Our yearly Thanksgiving tradition is widely based on an idyllic image of happy Pilgrims and Indians sharing a great feast. While Indians and Pilgrims did share meals, including wild turkey, upon occasion, and the ultimate survival of the Pilgrims can be largely credited to friendly Indians like Squanto who taught them necessary New World survival skills, the Pilgrim’s ultimate survival depended on their eventual rejection of Socialism.
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Graphic: Landing of the Pilgrims, by Charles Lucy. Wikimedia Commons.org. Public Domain.
The Pilgrim’s 1620 voyage was a near disaster. Governor William Bradford’s wife fell overboard and drowned, and about half of the small clutch of colonists died the first winter, leaving only about 50. Of the adult women, 78% died. Fortunately, Bradford’s Of Plymouth Plantation, which was his journal never intended for publication, survived, as did many letters among the Pilgrims.
On this Thanksgiving day, we can also give thanks that Bradford and the rest were sufficiently wise, arguably inspired by God, not only to understand human nature, but to act on its lessons. It often takes hitting rock bottom to abandon ideas and beliefs long held, and as we’re seeing this Thanksgiving with the reelection of Donald Trump, a great many descendants of those settlers can’t bring themselves to embrace reality no matter how costly their delusions to themselves, their families and their nation.
In 1623, the settlers were in deep trouble. Their adoption of a communal way of life, what we’d call socialism, even communism, failed, and disease and constant hunger with starvation on the advancing horizon focused their thinking, as Bradford wrote in 1623 (the original text is updated with more modern spelling):
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 (with the advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in all other things to go on in the general way as before.
No more communal property. Every man, every family would be given their own land and the responsibility for raising their own crops.
And so 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.
Starvation, if you don’t learn to effectively farm and don’t work, is a powerful motivator.
This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than 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 would allege weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.
Bradford knew how easy it is to ignore the lessons of history:
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 community into a commonwealth would make them happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God.
Bradford, and the rest, some no doubt grudgingly, admitted embracing human nature, and making each man liable for the survival of himself and his family, was not only man’s wisdom, but God’s:
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.
Limited government has its place in securing aspects of the social compact, but as a people whose self-reliance and enlightened self-interest built America, Americans must be periodically reminded capitalism saved the Pilgrims, saved America. In the early 1620s they embraced that lesson, yet circa 2024 so many contemporary Americans continue to reject it, embracing instead the evils of socialism and communism that continue to infect humanity with so much misery and death.
On this, and every, Thanksgiving we should give thanks for the wisdom of William Bradford, “the chiefest amongst them” and their faith in God. That’s the true way forward.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
