TFP Admin Writers Archives - The Founding Project

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 […]

Constitution and Founding Resources

June 3, 2023 TFP Staff 0

The Constitution and Founding Resources Consistently reliable resources for information about the Founding of the United States and the U. S. Constitution can be difficult to find. In particular, if you seek reliable interpretation of the Constitution in keeping with the original intent, those resources can be more difficult to find. Dedicated to the Founding Principles and the U. S. Constitution The Founding Project seeks good sources for our members to use when exploring our nation’s laws and documents. With that purpose in mind, outlined in this article are some good resources for our members to use, when your needs go beyond those offered on our website. The Library of Congress The most simple […]

Our First “Constitution”: The Articles of Confederation

April 17, 2023 thefpAdmin 4

Why the Articles of Confederation failed its New Nation The Articles of Confederation was the first constitution of the United States of America. It established a confederate style of government for America, which united 13 States with their own strong governments under one purposefully weak central government. A Confederacy was born The Founders established a confederacy, because they had just fought a war (the Revolutionary War) against the British to escape an oppressively strong central government. The Founders wanted to avoid any type of strong central government. They opted to give the States the power to establish their own governments, foreign relations, trade agreements, military and economic practices. This distribution of power was chosen by […]

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 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 […]

Lemuel Haynes, Our African-American Founder

February 19, 2023 TFP Staff 2

Lemuel Haynes: Pastor, Patriot, Poet On July 18, 1753, Lemuel Haynes was born to a white mother “of respectable ancestry” and an African father in West Hartford, Connecticut. His parents abandoned him as a child, giving him to a local deacon in Middle Granville, Massachusetts. Lemuel’s parents had an agreement with Deacon John Haynes that their son would work on Haynes’ farm until age 21 in exchange for housing and education. His Youth Thus, Lemuel spent his youth as an indentured servant working on a Massachusetts farm to earn his keep. He worked on the farm by day and studied at night. With a basic education, Lemuel developed a passion for books, especially for the […]

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 Poems of The Tenth Muse ~ America’s Poet

November 30, 2022 TFP Staff 0

Sampling the Poems of America’s First Female Poet Anne Bradstreet is considered to be America’s First Female Poet and among the first American Poets of record. Her works were largely kept hidden, given the nature of Puritan life at that time (See TFP website article, The Tenth Muse, by Jonathan Henderson.) and were initially panned by critics, who did not understand the Puritan ways or her style. Her brother-in-law took her earlier writings to England for publication as The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America, perhaps unknown to her, where they were published in 1650 and met with much approval. In 1658, her book was listed in the list of Most Vendible Books in […]

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 […]

The Six Basic Constitution Principles

October 25, 2022 thefpAdmin 0

The Key Principles Powering Our Freedom The U.S. Constitution was constructed with Six (6) Basic Principles in Mind. It is these basic guides that kept the authors of the Constitution on track and guided the content of the world’s greatest document of real freedom. Popular Sovereignty: Popular Sovereignty means “peoples’ rule” or that only the people empower the state or nation. “We the People”–the words at the beginning of The Constitution of the United States of America introduces popular sovereignty in the Constitution’s Preamble or introduction. The government of the United States was established by The People and the U. S. government derives its power solely from The People, the citizens of the United […]