The Founding Principles Archives - The Founding Project

Natural Law: Our Founders were Trouble Makers

July 16, 2024 Tony Wyman 0

Our Founders Really Were Trouble-Makers Natural Law: If causing trouble was the goal of the Founding Fathers in 1776, attacking the notion that rulers derived their authority to govern from the Divine Right of Kings was certainly the way to go. The ruling establishments of the most powerful nations on Earth pushed the idea that their kings were chosen directly by God and that their authority, therefore, could not be questioned, nor could the people hold their kings accountable for their actions. Kings, as alleged representatives of God, therefore, were not subject to any earthly authority, certainly not to the people or even the aristocracy of their kingdoms. They were, in a very real sense, […]

The Declaration of Independence, Exact Transcript

July 3, 2024 thefpAdmin 0

Declaration of Independence: A Transcription Editor’s Note: This is a transcription of the Engraving of the parchment of The Declaration of Independence, a document on display in the National Archives Museum Rotunda. The spelling, punctuations and wording is exact to the original document. The signers of this Declaration are included at the bottom, along with the state they represented. In Congress, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the […]

George Washington’s Rules of Civility, Part 2

June 22, 2024 Margo Louis 0

The Rules of Civility, Part 2 The Importance of Civility to George Washington was never more apparent than when a young George took much effort to memorize all 120 Rules for Civility valued at the time. This article is Part 2 of a two part set. In this part, the second 55 of the 110 Rules of Civility, which Washington valued so highly, are listed and are shown exactly as he wrote them as a teen. Civic Virtue – Civility The future first president of the United States thought civility, good manners and politeness were so important that he wrote out the Rules of Civility in his own hand and memorized them as a young […]

Only In America, Part 2: Keeping The Promise

June 20, 2024 Guest Writer 0

Only in American, Part Two: Keeping the Promise Dr. Jerome Huyler’s work, Only in America: The Goodness Greatness Begot, has been featured by The Founding Project with this article being the third in the series and the second chapter of his work, entitled “Keeping the Promise”. Huyler’s work is an observation of America and also on civics education in America and is presented by The Founding Project in a series of articles. Dr. Huyler’s essay is a response to one author’s book, which has come to influence a version of civics education in America. But, Dr. Huyler found that book’s content did not coincide with the full civics education programs once prevalent in American schools […]

George Washington’s Rules of Civility, Part 1

June 18, 2024 Margo Louis 0

The Rules of Civility, Part 1 The Importance of Civility to George Washington was never more apparent than when a young George took much effort to memorize all 120 Rules for Civility valued at the time. This article is Part 1 of a two part set. In it, the first 55 of the 110 Rules of Civility, which Washington valued so highly, are listed and are listed exactly as he wrote them as a teen. Integrity, Honor, Civic Virtue ~ Prized by Washington The future first president of the United States thought civility, good manners and politeness were so important that he wrote out the Rules of Civility in his own hand and memorized them […]

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 […]

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, […]

Ants Like Authoritarianism, Do We?

May 16, 2023 Tony Wyman 0

A Case for Freedom in Human Society Ants like authoritarianism, so who are we to argue? 10 quadrillion ants* will wake up today on nearly every continent on the planet and go about doing ant things without a single thought as to the state of being for an ant. No ant Marx will ask why the means of production seem to disproportionately benefit the Queen. No ant Jefferson will declare that all ants have certain unalienable rights that come, not from fellow ants, but from God Himself. No ant Rand* will declare that all ants are individuals beholden to no other ant or ant colony. No, every ant will get up and unquestioningly do what […]

Lemuel Haynes’ Liberty Further Extended

March 24, 2023 TFP Staff 0

Lemuel Haynes’ Most Important Work Liberty Further Extended… Lemuel Haynes, a Founder, Minuteman, Pastor and Author, penned in an influential essay called “Liberty Further Extended” in response to the Declaration of Independence. His work was a treatise against slavery and an influential stance during the Founding years of the United States. Haynes argued that liberty for one group of people justly meant freedom for all. The story of Lemuel Haynes is featured on The Founding Project website. (See link below.) His most important work, “Liberty Further Extended”, is published here for the benefit of TFP readers and to honor the story of our Founders. The Founding Project publishes his work with no changes, except to add […]

The Free Market: Trading Pudding for Pickles

January 12, 2023 Tony Wyman 3

Part of the TFP Founding Principle Series, Tony Wyman continues with an explanation of Free Markets. Trading Pudding for Pickles ~ How the Free Market Made School Lunches Great No matter how many times I told my mother that I absolutely despised Snak Pak Butterscotch Pudding, every day I opened my lunch box in middle school, there it was. That vile, brown-grey paste, sitting in its little plastic tub, took up space in my lunch that should have been occupied by the food I craved most: Vlasic dill pickles. But, my mother, who religiously packed my lunch every day, insisted that I didn’t actually like pickles and that every boy of a certain age absolutely […]