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 […]

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, […]

The Founding Principles

The Responsibility of Freedom

December 26, 2025 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 […]

Civics

50 Ways to Leave Your Freedom

December 18, 2025 Maggie Dine 2

50 Ways to Leave Your Freedom (or How to Lose Your Freedom in 10 Days) Freedom…we talk about it often. It is also a commodity most Americans have always experienced.  Americans may even take freedom for granted.  We’ve not experienced horrific oppression or living as serfs with overlords.  It’s easy to recognize the peasant – lord or king – subject dynamic. But, could we recognize freedom being slowly whittled away from us? We saw how easy it was for movie star, Kate Hudson, to lose her boyfriend in a recent movie, “How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days”.  After luring a boyfriend, she slowly destroyed their relationship over the course of ten days. Prior […]

History

The Hero of Pearl Harbor, the Dorie Story

December 7, 2025 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

The Hero of Pearl Harbor The Story of Dorie Miller, the Hero Who Saved Pearl Harbor 78 Years Ago, on December 7th 1941 Japan attached Pearl Harbor in Hawaii prompting Americas entry into World War Two. Dorie Miller  became the first American Hero of World War Two due to his courageous actions on that day. Dorie’s Early Life Miller was born in Waco, Texas, on October 12, 1919, to Connery and Henrietta Miller. He was named Doris, as the midwife who assisted his mother was convinced the baby would be female.  He was the third of four sons and helped around the house, cooking meals and doing laundry, as well as working on the family […]

Media

The Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory

November 27, 2025 Margo Louis 0

The Anatomy of a Conspiracy Theory: How Conspiracy Theories Are Born Conspiracy: The War against The National Anthem Conspiracy theories have a long history of being destructive to America and Americans.  Over decades, they have inspired hate, violence, and turmoil in the nation.  To protect the nation and its citizens, Americans have a duty to be accurately informed and to stop the spread of harmful misinformation (accidentally wrong information) and disinformation (purposefully wrong information).  Understanding how conspiracy theories develop, even ones that occur somewhat innocently, helps Americans to live up to that civic duty. An Incident Several years ago, a prominent airline neared its destination and the pilot announced to his passengers that the flight […]

Our Government

Polling in the United States: Safe?

October 1, 2025 Maggie Dine 0

Assessing Polling in the United States of America…How Safe is Your Vote? The Constitution of the United States gives the states the power to handle polling (voting) in accordance with the Constitution. But, how does each state handle polling? And, how do Americans determine how safe their vote is and whether some claims about voting are true or not? The United States has some basic compliance laws for polling/voting.   The federal government established an independent commission and programs to assist each state to assure safe polling.  In addition, the United States tasks federal departments with providing cybersecurity and other assistance, guidance and monitoring to further safeguard voting in the United States. But…How does a […]

Our Founders

George Washington’s Rules of Civility, Part 2

September 22, 2025 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 […]

Our Founders

George Washington’s Rules of Civility, Part 1

September 1, 2025 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 […]

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