Intro note by
Jack Wheeler:
On Thanksgiving Day, Americans gather with their
family and friends to celebrate the blessings that Providence has bestowed on
their beloved country.
A deep appreciation of these blessings involves
understanding that they were earned. It is to understand the
awesome truth of how “God helps those who help themselves” applies to the
Mayflower Pilgrims and their First Thanksgiving at America’s birth.
This is an appreciation and understanding of which
those on the Left are incapable – for it would mean celebrating the capitalist
freedom that made that original Thanksgiving possible. That made America
possible.
Thus they must distort history instead.
The distortion starts in Kindergarten, with the
childish make-believe of your kid’s school play portraying the noble Squanto
teaching the helpless Pilgrims how to feed themselves. So let’s drop the
curtain on the distortion and watch the real thing. Here it is.
The real history of the Mayflower Pilgrims was
recounted by their leader, William Bradford (1590-1657) in his book Of
Plymouth Plantation, completed in 1647. It is from Bradford that we
learn of Squanto, who did indeed show the Pilgrims how to “set” or plant corn
(a new unfamiliar crop for them).
Then we learn that the Pilgrims taught the Indians how
to grow more corn than they ever had before:
“The Indeans
used to have nothing so much corne as they have since the English have stored
them with their hoes, and seene their industrie in breaking up new grounds
therwith.”
Reading the real history of the Pilgrims is so
revelatory that I want you to see it at length. It is as effective a
refutation of socialism and affirmation of capitalism as there has ever been.
The Pilgrims landed in December 1620, suffered a
horrible winter, figured out how to fish and hunt that spring and summer so
that there may have been some sort of feast with friendly Indians in the fall
of 1621 – although Bradford doesn’t recount the incident.
But by 1622 they were starving. There was no
“Thanksgiving” that year. There was the next – for 1623 saw the Pilgrims
in well-fed abundance, and thus was the year of the real First Thanksgiving.
What made the difference? Here are Bradford’s own words
(albeit with modern spelling like “been” instead of “bene” – the original
spelling is in the link above; the parentheses are his, the explanatory
brackets are mine), describing Anno Dom.1623:
“It may be thought strange that these people should fall
to these extremities in so short a time, being left competently provided when
the ship [the Mayflower] left them, and had an addition by that moyetie
[portion] of corn that was got by trade, besides much they got of the Indians
where they lived, by one means and other.
It must needs
be their great disorder, for they spent excessively whilst they had, or could
get it. And after they began to come into wants, many sold away their clothes
and bed coverings; others (so base were they) became servants to the Indians,
and would cut them wood and fetch them water for a cap full of corn; others
fell to plain stealing, both night and day, from the Indians, of which they
grievously complained. In the end, they came to that misery that some starved
and died with cold and hunger…
All this
while no supply was heard of, neither knew they when they might expect any. So
they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain
a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in
misery.
At length,
after much debate of things, the Governor [Bradford] (with the advise of the
chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own
particular [plant corn on his own private land], and in that regard trust to
themselves; in all other things to go on in the general way as before.
And so [there
was] assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of
their number for that end, only for present use (but made no division for
inheritance), and ranged all boys and youth under some family. This had very
good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was
planted then otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other
could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content.
The women now
went willingly into the field, and took their little-ones with them to set
corn, which before they would allege weakness and inability; whom to have
compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.
The
experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry
years, and that amongst godly and sober men, may well evince the vanity of that
conceit of Plato’s and other ancients applauded by some of later times — that
the taking away of property, and bringing in communities into a common wealth,
would make them happy and flourishing, as if they were wiser than God.
For this
community (so far as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent,
and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comfort.
For the young-men that were most able and fit for labor and service did repine
[complain] that they should spend their time and strength to work for other
men’s wives and children, with out any recompense.
The strong,
or man of parts, had no more in division [in amount] of victails [food] and
clothes, than he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could;
this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized
in labors, and victails, clothes, etc., with the meaner and younger sort,
thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them.
And for men’s
wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat,
washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could
many husbands well brook it.
Upon the
point all being to have alike, and all to do alike, they thought them selves in
the like condition, and have as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off
those relations that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much
diminish and take of the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.
And would
have been worse if they had been men of another condition. Let none object this
is men’s corruption, and nothing to the course itself. I answer, seeing all men
have this corruption in them, God in his wisdom saw another course fitter for
them…
By the time
harvest was come [fall 1623], instead of famine, now God gave them plenty, and
the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for
which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well
seen, for all had, one way and other, pretty well to bring the year about, and
some of the abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell to others,
so as any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day
[1647].”