This material also corresponds to footnote #17 in the PDF and printed booklet editions of “Ditching Socialism in the New World,” and footnote #17 in Heed the Pilgrims.
In 48 Liberal Lies About American History (that You Probably Learned in School), [(New York: Sentinel, 2008), 178], historian Larry Schweikart writes,
The London investors wanted to control their capital, stipulating that at the end of seven years, everything would be divided equally between the colonists and the merchants. Settlers were to work for the company, although they were allowed to work two days a week on what were called “particular” (private) plots of land. Of course, the merchants realized the Pilgrims would work harder on their own land than for the company. Therefore all wealth was to be put in a common pool.
Paraphrase/Summary as presented in “Ditching Socialism in the New World”:
The winter turned to spring, and Squanto became a great encouragement to us, but there was a problem that would plague us the next two years. I come now to the heart of our story. A number of investors in London had financed our voyage to the New World. In turn, they required us to work for them five days out of each week; the remaining two days per week we would be allowed to work for ourselves. After seven years, all profits would be divided equally between us and them. During the five days we worked for them, all our resources had to be held in common. In other words, no private property! No one owned any land or resources of his own. Whatever our team of workers generated had to be put into a common store, and individuals would take what they needed for their livelihoods from that same pool.
This material relates to footnote #6 in the article “Ditching Socialism in the New World.” It relates as well to footnote #17 in the PDF and printed booklet editions.
Paraphrase copyright © 2019 by B. Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.