Thanksgiving History

Why did the Pilgrims sail to the New World?

Before you answer that question with the template answer "Religious Freedom", consider these questions and answers:

1. From where did the Pilgrims originate? England.


2. From where did the Pilgrims sail? Holland


3. How long were they in Holland before sailing to the New world in 1620? over 10 years


4. Did they have religious freedom in Holland? Yes


5. Were they forced out of Holland? no
   

William Bradford described their departure in a now-famous passage which later gave the Pilgrims their name: "So they left that goodly and pleasant city which had been their resting place near twelve years; but they knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lift up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country, and quieted their spirits."


6. Why did they leave Holland to sail to the New World?

It is unfortunate that the public school systems in America are still teaching kids the notion that the Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom.

Worst, yet, kids are given the impression that the Pilgrims are Puritans.

What bugs me even more is that the material, that is being taught, gives kids the impression that Thanksgiving is about the Pilgrims thanking the Native Americans.

Nooooooooooo!


Here's the full story.

The Anglican Church, at that time, were perceived by many to be corrupt. Those who did, were divided into two camps.

One group believed that the best course of action was to stay and purify the Anglican Church from within. This group was known as the Puritans.

The second group were composed of separatists who believed that any effort to purify from within the Anglican Church would be in vain. The best course of action was to build a new church and model the "City on the Hill"/"Light of the World" for the Anglican Church to follow. The separatists became know as the Pilgrims from William Bradford's description of their departure from Holland (see answer for question 5 at the beginning of this blog).

During their stay in Holland, they found their children being drawn away from their faith, seduced by the Dutch culture, or as Bradford described it, "drawne away by evill examples into extravagence and dangerous courses".

So, instead of being the Light, they found their children being drawn into the darkness.

To reverse the trend, they decided to leave for the New World in hope of not only reclaiming their children's religious future but also (as Bradford wrote it) "great hope, for the propagating and advancing the gospell of the kingdom of Christ in those remote parts of the world". Yes, one of their primary objectives, for sailing to America, was evangelism.

Squanto was a member of the Patuxet tribe who was taken to England and there he learned English. When he returned to America, he found that his entire tribe was wiped out by a mysterious plague.

Shortly afterward, the Pilgrims arrived (1620). Squanto adopted the Pilgrims and taught them how to plant corn, how to fish, and other survival skills foreign to the newly arrived urban dwellers.

When the Pilgrims had their first successful harvest (1621), they had a feast to thank God, the first Thanksgiving. They invited their neighbors, the Wampanoag tribe, whose chief was Massasoit, to the feast. (Please, see my next blog entry "Addendum and Errata to 'Thanksgiving History'" for correction of reference to Massasoit and his relationship with "the Wampanoag tribe".)

Remember that it was Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe, that helped the Pilgrims, not the Wampanoag. However, as part of the Pilgrims' worship to God, they invited the Wampanoag (the evangelism aspect of the Pilgrim's vision).

Here's the problem: they took all the Christian elements of the Pilgrims' story out of the history text book: The Pilgrims came to America for religious freedom and had a feast to thank the Native Americans for their help. Without the details, it seems to make sense. However, fill in the details, and the story falls apart. The Pilgrims had religious freedom in Holland. Squanto helped them but they invited the Wampanoag to the feast.