Year: 2026

History

Articles of Confederation, Part 2: Confederacy Lessons Learned

February 1, 2026 Shannon D. Hanson 0

The Articles of Confederation, Part 2 The Articles of Confederation formed the first government of America, but it did not last long.  The idea of a weak central government and strong state governments appealed to colonists who had come to fear any type of strong central government. Their prior experiences with England warranted this.  A confederacy appealed to the colonists, because of that fear.  In Shannon D. Hanson’s first article about the Articles of Confederation, he explained the basics about that document.  His follow-up article explains the difficulties that came with having a central government that was too weak.  Links to Hanson’s first article about the Articles of Confederation and also the full text of […]

Our Government

The Forgotten Articles of Confederation

January 24, 2026 Shannon D. Hanson 0

The Articles of Confederation: America’s Forgotten Constitution The story of the Articles of Confederation, Colonial America’s first and nearly forgotten, original Constitution. Before the Confederation Began, an Intro John Hancock’s signature is the largest one on the Declaration of Independence.  Most people know this, but some do not know why or they only consider the popular legend that he did this, so “the fat old king could read it without his spectacles”. The fact is, Hancock was the president of the “Congress” at the time and, in that capacity, he would be the first to sign, centered below the text. The title was ceremonial for the most part. It also made him the most important […]

Education

The U. S. Constitution: Simplified

January 17, 2026 thefpAdmin 5

The U. S. Constitution: Simplied…Abbreviated for beginning understanding or quick reference When you just want to get the general or simplified idea of what is covered, TFP offers an abbreviated version of the U.S. Constitution.  Think of this as your “pocket version” of the full Constitution.  It is not meant to be a version for legal purposes or study.  It is meant to give our members the general idea of each portion of the Constitution for better understanding or a beginning approach to learning about the greatest document of freedom the world had experienced.   Look for general definitions at the end of this simplified version.  The full, original transcription of the U. S. Constitution […]

The Founding Principles

Right to Property and Pursuit of Happiness: Work

January 8, 2026 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, […]