Education Archives - The Founding Project

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 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 […]

Articles of Confederation, Part 2: Confederacy Lessons Learned

May 1, 2023 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 […]

The Originally Proposed Bill of Rights

March 21, 2023 thefpAdmin 0

Bill of Rights: The Original Proposed Transcript and the Original Final Ratified Document The transcription included here is the recorded original of the Joint Resolution of Congress PROPOSING the Bill of Rights. These proposed amendments and the final accepted and ratified Bill of Rights document is on permanent display in the Rotunda at the National Archives Museum. The punctuation and spelling for both is the same as the original documents. History: On September 25, 1789, the First Congress of the United States proposed 12 amendments to the Constitution. The 1789 Joint Resolution of Congress proposed the amendments now on display in the Rotunda in the National Archives Museum. Ten of the proposed 12 amendments were […]

Civics and The Protection of Freedom

October 28, 2022 Maggie Dine 0

Civics: Americans Can Be Outdone by Immigrants Civics and the U. S. Citizen The Founding Fathers of the United States of America most deliberately and brilliantly made Individual Rights the shining star of the Constitution. It was the absolute sticking point for every Founding Father and a critical element of the U.S. Constitution. It is the Individual Rights recognized as indestructible by man or government that makes the United States a Constitutional Republic and specifically guards against any other form of government from monarchy to simple democracy or majority rule. The Constitution boldly declares that these Individual Rights are iron clad. They cannot be chipped, changed, challenged, chopped or cheated away from citizens. The Big […]

Richard Henry Lee and Independence

October 5, 2022 Margo Louis 1

Richard Henry Lee and America’s Steps to Independence Richard Henry Lee was a prominent statesman from Virginia. Though not a firebrand, like Patrick Henry, or quite as prolific as Thomas Paine, Lee became known as a powerful orator and writer. His words, spoken and in print, were important cogs in the wheels that churned toward America’s independence from England. Lee was born in Virginia and following home tutoring and then schooling in England, he returned to America and served as a Justice of the Peace for Westmoreland County. In 1758, he was elected to the Virginia House of Burgesses and was later a delegate to Continental Congress. The Steps Toward Independence Following the Seven Years […]

Alice Augusta Ball, Unsung American Chemist

September 25, 2022 Peter Crowell Anderson 0

Alice Augusta Ball: The Woman Who Cured Leprosy So few know the name, Alice Augusta Ball or her accomplishments, because initially another man took credit for her work. But Alice Augusta Ball is a black woman and is now known for significantly contributing to medical discoveries and firsts for women. This is her story… Leprosy or Hansen’s Disease One of the most virulent plagues known to mankind is Leprosy, also called Hansen’s Disease. Because the disease was highly contagious, painful and disfiguring, and known to cause certain death, patients with Leprosy were immediately forced into quarantine far from others. Patients experienced slow, miserable deaths due to this disease with little to comfort them. […]

The U. S. Constitution: Simplified

September 24, 2022 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 […]

50 Ways to Leave Your Freedom

July 18, 2022 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 […]

Polling in the United States: Safe?

February 1, 2022 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 […]