1620: What Was It Really Like Aboard The Mayflower? A Journey Into Unknown

The American Story, US History Documentaries: "For many Americans, the journey of the Mayflower in 1620 symbolizes the birth of their nation. Led by William Bradford, the Pilgrim Fathers traversed the Atlantic to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in search of religious freedom. To this day, the Pilgrim Fathers are a glorified symbol of American virtue and Thanksgiving. …

New Perspectives on Thanksgiving

New perspectives on Thanksgiving are important to be open-minded about. Many of us did not learn anything near the truth in school. That was the subject of my Substack e-newsletter: jimbuie.substack.com/p/thanksgiving-gam… Boston College History Professor Heather Cox Richardson also offered perspectives many of us did not learn in school, citing an 1841 book that reprinted …

Squanto’s Remarkable Story Before and After Befriending the Pilgrims

"Imagine being kidnapped and taken in chains across the ocean. Six years later when you finally make your way back home, you find that in the interim your civilization has been annihilated, your villages littered with skeletons. This is what befell a Wampanoag Indian known as Squanto or Tisquantum." Writer George Spencer tells the remarkable …

English Civil War: What Was King Charles I’s Personal Rule?

History Hub: "n this video Bill Thisdell examines the period known as Personal Rule, when Charles I governed without Parliament. How revolutionary was this practice? Why was personal rule a problem?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOGsrRw60oI In Part 2 of this video Bill Thisdell explores which policies pursued by Charles during his Personal Rule caused the most political friction …

What Was Life Like for the Pilgrims in England, the Netherlands, and Aboard the Mayflower?

Absolute History: "For many Americans, the journey of the Mayflower in 1620 symbolizes the birth of their nation. Led by William Bradford, the Pilgrim Fathers traversed the Atlantic to Plymouth, Massachusetts, in search of religious freedom. To this day, the Pilgrim Fathers are a glorified symbol of American virtue and Thanksgiving. In this film, we …

Gustavus Adolphus, Sweden’s Greatest King

Gustavus Adolphus (1594-1632), "also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 to 1632, and is credited for the rise of Sweden as a great European power." Wikipedia, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zwo_mQnyUug&t=53s The People Profiles

US Constitution Guarantees Separation of Church and State

Some religious leaders point to the Mayflower Compact, which the Pilgrims signed in November 1920 on their way to the New World, as evidence of the Protestant Christian heritage of the United States. It was a legal document or covenant that the passengers agreed to express how they would live together as a community. It …

Myths of Thanksgiving and Harm Caused to Native Americans

"In truth, massacres, disease, and American Indian tribal politics are what shaped the Indian-Pilgrim alliance at the root of the holiday," Smithsonian Magazine reported in 2019. Click. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG5NA6wh8AI Watch a preview of THE PILGRIMS from PBS. "The converging forces, circumstances, personalities and events that propelled a group of English men and women west across the …

How FDR and Lincoln Changed Thanksgiving + Round-Up of New Perspectives and A Game

In my Slender Threads newsletter, I round up and summarize new perspectives on Thanksgiving, the great historical forces going back to the 1500s that led to the first one, and the wars between settlers and Native Americans that followed. Thanksgiving Games and New Perspectives 400 Years After The First One. My friend George Spencer published …

A Thing of Beauty: The Pilgrims, the Wampanoag, and Reciprocity

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvI0nnsH3sQ Boston University Magazine: "This year marks the 400th anniversary of the arrival of the Mayflower. For many Native Americans, the commemoration of the arrival of the Pilgrims is a day of mourning and not of joy because of centuries of conflict, dispossession, and disrespect. But it wasn’t that way at the beginning, explains BYU …