Pilgrims

A detailed Summary of Pilgrims

"The mythic origin of 'the country we now know as the United States' is at Plymouth Rock, and the year is 1620." James W. Loewen stresses this origin as mythic due to the fact that for thousands of years humans had inhabited the land now known as America. Loewen goes on to describe the horrors the native peoples of America went through due to the diseases and other such terrible things the white "settlers" brought to the "New World." However, it is barely mentioned in Loewen's book, The Lies My Teacher Told Me, that the Separatists were acting upon a word of God, or Manifest Destiny. If Manifest Destiny were taken into account more, one would be able to provide a legitimate argument in favor of the Pilgrims' intent. (Loewen, 77)

The Separatists were members of a radical religious movement in England in the 16th and 17th centuries. William Brewster, in 1606, led a portion of this group to Leiden, the Netherlands, to avoid further religious oppression from the English government. Some members of this Separatist group then voted, ten years later, to relocate to America. In order for them to afford such a journey, the Separatists received funding from a group of London investors, in return for produce from America. A ship c

"Manifest Destiny." Encarta. 1993-1997.

Predestination was a large part of the Pilgrims' belief system. Those who God elected would receive God's grace. Since God had already decided who was going to be saved since before He created the earth, there was nothing people could do during their lives that could save or damn them. (Johnson, "Predestination") The Mayflower Compact, the first establishment for written laws within this group, reflected upon this belief system. The basis for the Pilgrims' laws was the Civil- Body Politic, which essentially instills a sense of giving up certain personal rights in order to get others. (L. Scott, Lecture) "Having undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, ... a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these presents, solemnly and mutually in the Presence of God..." (Media3, "The Mayflower Compact") This string of moral principles and beliefs then leads to Manifest Destiny. The Pilgrims, after facing much religious persecution from the world they knew, believed it was God's will to come to America and "settle".

In short, Manifest Destiny plays a vital role in the determining of "rightness" or "wrongness" of the settlers' actions. James W. Loewen's entire purpose of the book, Lies My Teacher Told Me, is to eliminate the misconceptions that most of today's history textbooks give our students. He has found that most of the history textbooks out there are "marred by an embarrassing combination of blind patriotism, mindless optimism, sheer misinformation, and outright lies... Loewen revives our history, restoring to it the vitality and relevance it truly possesses." Is he really eliminating this "misinformation" if he leaves out a vital part of history, such as Manifest Destiny? The Pilgrims held strong religious beliefs, including that of predestination, leading to Manifest Destiny. If they felt they were in the moral right for coming to America in 1620, is it right of us to judge them now for actions they did in another time and culture? Of course not. Therefore, Manifest Destiny and the Puritan's belief in predestination provide a legitimate argument for the pilgrims and settlers. (Loewen, Back of Book)

Media3 Technologies. "The Mayflower Compact." Plymouth: Its History and People. 1997.

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Approximate Word count = 1601
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: Miscellaneous