According to governor of the colony William Bradford's journal, upon landing the Pilgrims functioned as a commune (socialism); everyone receiving an equal share. All the land they cleared, houses they built and crops they grew belonged to the community. No one owned anything. This failed because there is no incentive to work harder if you cannot produce a better life for your family. Also, there will always be deadbeats looking for a free ride.
Bradford realized the system was toxic, was not working, and did not produce prosperity. Bradford gave each family a plot of land to work and manage. Whatever they produced was theirs. They could sell their overages (capitalism). It worked! Pilgrims set up trading posts and traded with the Indians. The first Thanksgiving was the Pilgrims expressing gratitude and thanks to God.
First American Thanksgiving
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 8:09 pm
by dammitgriff
Great story on the dangers of socialism, I’ve read this before and thanks for posting.
Socialism didn’t work then and it won’t work now. Here’s a great little Thanksgiving video by Stossel on Reason:
Re: First American Thanksgiving
Posted: Thu Nov 22, 2018 11:16 pm
by jjk308
Taken out of context. The first couple of years at Plymouth Colony were a race with starvation. The able bodied members of the community went to to work building shelter and clearing fields, farming, hunting and fishing to survive. There were only 53 Pilgrims surviving in fall, 1621, the first Thanksgiving feast, and the colony was dependent on help from the Indians until more ships, supplies and colonists arrived in 1623. As soon as the crisis was over the typical English homesteads and businesses were set up.
JJ is right on this one. They had to work together as a unit/team/community when they first arrived. Built a settlement and I guess fort of some kind for protection.
They had to other wise they would not have made it. But they almost starved because they were afraid of the indians and just were not great at farming. But fear of wondering to far from the settle because of the indians kept the from hunting. It was not until they over came that fear. Plus worked out their differences with the indians. Because there were some small instances of let's just say disagreements.
But as always when more settlers arrived. There is power in numbers. Plus the indians did a great job teaching the settlers how and what to farm. One such crop was tobacco. Which made alot of men wealthy.
But the first few years they almost starved. If not for the indians they would have. Then look how Andrew Jackson treated them when he was elected many years later.
Re: First American Thanksgiving
Posted: Sun Nov 25, 2018 5:34 pm
by flcracker
And then, there's this version - sent to me on FB last Thursday.
Though most Americans think Thanksgiving celebrates the infamous day in history when — in 1621— Puritan Pilgrims (who weren't even really pilgrims to begin with) welcomed Wampanoag Native Americans to enjoy a gargantuan feast with them, this simply isnt the case.
Many scholars argue that 1621 didn’t ignite the Thanksgiving holiday that Americans observe today. Although 1637 might not seem like an important date in American history, this is when the brunt of the Pequot War Pequot Massacre took place. Then Massachusetts Governor, John Winthrop, also declared this year the first official “Day of Thanksgiving, thanking God that they had eliminated over 700 men, women and children.â€
Thus, Thanksgiving was born after the original illegal European immigrants committed genocide on Pequot Native Americans (who were just defending their property) and enslaved the "lucky" few who survived the massacre.
Unfortunately, the Pequot Massacre isn’t the only travesty that the Puritans afflicted onto Native American communities on Thanksgiving (not to mention the other 364 days of the year). However, present-day Americans have cherry-picked the “good†parts about past Thanksgiving celebrations to create a pleasant narrative of the holiday.
Now, Americans paint the false picture that Thanksgiving began in 1621 when the Pilgrims and Native Americans got along. During present-day celebrations, there’s never any mention of the smallpox that these same Pilgrim gave the Wampanoag Native Americans shortly after this joyous day in 1621. (Nor is there any acknowledgment that in the Puritans’ quest for “religious freedom,†they stole the liberty and freedom of millions of Native Americans.)
This whitewashed version of Thanksgiving history doesn't even begin to describe the injustices Native American communities have suffered. Seeing as Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1863. However, Lincoln betrayed Sioux Native Americans after each respective party had already agreed on two territory treaties in 1851.
Because Lincoln is known for his fight to abolish slavery, his reputation as a revolutionary president overshadowed the fact that he lied (after all, how could honest Abe lie to anyone?) to the Sioux Native Americans and only gave them half of the land that was originally promised to them — which wasn't even the worse thing he did to Native Americans. Not only did honest Abe's deception revoke their rights to property that should have been theirs to begin with, his seemingly spotless image nearly erased this necessary narrative from history.
But why does this gruesome back story matter, especially if we “celebrate†Thanksgiving for different reasons today? Although we might currently celebration Thanksgiving to “give thanks,†we shouldn’t forget why Thanksgiving was originally established.
While we’d like to think the meaning of Thanksgiving has changed just because many have forgotten about these murders, this doesn’t change the crimes that the Puritans committed against Native American citizens. Nor should we feed ourselves lies that we’re celebrating Thanksgiving to give thanks and celebrate our gratitude.
While many people (who aren’t history buffs or Native American citizens) have easily forgotten Thanksgiving’s gruesome origins, that doesn’t mean we should blindly change the meaning of Thanksgiving to make it seem like a peaceful affair. (Because it obviously wasn’t, and it shouldn’t be celebrated as such.)
