Final Web December 2015 Web

Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims, and Capitalism
By Tara Ross*
Sometime during the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims enjoyed a three-day feast! They were grateful for their harvest after a long, hard first year in the New World.
You already know that the Pilgrims fled England because they feared religious persecution. Their voyage on the Mayflower began in September 1620—and
it was a rough one!
“In many of these storms the winds were so fierce, and the seas so high, as they could not bear a knot of sail, but were forced to heave to for many days
together,” the future Governor of the colony later wrote. “And in one [mighty storm] . . . a strapping young man (called John Howland) was, with a lurch of the
ship thrown into the sea; but it pleased God that he caught hold of the ropes which hung overboard.”
Howland was pulled back into the boat and survived!
Can you imagine how grateful the Pilgrims must have been when they finally arrived in America? Almost all of them had made it—including a baby born during
the journey! Unfortunately, the Pilgrims would not be as fortunate in the year that followed.
They had arrived in the midst of winter: For months, they would face problems on several fronts. How to build shelters? How to get food? How to nurse the
many people who were falling ill during the harsh winter months? How to make peace with local Indian tribes? Some of these tasks they accomplished on their
own, but they also owed much to an Indian named Squanto. Fortunately for the Pilgrims, Squanto spoke English. (The skill had not come easily for Squanto,
who learned the language because he’d spent time in captivity in England.)
By September 1621, only half of the original 102 Pilgrims had survived, but they’d also learned much about how to live in the New World. They owed a debt
of gratitude to Squanto, who taught them how to raise crops in the New England soil and climate. They’d also worked out treaties and were living in peace with
many of the local Indian tribes.
As the first harvest came in, the Pilgrims were surely happy to enjoy a feast with their new Indian friends. They shared deer, ducks, and turkey. A recently harvested
barley crop meant that it would have been possible to (finally) brew beer at about this time!
For many reasons, the feast was welcome after the long, difficult year. But, despite the good meal and happy times, the overall harvest was not as plentiful as you
might imagine. Nor was it plentiful the next year. In fact, the Pilgrims were still really struggling until 1623 when their governor, William Bradford, made an
interesting decision.
He changed from a communal system of growing crops to a more private one. Each household was given its own private plot of land. In essence, he changed
from a socialist-type system to a more capitalist one.
“[T]hey began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could,” Bradford later explained, “and obtain a better crop than they had done. . . . And so
assigned to every family a parcel of land . . . . This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted than
otherwise would have been . . . . 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 . . . .”
Historian Nathaniel Philbrick concludes: “The Pilgrims had stumbled on the power of capitalism.” They still faced struggles in the New World, but they never
again faced starvation.
Capitalism! The second half of the Pilgrims’ story, which is rarely discussed these days. But perhaps it should be.
*Author, “Enlightened Democracy: The Case for the Electoral College” and co-author, “Under God: George Washington and the Question of Church and State.” This
article originally appeared at Facebook.com/TaraRoss.1787.
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