400 Years Ago at Plymouth...

That I may publish with the voice of Thanksgiving, and tell of all thy wondrous works.

Psalm 26:7

 

"In November 1620 a battered old ship called the Mayflower arrived in the waters off Cape Cod in what is now the state of Massachusetts. The passengers aboard the Mayflower were our nation’s first

founders — or, as Daniel Webster called them, “Our Pilgrim Fathers.” 

Webster delivered a speech to honor these Pilgrims on the 200th anniversary of the Mayflower’s arrival. Calvin Coolidge, then-governor of Massachusetts and president-elect, delivered an address on the 300th anniversary.

Regrettably, we haven’t heard much about this year’s anniversary because the Pilgrims have fallen out of fashion in elite circles.

This Thanksgiving, it’s worth reflecting on why we celebrate the Pilgrims and their living legacy for our nation.

The Pilgrims were not the first European settlers to arrive in

America, but they were exceptional nonetheless. As President John Quincy Adams put it, earlier European settlers were traders and adventurers motivated by “avarice and ambition.” They came principally to fish, farm and trap furs. By contrast, the Pilgrims braved the rough seas “under the single inspiration of conscience,” as Puritan Separatists from the Church of England seeking the freedom to practice their faith.

 These Pilgrims distinguished themselves further by drafting a

remarkable document to govern their community in the New World: the Mayflower Compact. In this covenant, the ship’s passengers agreed to form a “civil body politic” of “just and equal laws” based on the consent of the governed and dedicated to the “Glory of God” and the “general good of the colony.”

Immediately after signing the compact, the signatories conducted a democratic election to choose their first governor.

Upon landfall, the Pilgrims “fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven who had brought them over the vast and furious ocean,” according to the journal of William Bradford, a Pilgrim leader.

But it would be a “sad and lamentable” winter of disease, starvation, and death. Half the settlers died during that first winter. Seldom did more than a half-dozen have the strength to care for the ill, provide food and shelter, and protect the camp.

But what can only be called a providential moment came in

March, when a lone Native American walked boldly into the Pilgrim’s camp and greeted them in English. His name was Samoset.

Samoset had learned some broken English by working with English fishermen in the waters off what is now Maine. He and the Pilgrims exchanged gifts and he promised to return with another Native American, Squanto, who spoke fluent English.

The Wampanoag chief, Massasoit, thus had good reason to form an alliance with the Pilgrims. Squanto introduced him to the settlers

and facilitated their peace and mutual-aid treaty, which lasted more than 50 years.

Squanto remained with the Pilgrims, acting, in Bradford’s words, as their interpreter and “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectations.” 

As the Pilgrims recovered and prospered throughout 1621, they received the blessings of a bountiful fall harvest. The Pilgrims invited Massasoit and the

Wampanoags to join them in a feast to express their gratitude to their allies and to give thanks to God for His abundant gifts. This meal, of course, was the First Thanksgiving.

But this year we ought to be especially thankful for the Pilgrims on the 400th anniversary of their arrival." U.S. Senator Tom Cotton