will is considered...
THE WAR IN THE PACIFIC
THE WAR IN THE PACIFICTHE WAR IN THE PACIFIC By William H. Benson November 6, 2003 Although I am not a big fan of Stephen Ambrose, I did read his last book, To America—Personal Reflections of an Historian, which he published just prior to his passing a...
SMALLPOX
SMALLPOXSMALLPOX By William H. Benson October 23, 2003 The minister at the North Church in Boston, Cotton Mather, received his first printed copy of Magnalia Christi Americana on October 29, 1702, and on the same day he discovered that his 8-year-od daughter had...
Older Posts
TUESDAY–SEPTEMBER 11, 2001
TUESDAY--SEPTEMBER 11, 2001TUESDAY--SEPTEMBER 11, 2001 by William H. Benson September 11, 2003 Last week Newsweek reported that Osama bin Laden, hiding in Afghanistan's Kunar province, spoke last January at the funeral of one of his daughters-in-law, who had died...
THE WILL POWER TO WIN
THE WILL POWER TO WINTHE WILL POWER TO WIN by William H. Benson August 28, 2003 The Sixties were years marked by two massive struggles: first, the Black Americans demanded equality and an end to discrimination and second, whether to fight or give up in Vietnam. ...
CALIFORNIA AND ILLEGAL ALIENS
CALIFORNIA AND ILLEGAL ALIENSCALIFORNIA AND ILLEGAL ALIENS by William H. Benson August 14,. 2003 By August 13, 1521 Cortez had effectively conquered the Aztec Indians in present-day Mexico City. He and his fellow conquistadors established a two-tiered class...
HERMAN MELVILLE’S MOBY DICK
HERMAN MELVILLE'S MOBY DICKHERMAN MELVILLE'S MOBY DICK by William H. Benson July 31, 2003 Unlike Jonah's great fish, the White Whale had a name--Moby Dick, and unlike Jonah's short story, Herman Melville wrote a lengthy novel. But like Jonah and the...
THEORIES
THEORIESTHEORIES by William H. Benson July 17, 2003 So much of how we, the members of the Western tradition, see and experience our world is derived from, or at least shaped by, the theories presented by a series of original thinkers. For example, Karl Marx,...
THOMAS PAINE
THOMAS PAINETHOMAS PAINE by William H. Benson July 3, 2003 Thomas Paine has never received a place equal among the other Revolutionary leaders, such as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Adams, George Washington, John Adams, and Thomas Jefferson, even though Paine's...
One of University of Northern Colorado’s 2020 Honored Alumni
William H. Benson
Local has provided scholarships for history students for 15 years
A Sterling resident is among five alumni selected to be recognized this year by the University of Northern Colorado. Bill Benson is one of college’s 2020 Honored Alumni.
Each year UNC honors alumni in recognition for their outstanding contributions to the college, their profession and their community. This year’s honorees were to be recognized at an awards ceremony on March 27, but due to the COVID-19 outbreak that event has been cancelled. Instead UNC will recognize the honorees in the fall during homecoming Oct. 10 and 11……
Newspaper Columns
The Duodecimal System
For centuries, the ancient Romans calculated sums with their clunky numerals: I, V, X, L, C, D, and M; or one, five, ten, 50, 100, 500, and 1,000. They knew nothing better.
The Thirteenth Amendment
On Jan. 1, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation, and by it, he declared that “all persons held as slaves” within the rebellious states “are and henceforward shall be free.” Lincoln’s Proclamation freed some 3.1 million slaves within the Confederacy.
The Fourteenth Amendment
After Congress and enough states ratified the thirteenth amendment that terminated slavery, Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1866. This law declared that “all people born in the United States are entitled to be citizens, without regard to race, color, or previous condition of slavery or involuntary servitude.” The Act equated birth to citizenship.
The New-York Packet and the Constitution
Jill Lepore, the Harvard historian, published her newest book a month ago, These Truths: A History of the United States. In a short introduction, she describes in detail the Oct. 30, 1787 edition of a semi-weekly newspaper, The New-York Packet.
Mr. Benson’s writings on the U.S. Constitution are a great addition to the South Platte Sentinel. Its inspiring to see the history of the highest laws of this country passed on to others.
– Richard Hogan
Mr. Benson, I cannot thank you enough for this scholarship. As a first-generation college student, the prospect of finding a way to afford college is a very daunting one. Thanks to your generous donation, my dream of attending UNC and continuing my success here is far more achievable
– Cedric Sage Nixon
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– Extra Times
FUTURE BOOKS
- Thomas Paine vs. George Whitefield
- Ralph Waldo Emerson vs. Joseph Smith
- William James vs. Mary Baker Eddy
- Mark Twain vs. Billy Graham
- Henry Louis Mencken vs. Jim Bakker
