Thanksgiving

I'm fascinated by the history of Colonial New England. I genuinely like the Pilgrims.They were people of great courage and faith. Unfortunately they had zero survival skills. Half of them died that first winter. If it hadn't been for Squanto and Massasoit the whole colony would have perished. Massasoit had  diplomatic skills the equal of any educated Englishman. Had he not decided to make the Pilgrims allies instead of enemies the fate of this entire country may have been different. Although they never fully trusted each other, the English and Native Americans were able to form a bridge between cultures, which set a precedent for today.

The Pilgrims also avoided the religious feuding, witchcraft trials, hypocritical behavior amd Christianity-based nastiness that plagued the Puritan colony of Massachusetts Bay. (BTW: The settlement of Connecticut was helped along by Puritans fleeing the stringent theocracy of Massachusetts and Roger Williams brought religious freedom to New England, allowing Catholics and Jews to settle in his colony of Providence.) Plymouth Colony also treated the Natives more fairly than the other English settlements in New England did.
One great place to learn about the Mayflower settlers is at Plimoth Plantation, in Plymouth, Massachusett, It's a re-creation of  the Pilgrim settlement of 1627 that functions as a living history museum. The village, a Wampanoag homesite and a replica of the Mayflower are open to visitors from March to November. . The rest of the time Plimoth Plantation's website, http://http://www.plimoth.org/  provides basic information about the the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag. Check it out.