Still Thankful for Private Property

This story is often told — but is worth telling yet again.  Here’s the conclusion:

After the Pilgrims had endured near-starvation for three
winters, [Plymouth colony governor William] Bradford decided to experiment when it came time to
plant in the spring of 1623. He set aside a plot of land for each
family, that “they should set corne every man for his owne
perticuler, and in that regard trust to themselves.”         

The results were nothing short of miraculous.         

Bradford writes: “This had very good success; for it made
all hands very industrious, so as much more corne was planted
than other waise would have bene by any means the Govr or any
other could use, and saved him a great deall of trouble, and gave
far better content.”         

The women now went willingly into the field, carrying their
young children on their backs. Those who previously claimed they
were too old or ill to work embraced the idea of private property
and enjoyed the fruits of their labor, eventually producing
enough to trade their excess corn for furs and other desired
commodities.         

Given appropriate incentives, the Pilgrims produced and
enjoyed a bountiful harvest in the fall of 1623 and set aside “a
day of thanksgiving” to thank God for their good fortune.         

“Any generall wante or famine hath not been amongst them
since to this day,” Bradford writes in an entry from 1647, the
last year covered by his History.         

With the benefit of hindsight, we know that the Pilgrims’
good fortune was not a matter of luck. In 1623, they were
responding to the same incentives that, almost four centuries
later, have come to be regarded as necessary for a free and
prosperous society.

(Hat tip to Jim Beley for the link to Caroline Baum’s rendition.)

Here’s a post from 2004 on Thanksgiving.

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