In the early 17th century, a small group of religious radicals embarked from England to establish a separatist religious community across the Atlantic Ocean in the New World. William Bradford, the governor of Plymouth Plantation for more than 30 years, wrote the definitive history of the early colony, from the early formation of a separatist Protestant sect in England to a colony in the New World whose hard-fought success after a decade would trigger a massive influx of colonists throughout New England.
In the months after their arrival in the New World in 1620, the Pilgrims would face rampant starvation, disease, and death; their relationship with the indigenous population was complex. Living in a former Wampanoag village, whose inhabitants had been killed years earlier when European settlers brought disease to the region, the Pilgrims' first months were marked by a skirmish with the native Wampanoag people. But in their first spring, out of mutual desperation, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags agreed to support each other. Tisquantum, the sole survivor of the former Wampanoag village the Pilgrims now inhabited, lived with them to act as an interpreter and help them plant their crops.
In the fall of 1621, under Tisquantum’s supervision, the Pilgrims’ crops yielded a considerable harvest. To celebrate the bounty and an end to the hardships that had nearly killed them off, they held a three-day celebration of games and food. Wampanoag leader Massasoit and 90 of his men joined the Pilgrims, contributing five deer they had killed. Although they didn't call it such at the time, this event would later inspire the national holiday of Thanksgiving.
Despite their peace pact with the Wampanoags, the Pilgrims’ relationship with other native tribes remained tense. Nonetheless, after years of struggle, the Pilgrims eventually found a way to turn a profit in the new world, sending valuables such as beaver pelts back to Europe, and thus encouraging more and more colonists to venture to New England. By the early 1670s, approximately 70,000 English settlers had arrived in New England, overwhelming the Native population of fewer than 20,000.
In 1675, Metacom, the son of Wampanoag chief Massasoit, led an armed effort to drive out the colonists from Wampanoag land. In the end, more than 600 colonists and approximately 3,000 Native Americans, including Metacom, were killed.
This is a story about a thankful dinner followed by local war. I think we will be in a better place this year, though we are part of a distant war. And as far as those exiles looking for a new world, we have plenty of refugees from distant religious battles looking again to America. Sadly, some things may never change.
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