Freedom Project Blog

Five Grains of Pilgrim Corn

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:36 Written by Andrew Lane Tuesday, 24 November 2009 11:08

A full week was given to the first Thanksgiving feast in New England in 1621. Governor Bradford sent men to hunt deer and turkey and to call Massasoit's tribe to the Pilgrim's table. Out of this harvest festival came the American institution of Thanksgiving Day. It is peculiar to our people. No other nation has a celebration exactly like it. It does not honor a victory, mark a revolution, or commemorate the birth or death of a national hero. It is the great holiday of the common people.

Thanksgiving is a national family celebration to thank God for the bounty wrought in liberty by our own labors. Many descendants of the Pilgrims still follow the custom, begun on that first Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth, of placing five grains of corn beside each plate at the dinner table. Five grains of corn was the daily ration during those desperate days before the harvest when food was scarcely to be had. At each subsequent annual feast, the Pilgrims placed the grains at the table so that the reason for their rejoicing might not be forgotten.

The Pilgrims Weren't Socialists

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:36 Written by Andrew Lane Tuesday, 17 November 2009 13:11

When next you sing the "Hymn of Harvest Home", think kindly of our Pilgrim Fathers, for they were not "communists with a small c" nor any other kind of communists, Some conservative editors and commentators in recent years have given the impression that the Pilgrims were starry-eyed idealists intent upon founding a socialist utopia in the wilderness. One such editor, zealous to refute socialism, has written: "Socialism is not a new experiment in the United States. Neither is Communism. The Socialist community was tried by the Pilgrims in New England over three hundred years ago. The dream of the Pilgrims didn't work and the Mayflower Compact was a total failure."

Tadeusz Kosciuszko: Premier Polish Patriot

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:36 Written by Charles Scaliger Tuesday, 03 November 2009 14:17

British General John Burgoyne must have been bitterly disappointed one day in July 1777 in the upper Hudson Valley — the day his army, hot in pursuit of the Americans they had just driven from Fort Ticonderoga, ran into a lake that wasn’t supposed to exist.

This part of upstate New York had already been thoroughly explored and mapped, yet the Redcoats, confident of speedily overtaking and finishing off the American force, suddenly found themselves blocked by a brand-new body of water where dry forest and field was supposed to provide swift passage. The British must have soon ascertained, as they tried to find a way around the unexpected obstacle, that the lake was the work of the Americans; somehow, the Continentals had figured out how to swiftly divert a river into the path of a pursuing army. They probably had no idea who was responsible, but the water, along with large tangles of trees deliberately felled to create impenetrable barriers, bought the Americans enough time to escape and fight another day.

Son of Liberty

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:50 Written by Becky Akers Tuesday, 03 November 2009 13:01

Nathan Hale was full of fun and life, but he is remembered for his death. He was a man of honor who died in rank dishonor. His last words, which should have perished with him, have instead immortalized him. He was hanged for espionage 233 years ago this September 22.

He was one of those gifted-all-around people who succeed at everything they try, born on June 6, 1755. The sixth of 12 children, he came from a distinguished family. His great-grandparents John and Sarah Hale helped end the Salem Witch Trials, and his parents descended from long lines of preachers, the crème de la crème of ancestries in Puritan New England.

Forward To The Past?

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:51 Written by Alan Scholl Tuesday, 20 October 2009 14:41

A wise man once told us that if we refused to learn the lessons of history, we would be condemned to repeat them. Modern terminology aside, there is much in America today that seems new, but echoes eerily from the past. Mistakes made today may bring consequences long held in abeyance by the actions of nearly three centuries ago. Enjoy... if the ramifications aren't too unnerving... This cartoon short may be viewed here.

Three Shots, and You Are Free

Last Updated on Monday, 08 February 2010 10:38 Written by Becky Akers Tuesday, 29 September 2009 13:51

Three shots from his inexperienced militia — followed by their hasty retreat — was exactly what Daniel Morgan needed to win the day at the fateful Battle of Cowpens.

It usually pastures cattle on their way to market. But on a frigid January morning in 1781, this "open woods" near the Carolinas' border fields a ragtag band of Patriots. These friends of freedom are about to defy some of the world's most professional soldiers. Defeat seems almost certain for them. In fact, some of them had ignominiously fled the field five months before. But not this time. Thanks to ingenuity, pluck, and the blessing of Providence, they will win one of the most heartening battles of the American Revolution. Some are veterans; many are inexperienced militia. Led by a brilliant but untrained commander, they will thrash skilled Redcoats fighting under a previously unbeaten officer. No wonder the improbably named Cowpens encourages modern patriots.