In the various statements made by nations envious of America, demands are frequently made that U.S. taxpayers share the “bounty” of their land. Completely lost in the demands for American assistance is the fact that the U.S. is prosperous for two reasons.
The first is the courage of those who first ventured here, in the face of great danger and uncertainty. Those early settlers endured extraordinary danger and hardship, and many newcomers died in their first winter on the shores of the New World. The same can be said for the pioneers who moved the nation’s population westward to the Pacific.
The second is the free enterprise economic system that took its firmest root in America. It is ironic that both domestic and foreign critics of America both seek the largesse of its people while criticizing the capitalist philosophy that created its wealth.
Rod Bragg, author of The Pilgrim Chronicles: An Eyewitness History of the Pilgrims and the Founding of Plymouth Colony (Regnery History) describes the journey of the Pilgrims. On this Thanksgiving, it’s appropriate to consider how courageous those men and women were:
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“The most fearful among them presumably remained in Holland or England, but Bradford conceded that fear of the wilderness and the dangers it contained was ‘neither unreasonable nor unprobable.’ Even the drinking water in America was believed it be harmful. In reality, the freshwater streams in America were far healthier than the water sources in England. There, water quality was so questionable that the beverage commonly consumed by English families, including Puritans and Separatists, was beer or ale. The water in America was just one worry for the Pilgrims: they had also been led to fear indigenous foods—and even the air itself. ‘The change of air, diet and drinking of water would affect their bodies with sore sicknesses and grievous disease,’ it was commonly believed.
[After arriving in the New World] “Some of the Pilgrims had carelessly left their firearms on the shore where they had beached the shallop, and a band of Indians attempted to capture the weapons. To cover their raid on the firearms, the Indians unleashed a volley of arrows on the Pilgrims’ campsite—which is how the explorers found themselves in a hail of arrows. Remarkably, no one was hit. The Pilgrims on the beach yelled a warning to the others—‘Indians! Indians!’—and the men in camp opened up with their firearms. It was a brisk skirmish, but apparently no one on either side was killed. Outgunned, the Indians retreated into the forest, and the Pilgrims ‘gave God solemn thanks and praise for their deliverance.’ They dubbed the site of their skirmish ‘the First Encounter’… When Massasoit arrived at Plymouth, the Pilgrim leaders treated Massasoit with the respect afforded a head of state. They seated him on a rug and pillows in one of the Pilgrim homes, and referred to him as the tribal ‘king.’ Their respect and diplomacy were successful: Chief Massasoit agreed to a peace treaty that would be rarely duplicated in the American Colonial Era—both sides would honor it for more than half a century.
“To prepare for the colony’s autumn thanksgiving observance, Governor Bradford dispatched a four-man hunting party to obtain game for the celebration. The hunters returned with a week’s supply of ‘waterfowl’ and ‘wild Turkeys.’ Added to the event’s menu was a supply of venison, which was contributed by Pokanoket Indians. Chief Massasoit and more than ninety members of the tribe attended the celebration. Although they outnumbered the Pilgrims two to one, the Indians were ‘entertained and feasted’ as honored guests by the Pilgrims, who now viewed the Pokanokets with little fear.”