The First Thanksgiving: The Story Of A Failed Socialist Experiment

Today is a day of Thanksgiving - of expressing gratitude to our Lord for the blessings that we have received this year and the blessings that are still in store for us. God is a good God - in fact, the goodness of God is not just a character trait that God has, but rather God IS goodness. He's the source of goodness. All good things come from Him and Him only. That's what it means that God is good. And when bad things happen, you know what the Bible says: "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose" (Romans 8:28). So if you love God, be thankful because anything bad that may have happened to you this year God will use for your good. 

But the pilgrims, when they celebrated the first Thanksgiving in what would some day be called America, had a lot to be thankful for. Just the previous year, much of the population had died of starvation, and the cause of such a terrible catastrophe was none other than the communal experiment that Governor Bradford had attempted - an experiment that can only be described as the first Socialist experiment in the Americas.

You probably have heard time and time again the official version of the story of Thanksgiving: in the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag gathered to celebrate the colony's first successful harvest after the Indians taught the Pilgrims how to catch eel and grow corn, and the success of the Pilgrims' first harvest was the direct result of Indians teachings. 

But this is only a limited version of what actually happened. The truth, as always, is a little bit more complicated - and richer - than that.

Here's what really happened:

The Church of England, under King James I, was persecuting everyone who didn't recognize his Church's absolute authority. The punishment for those who challenged its authority was imprisonment and, sometimes, death.

A group of separatists decided to emigrate, first landing in Holland to establish a community. After 11 years, about 40 of them decided to embark on a dangerous journey to the New World.

We have to remember, these were very religious people, who left their home country so that they could worship as they pleased, without risking their lives. In their hearts, such long and dangerous journey to America was similar to the Israelites' journey to the Promised Land. Much like the Israelites, the Pilgrims never doubted that they would make it. They trusted God...

Once in the New World, the first winter was devastating - half the Pilgrims died of starvation, including the colony's governor William Bradford's wife.
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According to the story that you've been taught in school, this is when the Indians came in to help the Pilgrims, which is all true. 

What follows is the part that's omitted from history textbooks - the part that the Left doesn't want you to know.

The first economic system implemented in the Colony was what we would now call socialism.

You see, before the Pilgrims left England, they signed a contract which seemed fair and stipulated that they were to pool, for the common benefit "all profits and benefits that are got by trade, traffic, trucking, working, fishing, or any other means of any person or persons" for 7 years, during which time colonists were to "have their meat, drink, apparel and all provisions out of the common stock of the said colony".

Once they reached land they implemented the system as per the contract they had signed - but in the first winter half the people died as a direct result of this system.

The problem with the system was people didn't put too much effort laboring the common land and as a result, output wasn't enough to feed all of them.

                                                    Socialism killed half the Pilgrims.

Governor Bradford realized the "commune" system didn't work - he wrote the experiment "was found to breed much confusion and discontent and retard much employment that would have been to the benefit and comfort. For the young men, that were most able and fit for labour and service, did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children without any recompense".

Bradford recognized that this form of collectivism was destructive to them - as the first harsh winter had proven. Half the people weren't carrying their weight - they didn't have to.

                                                             Socialism produced LACK

What did Bradford do?

He scrapped socialism forever! 

He assigned a plot of land to each family to manage, thus introducing for the first time what we now know as free enterprise - capitalism.

Now, with the capitalistic principle of private property, there was incentive to work - now there was abundance.

                                                  Capitalism produced ABUNDANCE

Abundance that the free market system enabled, and that they then shared with the Indians - to give thanks to God for their safety and discovery of the new system, and thanks to the Indians for their help.

Don't let the Left lie to you. Learn our history.
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Happy Thanksgiving!

Proverbs 1:7
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction"

Author: Danielle Cross