Lies my Teacher Told Me: The Truth About Thanksgiving (Ch. 3), Loewen

Sanne Bergh
Eng48A
Journal for Loewen
Dec. 2, 2011

Author Quote
"They chose Plymouth because of its beautiful cleared fields, recently planted corn, and its useful harbor and "brook of fresh water." It was a lovely site for town. Indeed, until the plague, it had been a town, for "New Plimoth" was none other than Squanto's village of Patuxet"

Internet Quote
"Jane Kamensky, a professor of history at Brandeis, asks on the website "Common Place" whether it’s worth while “to plumb the bottom of it all – to determine, for example, ... whether Plymouth’s ‘Pilgrims’ were indeed the grave-robbing hypocrites that UAINE [United American Indians of New England] describes. ... Was the ‘first Thanksgiving’ merely a pretext for bloodshed, enslavement, and displacement that would follow in later decades?"

Brief Summary

Basically the author is saying that history books have lied about what really happened when the pilgrims "settled". They used religion to justify the beauty and food that was already there, and eventually would wipe out all of the Indians. The Indians reached out to help, but instead caught a nasty bug and died. There are many myths about the happiness of Thanksgiving and Loewen writes about the hardships both parties had faced. 

Responses/Reactions/Ideas

It's noted that the "beautiful cleared lands" was "none other than Squanto's village of Patuxet" which interestingly enough, was already populated. I believe the pilgrims had, what one may call, a superiority complex. They thought themselves better and had a close enough mind to believe that the men wandering the lands were "wild" and uncivilized. Squanto himself spoke English and interacted with the pilgrims, and that makes him wild. In all fairness, I believe that the pilgrims were completely selfish. I say this because they isolated themselves and did not allow themselves to seek out different ways of thinking. They refused to adapt, making integration complex. It is even noted that Squanto had a difficult time attempting to convince the pilgrims to bathe. An example of the close mindedness that probably wiped out "96%" of the settler's population. 

When "the plague" wiped out the population, the settlers claimed it was the will of God. There is an inherent lack of logic. It's simply impossible to go to a completely different land and believe in the same principles as one's own native land. For example, it's a little like speaking English in France and getting upset that these natives do not adapt to the English language. The pilgrims refused to adapt and integrate and stuck with European customs, despite the fact that they actually fled Europe. I believe that the pilgrims were acting a tad hypocritical. The pilgrims trampled all over the Indians' land, stealing their food, infecting them with foreign disease and simply acting completely rude.