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To: bruinbirdman; BradyLS; DoctorMichael; RobFromGa; PGalt; Dagny&Hank; dAnconia; aynrandfreak; ...
Here's another telling of the story, formatted for sharing:

Copy this and email it to everyone you care about  -- and ask them to do the same:

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The Real Story Behind Thanksgiving

Did you know that the first [Plymouth Colony Pilgrim's] Thanksgiving was a celebration of the triumph of private property and individual initiative?

William Bradford was the governor of the original Pilgrim colony, founded at Plymouth in 1621. The colony was first organized on a communal basis, as their financiers required. Land was owned in common. The Pilgrims farmed communally, too, following the "from each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs" precept.

The results were disastrous. Communism didn't work any better 400 years ago than it does today. By 1623, the colony had suffered serious losses. Starvation was imminent.

Bradford realized that the communal system encouraged and rewarded waste and laziness and inefficiency, and destroyed individual initiative. Desperate, he abolished it. He distributed private plots of land among the surviving Pilgrims, encouraging them to plant early and farm as individuals, not collectively.

The results: a bountiful early harvest that saved the colonies. After the harvest, the Pilgrims celebrated with a day of Thanksgiving -- on August 9th.

Unfortunately, William Bradford's diaries -- in which he recorded the failure of the collectivist system and the triumph of private enterprise -- were lost for many years. When Thanksgiving was later made a national holiday, the present November date was chosen. And the lesson the Pilgrims so painfully learned was, alas, not made a part of the holiday.

Happily, Bradford's diaries were later rediscovered. They're available today in paperback. They tell the real story of Thanksgiving -- how private property and individual initiative saved the Pilgrims.

This Thanksgiving season, one of the many things I'm thankful for is our free market system (imperfectly realized as it is). And I'm also grateful that there are increasing numbers of Americans who are learning the importance of free markets, and who are working to replace government coercion with marketplace cooperation here in America and around the world.

Paul Schmidt

PS: A special thanks to long-time Advocate volunteer Cris Everett, who told us about this neglected bit of history several years ago, and who celebrates Thanksgiving on -- you guessed it -- August 9th.

-- copied from http://FreedomKeys.com/thanksgiving.htm  which was copied from the Nov. 20, 1997 issue of  THE LIBERATOR ONLINE at http://www.theadvocates.org/liberator/vol-02-num-21.htm

for more detailed accounts see 
The Great Thanksgiving Hoax  athttp://snipurl.com/apur
The Pilgrims’ Real Thanksgiving Lesson  at 
http://snipurl.com/av27
How Capitalism Saved America  at
http://snipurl.com/11lxq
Thanksgiving: The Producers' Holiday at http://snipurl.com/apuv
and How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims at http://www.hoover.org/publications/digest/3507051.html
Find general commentaries,-Creating Our Own Blessings at  http://snipurl.com/apuy-and 
Who Else Should We Thank?  at http://snipurl.com/av9x
ALSO SEE: Giving Thanks for the Big Tent-HERE: http://snipurl.com/11kt0

Find some actual excerpts from Plymouth Colony Governor William Bradford's diary:HERE: http://www.mises.org/fullstory.aspx?Id=1678

And finally, for those of you unfortunate enough to have to deal with primitive, fanatical self-righteous altruists, check out THIS page: http://snipurl.com/kj23   AND  THIS page:  http://FreedomKeys.com/paradox.htm#pcdt


"Property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist." -- President John Adams, direct descendent of Pilgrims John and Priscilla Alden 

"The true foundation of republican government is the equal right of every citizen in his person and property and in their management." -- Thomas Jefferson

"Private property is the most important guarantee of freedom." -- F.A. Hayek 

"No freedom is secure if your property rights are not secure." -- Neal Boortz

"It is the institution of private property that protects and implements the right to disagree."-- Ayn Rand

"If you can't own (and use) property, you are property." - Wayne Hage

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

>>>>>>>>
 

Also see Tasty Trivia:here: http://FreedomKeys.com/fascinating.htm-

         
 

<----------------------------
COPY  AND  EMAIL 
TO  EVERYONE 
YOU CAN 

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<----------------------------
COPY  AND  EMAIL 
TO  EVERYONE 
YOU CAN

<----------------------------
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

<----------------------------
COPY  AND  EMAIL 
TO  EVERYONE 
YOU CAN

<----------------------------
 
 
 
 
 

 


2 posted on 11/18/2006 12:33:36 PM PST by FreeKeys ("Property must be secured, or liberty cannot exist." -John Adams, direct descendant of John Alden)
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To: neverdem; groanup; Jack Black; Mr. Jeeves; M-cubed; cherry; Dont_Tread_On_Me_888; since1868; ...

Thanksgiving ping


5 posted on 11/18/2006 1:09:28 PM PST by FreeKeys ("There is no greater stupidity or meanness than to take uniformity for an ideal.''- George Santayana)
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To: All

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone.

---

A THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION!
http://www.truthusa.com/ThanksGIVING.html


7 posted on 11/18/2006 1:23:29 PM PST by Cindy
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To: FreeKeys

Thanks for the ping. There is little which means so much as declaring, "This is mine." Whether it is one's soul or property being claimed, it connotes one's individuality.


10 posted on 11/18/2006 1:37:23 PM PST by Socratic (Give me web-journalists, not MSM cut and paste hacks.)
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To: FreeKeys

" the real story of Thanksgiving -- how private property and individual initiative saved the Pilgrims..."

bump


11 posted on 11/18/2006 3:01:47 PM PST by george76 (Ward Churchill : Fake Indian, Fake Scholarship, and Fake Art)
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To: FreeKeys; Howlin; bitt; Calpernia; onyx; Freestar; nutmeg; DollyCali; Congressman Billybob

MUST-READ for all Americans--pertains to private property vs. eminent domain/communism etc.


13 posted on 11/18/2006 4:28:23 PM PST by The Spirit Of Allegiance (Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
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To: Born Conservative; EdReform; doug from upland; Victoria Delsoul; Mia T; tiamat; dixiechick2000; ...

Must-see great resource for students, parents and teachers!


16 posted on 11/18/2006 4:51:48 PM PST by The Spirit Of Allegiance (Public Employees: Honor Your Oaths! Defend the Constitution from Enemies--Foreign and Domestic!)
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To: windcliff; onedoug

ping


21 posted on 11/18/2006 9:46:07 PM PST by stylecouncilor
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To: FreeKeys; george76; Abram; albertp; AlexandriaDuke; Alexander Rubin; Allosaurs_r_us; ...
Libertarian ping! To be added or removed from my ping list freepmail me or post a message here.
22 posted on 11/18/2006 10:37:26 PM PST by traviskicks (http://www.neoperspectives.com/optimism_nov8th.htm)
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To: FreeKeys

http://www.tysknews.com/Depts/Insights/plymouth_experiment.htm

In the interest of bandwidth, I am posting the link to an excellent article. Kim is very high on my list of superlative writers (Michael Kelly was my #1 favorite, until his death in Iraq) Hmmm, MK, Sowell and Kim Weissman i think would be my top three.
Truly a great thinker and writer. I advise looking up many more of his articles, whatever is left online after Congress Action got taken down.


24 posted on 11/19/2006 6:13:18 AM PST by Shimmer128
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To: FreeKeys

Even Lenin figured out that it doesn't work.


25 posted on 11/19/2006 9:31:05 AM PST by BradyLS (DO NOT FEED THE BEARS!)
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