Plymouth's Socialist Experiment: A Thanksgiving History Lesson

My friends, four hundred, four years ago, the Pilgrims landed in Plymouth, Massachusetts.

Nearly half of them died that first winter.

Half.

It was absolutely brutal.

That following spring, the Native Americans helped them to improve their fishing, farming, and hunting.

These skills helped the Pilgrims be better prepared to endure the following winter.

So they celebrated the First Thanksgiving after the harvest of 1621, thanking God for His provision.

They had learned to survive, but it was still very difficult.

Governor Bradford realized their suffering was the result of sharing everything that was produced equally.

Plymouth was effectively a socialist compound.

And while it may sound just to share everything equally, Bradford learned first-hand that doing so incentivized laziness.

And laziness in Plymouth could lead to death.

I’ll share Governor Bradford’s solution tomorrow.