Our Constitution

What Are Unalienable Rights

April 4, 2024 John Barrett 0

Exploring the Source of Our Rights…and Why No Entity Can Take Them From You Thomas Jefferson was very clear as to the source of our rights and why that was important.  No matter what you may have heard about Thomas Jefferson –  I know when I was in high school, it was we were taught that Jefferson was an atheist – he spent a good portion of his life crediting God for our country and promoting that idea that our rights are the gift of God. In Rights of British America (1774), Jefferson wrote, “The God who gave us life gave us liberty at the same time; the hand of force may destroy, but cannot […]

Shays Rebellion and the Constitution

April 3, 2024 thefpAdmin 0

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 Problems  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 almost no power to the Central Government. Although […]

Our Founders

The Revolutionary Love Story: The Adams Family

February 14, 2024 Maggie Dine 0

Love, Freedom and a Revolution: The Story of John and Abigail Once upon a time, a boy met a girl.  Their love story unfolded amidst the backdrop of a revolution and the founding of a new nation… They met when Abigail was only 15 years old and John was a young man (reports vary as to whether he was 23 or 24) and neither was at all impressed with the other.  Abigail was a lithe girl, when society only found women of more weight to be attractive, and John was noted to be a bit round in the middle and already showed the promise of baldness.  John noted in a diary that he didn’t particularly […]

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

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 […]

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