Guest Post by Pam Allen
You may have heard the old Yiddish proverb, “We plan. God laughs!” You would have heard it because our plans do not always turn out the way we had anticipated. This was never more true than what happened to the group we now call “The Pilgrims.”
In the month of November, we look forward to the Thanksgiving holiday with family and feasting. Most know to equate it with that group that celebrated the “First Thanksgiving” in the New World in November of 1621. Most know there had been hardship before this event, but few realize the hardships after and what all of those hardships were and how important they were to the eventual founding of our county.
To understand the whole story, we have to step back even farther in history than the 400 years 2020 celebrates as the 400th anniversary of the now famous trip of the Mayflower in 1620.
In and around the time of the Reformation in Europe, many countries had pockets of people who were determined to know what God wanted them to do. England was no different and there was much unrest because the corrupt state Church was able to have enough influence to have laws enacted preventing people from reading the Bible and therefore learning just how corrupt that body had become. Some in England became known as the “Puritans” because they had thought that they could “purify” the church. When that proved impossible, they determined they would separate themselves, thus becoming known as “Separatists.” This would prove to be a daunting task because in addition to being illegal to read or possess any part of the Bible, it was also illegal to move away from England! In order to do so, they would have to find a ship’s captain willing to break the law to them leave. They determined to go to Holland, a country that did tolerate freedom of conscience. The stories of how over 300 of these dedicated Christians ended up in Leiden, Holland will have to be told another time.
Nevertheless, in the first decade of 1600 these religious Englishmen started to make their way to this other country, beset with a host of difficulties including learning a new language, having trouble with gainful employment because of the guild system, and dealing with a new culture. Yes, they could worship as they felt necessary, but over the years, their children began taking on the beliefs of the Dutch, tolerating any religious belief or non-belief, and losing their English heritage which was also important to them. Their sacrifices for freedom of conscience were being lost on the rising generation.
Therefore, with all the known hardships of starting a colony in the New World, this possibility was very attractive to them. Because they had few resources, they contracted with one of several merchant groups in England to support their venture and after much discussion eventually agreed on the terms and that they would repay their debt in seven years. In July, a group set off from Holland in their ill-fated ship, the Speedwell, and they met up with their fellow travelers who set sail from London on the Mayflower.
After loading up the supplies and provisions they needed in South Hampton, the two ships set sail on what they expected would be a one month voyage to their destination in the English colony of Virginia, an area MUCH larger than the state that bears that name today.
To this point, things had gone pretty much according to “plan.” However, soon things started to change. It was not too long until it became apparent that the Speedwell was taking on water and would not be wise to continue without repairs. Therefore, both ships returned to take care of that problem. After that setback, they set out again, hopeful that there would be no other mishaps. This was not to be, as they discovered after several days at sea that the Speedwell was once again leaking profusely and would not be able to cross the Atlantic.
Returning to Plymouth, the group had to ascertain who and what would continue on the Mayflower and who would need to stay behind and come later. One hundred and two passengers, half seeking religious freedom and half seeking economic opportunity, eventually started, for the third time, to cross the Atlantic, in the month of September. The wind and current of the ocean that would have taken them to Virginia now took them to the rocky shores of New England, not in the anticipated month, but in 66 often stormy days! Sighting land on November 9, they realized they were not in Virginia! Because of the design of the ship, it was impossible to fight the wind and sail south. They would have to stay where they were and do the best they could.
Because they were not in Virginia, there was no established government, and it soon was apparent that they would need to find a way to govern themselves. After much deliberation and sometimes heated discussion, they agreed to the document we now call the Mayflower Compact, affirming allegiance to the king, recognizing their dependence on and obligation to God, and agreement to whatsoever rules should be decided on for the good of the colony. This was signed by the heads of all families. On November 11, the Mayflower dropped anchor and life in the New World began.
That first winter was fraught with difficulties. They were low on provisions. If they ate their crop seeds, they would have nothing to plant. They were not prepared for the harsh winter. The men had to build housing regardless of the snow and cold. At least some of the water must have been contaminated, and the remaining supply of beer was needed to take the sailors back to England. Nearly half of both passengers and crew perished because of these hardships. When the captain, Christopher Jones, set sail for England in April, none of his passengers cared to return, and one of his crew, John Alden, chose to stay.
