Our Constitution

America’s First Congress

September 9, 2023 thefpAdmin 0

America’s First Congress The First Congress and Congress, as we now know it, officially began on March 4, 1789. It came into being due to America’s new Constitution, which was written in 1787.  The new Constitution of the United States of America was written in 1787.  It was ratified in 1788, when the 9th state (New Hampshire) ratified it on June 21, 1788.  It officially began operation in 1789 and is the world’s longest surviving written charter of government. Charting a Course The First Congress’ necessary tasks were many and the new form of government meant the Congress was charting a new course of freedom.  There were no examples for this Congress to follow, because […]

History

The Edenton Tea Rebellion

August 13, 2023 Margo Louis 0

The Edenton Tea Rebellion boldly railed against the King of England and made all of the Western world gasp.  But, too few know about this courageous act or its impact.   The Boston Tea Party is far more reported, but it wasn’t the only act of brazen pushback against the King of England.  The Edenton Tea Rebellion had significant impact in America and England.  Historically, it also marked the first political activism undertaken by American women.  It demonstrated the power women had, even in the 1770’s, and was a courageous act of treason against the Crown. How It Began The American Revolution came about after years of heavy-handed pressure from the King of England.  America’s […]

History

Sergeant Major Fleetwood, Civil War Hero

July 21, 2023 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

The battlefield recount of Christian Fleetwood and his heroic actions which led to his Medal of Honor. For perspective, history notes 180,000 black men fought for their freedom in the Civil War.  Of those 180,000, roughly 40,000 gave their lives.  And, among them, there were 25 who received the Medal of Honor. Twenty-five Black Men Received the Medal of Honor During the Civil War, Fleetwood is One of Those 25 Christian Abraham Fleetwood is one of those men and this is his story… Christian Abraham Fleetwood  was born July 21, 1840 in Baltimore, Maryland, to Charles and Anna Marie Fleetwood, both free persons of color.  He received an excellent early education thanks to the efforts of a […]

History

The Mayflower Compact

June 17, 2023 Margo Louis 0

The Mayflower Compact, the first governing document of Plymouth Colony Following several brutal months at sea, the area now known as Cape Cod was finally seen on the horizon by those aboard the ship, the Mayflower, which embarked on September 16, 1620. Most, who arrived on Plymouth Rock, were sick from intense sea sickness or other illnesses.  Their original destination was intended to be Northern Virginia and the Hudson River, which is New York, today.  After months of battling storms, high winds and horrible waves, the 102 people on board didn’t care they had missed their destination by many miles. “True Pilgrims” The voyagers included “True Pilgrims” (religious separatists fleeing religious persecution by the Church […]

The Founding Principles

The Responsibility of Freedom

June 16, 2023 Tony Wyman 0

Responsibility: Freedoms carry with them the consequences of our choices “I think of a hero as someone who understands the degree of responsibility that comes with his freedom.”  – Bob Dylan (1941 – ), American Singer-Songwriter, Musician, and Poet Every 4th of July, Americans gather together to do what we do best: drink beer, eat too much and blow stuff up.  We do this on this particular day to celebrate our nation’s birth, the day we declared our liberation from the rule of the distant King of England…and embraced responsibility.   But, even though the 4th of July is the day we became a free nation, we don’t call that holiday “Freedom Day.” We, instead, call […]

Our Constitution

Why The Electoral College

June 16, 2023 John Barrett 0

The Electoral College and the Vote…Why An Electoral College? Americans have no constitutionally protected right to vote in a federal election. We have the right to not be discriminated against in voting, based on race, color, previous condition of servitude (15th amendment), sex (19th amendment), failure to pay a poll tax (24th amendment) or age, if at least 18 (26th amendment).  But there is no right to vote in a federal election. How the electors for President are chosen is determined by each state’s legislature Following the 2000 presidential election, there was a dispute as to how votes were to be counted and recounted in Florida.  The case went to the U.S. Supreme Court, twice. […]

Sources

Constitution and Founding Resources

June 3, 2023 TFP Staff 0

The Constitution and Founding Resources Consistently reliable resources for information about the Founding of the United States and the U. S. Constitution can be difficult to find.    In particular, if you seek reliable interpretation of the Constitution in keeping with the original intent, those resources can be more difficult to find. Dedicated to the Founding Principles and the U. S. Constitution The Founding Project seeks good sources for our members to use when exploring our nation’s laws and documents. With that purpose in mind, outlined in this article are some good resources for our members to use, when your needs go beyond those offered on our website. The Library of Congress The most simple […]

Our Constitution

The Constitution of the United States: An Exact Transcription

May 31, 2023 TFP Staff 2

The Constitution of the United States: A Transcription Note: The following text is a transcription of the Constitution as it was inscribed by Jacob Shallus on parchment (the document on display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum.) The spelling and punctuation reflects the original. We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America. Article. I. Section. 1. All legislative Powers herein granted shall be vested in a Congress of the United States, which […]

Our Founders

America ~ Historic Founding Timeline

May 27, 2023 TFP Staff 2

The Founding of the First Government of the United States…a Timeline. The Founding of The United States of America did not begin with a single event.  Our Founding was prompted by a series of events that spanned decades.   The Experience of Our Founders Founding Fathers and Mothers of the U.S.A. were learned citizens with great knowledge of European governance and considerable experience with self-government before the writing of the Constitution.  Perhaps more importantly, the Founders were grounded in a knowledge of humankind and the forces of both good and bad government. Their combined experiences and knowledge and human truths, along with the well-documented strong grounding in their faiths, coupled with the trials handled as […]

The Founding Principles

Right to Property and Pursuit of Happiness: Work

May 22, 2023 Tony Wyman 0

The Happiness Factor of Work  A Civilizing Force Maybe the greatest civilizing force in society today is that most of us have to get up five days a week, take a shower, put on something presentable, if not exactly fashionable, and go to a job where, for a minimum of eight hours, we are expected to be better people than we really are in exchange for a paycheck and a dose of self-respect…or we work.    We all complain, of course, about having to go to work, about the cruelly inverse nature of the ratio of weekdays to weekends, about racing rats and climbing over bodies to get to the top of the corporate heap, […]

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