In the United States, we often revere our Founding Fathers and the works they created. We refer to them as Founding Documents.
Founding Documents are the initial documents that set up a system to operate within. They can also be called charters. The information provided in these documents typically include who’s involved, what the goals are, who has the authority and over what and whom, and if there is a life cycle to the group or project when it is complete.
In the project management world, charters are the documents that set up what the project is all about, what it’s intended goals and budgets are, who is involved including the project leader, and what the timeline of that project is expected to be.
If we look at how businesses are established, there are core documents needed to start a business. For example, Articles of Incorporation in the United States is a document that “establishes the existence of a corporation.” Articles of organization are the equivalent for an LLC. These documents are filed with the State to establish the company’s existence. They outline the governance of the company, name of the organization, and the type of structure it will be–i.e., a for-profit corporation, nonprofit corporation, benefit corporation, or professional corporation. It also includes information about the registered agent, the number of authorized shares, the effective date, and the names and signatures of the incorporators.
Similarly, although not as detailed, is the document we call a marriage certificate or license. It outlines who the two individuals are that are part of the marriage, where the marriage took place, and who the witnesses and officiator at the marriage were. It often becomes the key piece of information for when a spouse wants to change a last name.
Essentially, founding documents become evidence that something has been established and outlines what purpose that founding endeavors to follow.
In civics, founding documents create the state and the system of government that state will follow. They create the framework of what that government is able to do, who is responsible for which actions, and what rights individuals hold within that framework.
In the United States, we can easily point to four documents that are essential to the founding of our nation:
- The Mayflower Compact
- The Declaration of Independence
- The Constitution
- The Bill of Rights
Others will argue that we should include the Federalist Papers, the Northwest Ordinance, or the Emancipation Proclamation in this categorization. However, there are different reasons I won’t include these in an essay on founding documents. The main reason is this: they are all subservient to the Constitution and the Bill of Rights. Without those two documents, these others don’t serve the purpose they were created for, and may not have been written at all.
In the next few installments of these blog posts, I will answer what these documents are, why they were written, why they are significant to the world and why they are still needed today.
I am excited to learn and write out my thoughts on each of these documents, and I invite you to come along on this journey with me.