As a native-born American who has lived in many parts of the world, I know there is much to be thankful for. Perhaps this year, as never before, there are reasons to reflect upon the bountiful blessings Americans share during annual celebrations of Thanksgiving.
While most Christians consider Thanksgiving to be a religious holiday, others recognize the day for its broad secular appeal that unites all Americans. As in all events, that divine intervention may not have been at work on the first occasion for this celebration.
As it turns out, the abundant harvest that gave cause for worshipful praise apparently had more worldly causes. Indeed, the first day of Thanksgiving associated with the Pilgrims was made possible by changes in the economic system that had guided activities in their colony.
To fully understand this assertion, one has to consider an accurate account of the Pilgrims' progress. In the first instance, some historical misperceptions need to be cleared up.
Every American schoolchild knows that in November 1620 a band of 103 Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and founded New Plymouth. Many Americans seem to recollect, or were taught incorrectly, that the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving with their Indian friends.
While there was a three-day feast that took place after a shooting party in the fall of 1621, it was not the first Thanksgiving Day. Although many Pilgrims owed thanks to local Indians who taught them indigenous practices, like fertilizing corn with fish, the original Thanksgiving did not include their aboriginal friends.
The harvest that was celebrated at the first Thanksgiving occurred later, after the Pilgrims abandoned a form of agricultural socialism they had implemented upon their arrival. In large part, the first Thanksgiving was a celebration of the bounty arising from the pursuit of individualism and incentives associated with free markets.
Background for understanding Thanksgiving Day is found in records kept by the governor of the colony, William Bradford. He informs us that the Pilgrims' English sponsors arranged for all crops and trade goods to be held "in the common stock" from which they would be supplied, reflecting the religious beliefs of the colony.
As with many other recorded applications of communalism, there were disastrous results. Governor Bradford wrote that this experiment reflected a belief that common ownership of property would allow the colony to flourish. Instead, it was soon found that communal sharing resulted in unintended consequences. The Pilgrims, as the Soviets were to discover several centuries later, found that individuals work harder under an incentive system that allows them to maintain and enjoy the direct fruits of their labor.
The Pilgrims' initial experience mirrored the unfortunate experiment in Jamestown, where half the original settlers either starved or fell victim to disease. With the Pilgrims facing the prospects of a famine in the early months of 1623, they called a meeting to look into ways to escape near-certain death by starvation.
Their decision was to abandon their communist arrangement for the distribution of goods on the basis of "from each according to their means, to each according to their needs." Instead, according to Bradford, from then on, "they should set corn every man for his own particular need."
These new arrangements provided only a limited form of property rights, since land continued to be held commonly. Nonetheless, each family had a parcel of land to cultivate, and they could keep what they grew, even if they could not deed the land to their heirs. (Similar agricultural reforms were initiated in China in 1978 under the direction of Deng Xiaoping (鄧小平). After centuries of cycles of famine, China is now self-sufficient in many foods and is a net exporter in others.)
Although it was recorded that the American colonists exhibited a dramatic increase in their industriousness, these were offset the following summer by the effects of a drought. Following the convictions of their religious beliefs, they offered appropriate contrition for their sins. Then the drought broke and their harvest was saved.
And so it was that the Pilgrims set about to celebrate a "way of thanksgiving," that Americans continue to celebrate to this day. Their new economic system that relied upon individual efforts insured that they would be able to produce enough food for the future. This system continues to thrive within the system of freedoms enshrined in America's national heritage.
Thanksgiving, as celebrated today, should not be limited to a remembrance of the Pilgrims' offering of thanks to their God for the rain that saved their crops. It is also an opportunity to remember the institutions of individualism, private property and liberty that made Americans great and provide the means for this greatness to continue into the future.
Christopher Lingle is a professor of economics at Universidad Francisco Marroquin and global strategist for eConoLytics.com.
Recently, the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper) published three of my articles on the US presidential election, which is to be held on Nov. 5. I would like to share my perspective on the intense and stalemated presidential election with the people of Taiwan, as well as Taiwanese and Chinese Americans in the US. The current consensus of both major US political parties is to counter China and protect Taiwan. However, I do not trust former US president Donald Trump. He has questioned the US’ commitment to defending Taiwan and explicitly stated the significant challenges involved in doing so. “Trump believes
The government is considering building a semiconductor cluster in Europe, specifically in the Czech Republic, to support Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co’s (TSMC) new fab in Dresden, Germany, and to help local companies explore new business opportunities there. Europe wants to ensure the security of its semiconductor sector, but a lack of comprehensive supply chains there could pose significant risks to semiconductor clusters. The Czech government is aggressively seeking to build its own semiconductor industry and showing strong interest in collaborating with Taiwanese companies. Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) on Friday said that Taiwan is optimistic about building a semiconductor cluster in
China has successfully held its Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, with 53 of 55 countries from the African Union (AU) participating. The two countries that did not participate were Eswatini and the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, which have no diplomatic relations with China. Twenty-four leaders were reported to have participated. Despite African countries complaining about summit fatigue, with recent summits held with Russia, Italy, South Korea, the US and Indonesia, as well as Japan next month, they still turned up in large numbers in Beijing. China’s ability to attract most of the African leaders to a summit demonstrates that it is still being
The Russian city of Vladivostok lies approximately 45km from the Sino-Russian border on the Sea of Japan. The area was not always Russian territory: It was once the site of a Chinese settlement. The settlement would later be known as Yongmingcheng (永明城), the “city of eternal light,” during the Yuan Dynasty. That light was extinguished in 1858 when a large area of land was ceded by the Qing Dynasty to the Russian Empire with the signing of the Treaty of Aigun. The People’s Republic of China founded by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) has never ruled Taiwan. Taiwan was governed by the
RSS