The real meaning of Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving is rich in traditions. The turkey. The dressing. The pumpkin pie. The family assembled in prayerful reverence in remembrance of the plight of the early settlers of this country — much of which is complete fiction.

The Plymouth colonists set out to live in an idealistic communal fashion. Everyone would share equally in the products of the colony. But after nearly starving to death in 1621 and 1622, Gov. William Bradford abandoned the social experiment and gave each family its own plot of land, and whatever was produced on it was the rightful property of the owner to consume or trade.

The result was a prosperous harvest in 1623 followed by a feast of Thanksgiving.

Capitalism saved the colony.

The American Institute of Economic Research has posted online its own retelling of the Thanksgiving story, along with passages from Bradford’s recollections from “Of Plymouth Plantation,” translated into more modern spelling.

The AIER notes that the colony was attempting to live in the manner described in Plato’s Republic in which all would work and share goods in common, ridding themselves of selfishness and achieving higher social state. The problem was that hard work was not rewarded and laggardness and sloth went unpunished.

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William Bradford

Bradford wrote:

“For the young men that were able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children, without recompense. The strong, or men of parts, had no more division of food, clothes, etc. then he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labor, and food, clothes, etc. with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignant and disrespect unto them. And for men’s wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc. they deemed it a kind of slavery, neither could man husbands brook it.”

Before the colony could die off from starvation, Bradford divvied up the land and introduced private property.

The governor wrote:

“And so assigned to every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number for that end. … This had a very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted then 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 a ledge weakness, and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.”

And the result was, again in Bradford’s words:

“By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine, now God gave them plenty, and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God. And the effect of their planting was well seen, for all had, one way or other, pretty well to bring the year about, and some of the abler sort and more industrious had to spare, and sell to others, so as any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.”

This is the real lesson of the first Thanksgiving: Capitalism always triumphs over communist utopian fantasies. Humans will work for their own self interest and, instead of it being greedy and rapacious, all benefit and prosper.

But Americans elected Joe Biden and Kamala Harris anyway.

A version of this blog was first posted in 2011

8 comments on “The real meaning of Thanksgiving

  1. NYPete says:

    Oh no – not this again!

  2. Anonymous says:

    Perhaps the unrevised history of our republic could repeat itself in this corrupted and damaging cycle of “Bidenomics” that aims to, among other things, redistribute our wealth.

    I enjoy you annual reminder of the failed colonial experiment in communal socialism

  3. Bruce Feher says:

    Happy Thanksgiving Tom! I just posted your article on my Twitter/X pageBruce Feher  Don’t let the darkness get YOU!

  4. Anonymous says:

    Eh. No. The First Thanksgiving was borrowed from the indigenous culture. I do understand the confusion, though. If you only speak one language, your intellect isn’t attuned to the rest of the world surrounding you. Hence bringing narcissists to a new world to work together from an age of hierarchical class structure, wasn’t a good concept. They weren’t prepared for the new world culture with old habits, and doubt it had anything to do with puppet Joe. I do enjoy your posts. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

  5. Anonymous says:

    Boy, as if the spin put on the triumph of communism the Pilgrams practices when they arrived in America wasn’t bad enough, there’s this nonsensical finish:

    “This is the real lesson of the first Thanksgiving: Capitalism always triumphs over communist utopian fantasies. Humans will work for their own self interest and, instead of it being greedy and rapacious, all benefit and prosper.”

    Everyone prospers in a capitalist society? Since when and isn’t the very point of capitalism that not every can prosper because only the strong survive?

    Some people never learn.

  6. […] The real meaning of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving is rich in traditions. The turkey. The dressing. The pumpkin pie. The family assembled in prayerful reverence in remembrance of the plight of the early settlers of this country — much of which is complete fiction. […]

  7. Athos says:

    I’m a month late to the party, but we can always count on Anny to spread the Communist lies. This is a perfect example of the blatant disregard our elitist “wanna be” rulers have for us. After all, we’re just the ‘great unwashed’! What on earth could we possibly know about anything? Especially as it affects us?

    On a side note, I read a letter to the editor by that old socialist/progressive Jerry Sturdyvande in the LV Review Journal. He’s still spouting his lies, distortions, and tom foolery (no offense, Thomas!) like the dinosaur he is.

    Merry Christmas, Everyone!

    “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given…” Isaiah

  8. No offense taken. Foolery is my middle name.

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