This article will take you some time to read. It is worth it. It is the real story of Thanksgiving, never mentioned in any school I ever attended. Basically, the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of plenty, a celebration of a bountiful harvest by the Pilgrims and the resulting feast. This was in 1623, 3 years after they landed at Plymouth Rock. About half of the original group was dead. What of the harvests in the first two years and why such a bountiful harvest in 1623?
Governor Bradford, their leader, had instituted “all for one, one for all,” basically, when they landed in 1620. This “communistic” approach nearly killed all of them. They basically starved to death. It is fascinating, I think, to read his account of the effects of this policy. Having seen that this was not going to work, Bradford did a 180 and instituted “every man for himself.” The results of this change are exactly what you would expect. Women and children went in to the field to work. Loafers became workers. The surplus was such that food trades were made with Indians and others for furs and other supplies!
This story and Governor Bradford’s diary and his writings were apparently well-known to the founders and had a keen and profound effect on Jefferson and his Declaration. Let us all give thanks for the opportunity we have had to live free lives and stay alert to any and all attempts to herd us away from our natural right to freedom.
G. Keith Smith, M.D.
