History Archives - The Founding Project

Peter Salem Poor ~ Who Fired the Shot Heard Round the World?

February 16, 2023 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

Revolutionary Hero & Former Slave…Peter Salem Poor The First Battle of the American Revolution was at Concord Massachusetts on April 19th 1775. The first shot of that Battle has been called “The Shot heard around the world”. That first shot may have been fired by this man. Peter Salem Poor one of the original Boston Patriots who would go on to fight with George Washington throughout the rest of the American Revolution. Here is his citation for Gallantry from the Revolutionary Army: “The Reward due to so great and Distinguished a Character. The Subscribers beg leave to Report to your Honorable. House (Which We do in justice to the Character of so Brave a man) that […]

Ratification: The U.S. Constitution’s Fight for Survival

January 18, 2023 thefpAdmin 0

Ratification: The Need The path to ratification of the U. S. Constitution was paved with lessons learned, obstacles and debate. America was floundering. They had won the war to be free of the oppression of a king, but were losing the battle to organize a thriving nation. Strongly opposed to any type of strong central government, the Founders organized America as a confederacy. The Articles of Confederation were adopted on November 15, 1777 and its ratification was completed on March 1, 1781. The idea of a weak central government and strong State governments appealed to every American citizen, who bravely fought for America’s freedom from the King of England. But, following the ratification, reality was […]

The PreAmble: Bill of Rights

November 17, 2022 thefpAdmin 2

The PreAmble to the Bill of Rights The Bill of Rights was a specifically negotiated and planned addition to the U. S. Constitution as an assurance to guard against the federal government from becoming too powerful and to protect Individual Rights and there is importance to its PreAmble. The focus of the Bill of Rights is usually made upon the ten Amendments to the U. S. Constitution, which comprise the Bill of Rights. The Bill of Rights are the only amendments to the Constitution planned with a PreAmble and presented and ratified as a group of ten amendments. This PreAmble notes the purpose of the Bill of Rights and refers to the Fifth Article of […]

Algernon Sidney, Unsung Founding Father

June 5, 2022 John Barrett 0

Algernon Sidney, An Unsung Founder Every year, as we approach the anniversary of his beheading, I pay tribute to Algernon Sidney. Since so few people have heard of Col. Sidney, much less know of his influence on the founding fathers, I believe it is important to provide some information about him. Algernon Sidney was an associate of John Locke and one of the luminaries of the Whig Movement (not to be confused with the Whig Party in the U.S.). While Locke fled to Holland upon being implicated in the Rye House Plot to assassinate, King Charles II, Col. Sidney stayed and was arrested. At trial, the primary evidence against Col. Sidney was the manuscript for […]

America’s First Poet ~ Anne Bradstreet

March 2, 2022 jhenderson 0

THE TENTH MUSE: THE LIFE OF AMERICA’S FIRST POET, ANNE BRADSTREET Aboard the Arbella in 1630 — owned and operated by the Rev. John Winthrop — were perhaps the most consequential among the original inhabitants of Puritan New England approaching Massachusetts Bay area, where they would establish a colony. To understand the poetry of The Tenth Muse, understanding the harsh travel and then winters of the Massachusetts area and also the personality of the Puritan lifestyle in early America. That colony, destined to become the cornerstone of American culture through religious liberty, saw its settlers over time pave with cobblestones the long and winding road down which a radical new experiment would journey. While this path was […]

Pearl Harbor’s Anniversary

December 7, 2021 TFP Staff 0

About Pearl Harbor The area known as Pearl Harbor is a U.S. naval base near Honolulu, Hawaii. Located near the center of the Pacific Ocean, Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, is roughly 2,000 miles from the U.S. mainland and about 4,000 miles from Japan. Despite growing hostilities between America and Japan, no one thought Japan would start a war with an attack on the distant islands of Hawaii. Additionally, American intelligence officials were confident that any Japanese attack would take place in one of the nearby European colonies in the South Pacific, either the Dutch East Indies, Singapore or Indochina. With American military leaders not expecting an attack in Hawaii, the naval facilities at Pearl Harbor […]

Awuah: From Microsoft Millionaire to Educator

May 12, 2021 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

Awuah: From Microsoft to Ghana With so many Americans working from home now and especially so during the 2020 health emergency, we should thank one of the people, who was instrumental in making Internet Communications possible, Patrick Awuah, Jr. The Story of Patrick Awuah, Jr. Patrick Awuah, Jr. can be considered one of the Pioneers of Internet Communications. He was one of the original Microsoft Team Members in 1988 who developed the first Dial Up Applications. He left all of that and his life as an American multi-millionaire before the age of 30 and returned to his home in Ghana to found Ashesi University in Accra, Ghana. Here are his words and here is his […]

The Incomparable Josephine Baker

May 7, 2021 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

Josephine Baker: War Hero, Stage and Screen Star and Mother In honor of both Mother’s Day and the 76th Anniversary of The End of World War Two in Europe, here is the remarkable story of Josephine Baker, a war hero and mother to 12 (yes, twelve) adopted children… The Overview: American-born Josephine Baker became a famous Broadway singer and dancer in the U.S. in the 1920’s. She would eventually end up moving to France to become a movie star in 1925. In 1937, she opened her own night club the Chez Josephine, in Paris. After the fall of France to the Germans in 1940, Ms. Baker became a member of the French Resistance Movement. Her […]

Justice: The Absence of Injustice

May 2, 2021 Lynda Bryant Work 0

Building a Great Nation, Part 5 Justice: The Absence of Injustice Having suffered the many injustices of the British government, the Founders were intent on establishing a system of justice, order and defense within the legitimate function of the political realm a limited and delegated authority. Because they believed a person’s unalienable rights such as life, liberty, property, personal pursuit of goals and happiness are gifts from God’s natural law, the role of government they believed would be to secure those unalienable rights. They saw laws as protecting the citizen from criminals and the Constitution protecting the citizen from the government. The Founders saw justice as the absence of injustice achieved by securing individual rights. Justice […]

Shays Rebellion and Our Constitution

April 23, 2021 Shannon D. Hanson 0

Shays’ Rebellion, Impact That Led to Our Constitution Shays Rebellion was an uprising in Massachusetts that took place in 1787. It was in response to dire economic conditions after the Revolutionary War and Government indifference to the plight of rural Massachusettsans. Shays Rebellion highlighted deficiencies of the weak central government under the Articles of Confederation. As a result, many historians consider it a catalyst to the adoption of our current Constitution. Economic Hardship In 1780, Daniel Shays retired from service in the Revolutionary War after he became injured. The Fledging United States of America operated at that time under the Articles of Confederation. This first effort to organize a Government in the new World gave […]