Soon after they were left on their own, a native American, Samoset, approached their compound and astounded them by addressing them in ENGLISH! As an uncharacteristically friendly, as well as curious, Indian, he had learned English from the fishermen who had crossed the Atlantic to take advantage of the bountiful fishing off the shores of New England. He stayed with them for 2 days, enjoying the hospitality of the Pilgrims who worried about their fast disappearing provisions, not wanting possible enemies to know of their vulnerability. When they finally were able to send him on his way, he announced that he had a friend that spoke even better English than he did!
Shortly thereafter, Squanto was introduced to the worried group. However, rather than being “just another mouth to feed” he became the one to save them in more than one way. Squanto’s hardships became their blessings. Just what hardships had Squanto endured? He had been kidnapped as a youngster, taken to England where he learned two valuable things: This is where he learned to speak English as well as discovered the fact that all Englishmen were not kidnappers! Actually, there were many very good Englishmen. After several years in England, he was able to return to his native shores, reunite with family and friends, only to be kidnapped again…this time by the Spanish who took him as well as others with the intent of selling them as slaves! (Not an uncommon practice at the time, world wide!) Miraculously, he made his way back to England where he once again was able to return home. This time, he was not met by family, but by devastation. His entire tribe had been wiped out by a terrible, unknown plague. Fortunately, Samoset found and befriended him or he very well would have been enslaved, tortured or killed by any of the hostile tribes in the area.
Because he saw these Englishmen were good, he was able to share with them the food his tribe had stashed away, taking some of the seed to teach them how to plant in this unanticipated environment. As it turned out, for whatever reason, the seed the Pilgrims had brought did not thrive, but as Squanto taught them, the three sisters, (corn, beans and squash left by the Pautuxet tribe) with a fish for fertilizer, grew well.
It was evident that God had miraculously prepared this place for them and they did celebrate with much thanksgiving the first harvest with their native friends. However, they had one more important lesson to learn in this experience. You will recall that they agreed to repay the debt incurred to travel and start their colony in seven years. They had also agreed to live in a particular way that those merchants had insisted: to all work hard and to share what was produced equally. Today we would call that way of life socialism. At that time, it had no name. It was only an experiment required by the merchants. They tried for two years and for two years they were barely able to produce enough to take them through the winter and plant again in the spring. You may ask why this was so. Your answer would be that human nature was stronger than the theory. Sadly, those who really did not want to work hard saw that they could avoid doing so and still get an equal share. In this way they took advantage of the others by feigning
injury or illness. Then, those who were willing to work hard but saw able bodied neighbors not doing all they could, they themselves were unwilling to work to support the slackers!
William Bradford, the second elected governor of the colony who kept a very good diary or journal of the history of these pilgrims, was reading in II Thessalonians where it said “He who does not work shall not eat.” With this scripture as his guide, he arranged the third planting season in a completely different way. Now each family would have their own parcel of land, receive the seed needed to plant, and would grow what they would eat! Any extra would be used as they saw fit. This changed the whole outlook of the colony. EVERY person became VERY industrious. They planted three times as much seed as any previous year and had such a bountiful harvest that they were able to pay their debt that year! Not seven, and really not even three, because in the previous two they had not had sufficient to spare. This way of living we now call the “free market system,” where people can realize the blessing of their own work to prosper their lives and will therefore work diligently to achieve what they can do for themselves and then have bounty to share.
This lesson gave the people in the New World the third important part of what would be needed to build the land of liberty and prosperity we now know as America, and more especially, the United States of America, with three of the most important pillars of our beloved nation: Freedom of religion (conscience), self government, and the free enterprise system.
As I write this, all three of these are under attack in our nation as the rising generation (as it was in Holland) does not understand what they have, what blessings have been theirs. It is just “what is” and for some reason they do not see it compared to what the rest of the world has had to deal with for eons…mostly tyranny and poverty. They compare it to what they envision as perfection, not realizing such a thing is unattainable because human nature is imperfect.
This Thanksgiving it would be good to recognize the ways that America has blessed the whole world with the innovations that have changed our lives in ways the Pilgrims could not have imagined, and without the unforeseen changes to their plans, things ostensibly would have been very different. But God had a plan, and things were put in place to allow for these brave souls to eventually prosper in an unintended land and learn the lessons that would eventually improve lives around the world.
Perhaps it is true that when “We plan, God laughs,” but certainly it must be true that when we not only overcome our trials (the reason God may have laughed at our plans,) but learn and innovate, God smiles.
