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THE PERENNIAL THANKSGIVING QUESTION by J. Parnell McCarter

 

The perennial Thanksgiving question is whether the Pilgrims and other Europeans which settled in what was to become the English colonies of North America even had a right to do so.  There is a certain degree of misinformation about this, because much of modern day "political correctness" wants to assert for its own modern political purposes that:

1. Europeans in North America were interlopers who forever should pay reparations for even residing here.

2. It justifies any other peoples disregarding boundary laws with respect to America.

In truth, the English of New England and the Dutch of New Netherlands (aka New York) paid from the start the various Indian tribes for the land they obtained, and the Indians accepted such payment. The same was true by William Penn in the mid-Atlantic region. From that point additional land was often acquired by these colonies either by further economic transactions, or as settlement after Indian attack. But the English that settled in the South tended to be less principled and more hostile in the way they dealt with the Indians and acquired territory. The Southern approach to relations with other peoples has come with its consequences historically. Below is information on each of these:

 

The Plymouth settlement per http://www.conservapedia.com/Plymouth_Colony -

 

"After an exchange of gifts, Massasoit and Governor Martin established a formal treaty of peace, which among other promises, ensured that each people would not bring harm to the other, that Massasoit would send his allies to make peaceful negotiations with Plymouth, and that they would come to each other's aid in a time of war"

 

The Manhattan settlement by the Dutch per http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Minuit -

"Minuit is credited with purchasing the island of Manhattan from the native Americans in exchange for traded goods valued at 60 guilders.  The figure of 60 guilders comes from a letter by a representative of the Dutch States-General and member of the board of the Dutch West India Company, Pieter Janszoon Schagen, to the States-General in November 1626."

The settlement of the mid-Atlantic region under William Penn's leadership per http://ualr.edu/sequoyah/uploads/2012/03/The%20Treaty%20of%20the%20Lenni%20Lenape%20or%20Delaware%20Indians%20with%20William%20Penn%20on%20the%20Banks%20of%20the%20Delaware%20River%20in.htm -

 

"When the time arrived at which William Penn and the Indians had agreed to meet personally to confirm the treaty of peace and the purchase of the land which his commissioners had bargained for and the transaction was to be publicly ratified, Penn came accompanied by his friends of both sexes to the place where Philadelphia now stands... The Chief Sachem then announced to William Penn, by means of an interpreter, that the Indians were ready to hear him. The treaty was ratified with all due solemnity and is known to this day as the treaty that never was sworn to and never was broken."

 

In the South, starting with the Jamestown colony, here is a description of how relations went with the Indians, from http://smith.npschesapeakebay.net/native-americans/indians-smith/smith-powhatan-pocahontas -

"It is likely that Powhatan saw Captain John Smith as a leader of the Englishmen and wanted to incorporate the English into his group of tribes, making the Jamestown colony one of the tribes under Powhatan’s sphere of influence. Or perhaps, the charismatic Captain John Smith may simply have talked his way out of a difficult situation, just as he did so many other times in his life, according to his other tales... Powhatan and the English became allies and trading partners in early 1608. Both sides exchanged youths to learn the other’s languages and ways. Trading began with the Powhatan providing food in exchange for metal and manufactured goods... Over the late fall and winter of 1608, the Powhatan tribes became uncooperative and refused to trade corn. The region was in the midst of a drought and corn was in short supply. Jamestown colonists were again on brink of starvation.  In January 1609, Captain John Smith visited Powhatan personally but negotiations failed. Contact with another chief, a kinsman of Powhatan, led to some trading but ended in combat and a quick escape by Captain John Smith and his men. After that, relationships between the tribes in the Powhatan paramount chiefdom and the English were strained. There was no outright war, but there were hostilities and a lack of cooperation."

 

In any case, it is a Biblical moral principle that national boundaries be respected, which is the basis for just war principles, as shown at  http://www.puritans.net/articles/Lawful%20War%20and%20Borders.htm .   Where Americans have failed to respect the national boundaries of other peoples, Americans have a moral duty to repent.  Where other peoples have disrespected the boundaries of the American people, they too have a moral duty to repent.  Nations, like individuals, have God-given property rights which must be recognized and respected.