First, There Was The Mayflower

The first Thanksgiving is an amazing story. Almost four hundred years ago, a small community of Anglican reformers sought the freedom to worship God in their own way. They left their friends and family in Europe to make a dangerous journey to a strange land none of them had ever seen. And, they would soon learn, Massachusetts winter was merciless. Of the 102 settlers who came to Plymouth Rock on the Mayflower, half died during that first long hard winter.

But these people, or literal and spiritual forefathers, were tough, and we still owe them a lot.

In fact, the original Pilgrims were split into two factions when they arrived at Plymouth. They knew that to survive, they would all have to work together. They also planned to build something greater; as America’s “first Colony,” they were building a new and permanent society. Before they even got off of their tiny ship, they put this idea to paper, in a covenant called the Mayflower Compact. The Pilgrims agreed that they would:

“…combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony;”

Here was a band of 102 people, completely isolated from their homeland and facing daunting odds: a harsh winter, potentially hostile Indians, not to mention divisions among themselves. They also carried the burden of seven years of servitude to repay the sponsors of their voyage.

Yet, the Pilgrims dealt with all of their challenges by first banding together into a “civil Body Politic,” and then creating a framework and commitment to administer “just and equal Laws” and leadership. In this act, they launched written self-government in America. This was not a compact that chose leaders, or created an elite aristocracy. Instead, it created a fair legal process for the “general Good.” In these first actions by a small band of settlers, we have all inherited a truly enormous and unique legacy.

The Mayflower Compact is, in many ways, the spiritual parent of the U.S. Constitution. In its own way, the Constitution guided America through some of its greatest challenges, providing our leaders and the nation with a framework to administer just laws. More importantly, the explicit aim of the Constitution is to enshrine individual liberty as the paramount purpose of American society. This is an astonishingly radical concept, and it has produced the most dynamic and successful nation in human history.

After that first brutal winter, an English-speaking Indian named Squanto brought the Pilgrims deer meat and beaver skins, showed them how to cultivate corn, and taught them many other survival skills. It’s probable that this first settlement would not have survived if it wasn’t for the aid of Squanto and other local Indians, the Wampanoag. The first Pilgrims treated the Wampanoag fairly, and for forty years the Plymouth Colony enjoyed good relations with them.

By the time fall arrived, the Pilgrims were much better prepared for the second winter. They had a good harvest and had even managed to build a church out of squared logs. It was time to celebrate with that first Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims invited their Wampanoag neighbors for a three-day feast of fowl and venison. Together they played games, ran races, fired weapons, and played drums.

Today, the ritual of Thanksgiving is firmly part of the American experience. Even though most of us aren’t directly descended from the Mayflower, we can relate to the core values expressed by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag over that three day feast. Values like grateful humility, brotherhood, and tolerance.

More than ever, the world needs the values of the Mayflower Compact and the first Thanksgiving.

At Citizens for a Sound Economy, we’re dedicated to preserving and expanding the great American experiment that began with the Mayflower Compact. We believe that a society based on individual liberty is the most moral form of government. Even better, freedom and property rights spur the inventors, entrepreneurs, builders, dreamers, and adventurers who help make the world a better place. That’s why economic liberty—the basic right to earn a living and not have the government take your property– is paramount to the success of our society.

We look forward to working together to continue the American experiment in liberty and brotherhood that the Pilgrims began. If you’d like more information about CSE or would like to join us, simply send an email to rmah@cse.org or call toll-free 1 888 JOIN CSE.

Text of the Mayflower Compact in its entirety:

IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually, in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.

Mr. John Carver,

Mr. William Bradford,

Mr Edward Winslow,

Mr. William Brewster.

Isaac Allerton,

Myles Standish,

John Alden,

John Turner,

Francis Eaton,

James Chilton,

John Craxton,

John Billington,

Joses Fletcher,

John Goodman,

Mr. Samuel Fuller,

Mr. Christopher Martin,

Mr. William Mullins,

Mr. William White,

Mr. Richard Warren,

John Howland,

Mr. Steven Hopkins,

Digery Priest,

Thomas Williams,

Gilbert Winslow,

Edmund Margesson,

Peter Brown,

Richard Britteridge

George Soule,

Edward Tilly,

John Tilly,

Francis Cooke,

Thomas Rogers,

Thomas Tinker,

John Ridgdale

Edward Fuller,

Richard Clark,

Richard Gardiner,

Mr. John Allerton,

Thomas English,

Edward Doten,

Edward Liester.