How a Big Dream & 102 People Changed Everything
The pilgrim story seems always reserved for Thanksgiving Day, however my visit to a replica of the famed Mayflower which brought 102 religious freedom seekers to New England, stunned me because of its size… In fact, the diminutive vessel came to life for me and became the focus of my July 4th blog as I posed against it (see photo) in Provo, Utah at one of the nation’s largest Independence Day Celebrations and parade events; over 500,000 in attendance.
The 1620 voyage of the Mayflower, more than 3,000 miles across the uncharted, unpredictable Atlantic, to an untamed and forbidding land yet to be named America was accomplished in a 100 foot long twenty-five foot wide wood-plank ship – not built for passengers, but for cargo.
Crammed in a vessel so small that there was little room to stand or move about, these 102 freedom-seekers ate, drank, slept, and took care of mother nature’s call (without bathing) in the same “hold” that would have contained precious cargo; meaning they “were” the cargo, and must have also rationed dried foods, salted pork, and grains sparingly.
No life boats, life jackets, creature comforts, in terms of today’s liability insurance and safety rules, today one would be hard-pressed to sail further than from Long beach, CA. harbor to Catalina Island (26 miles) without complete federal restrictions shutting the cruise down.
My point? Freedom is a precious thing. Our first immigrants were willing to die in the depths of the Atlantic for it. I was busy, with you, celebrating Independence Day on the 4th. The 1620 pilgrims, one of whom is my ancestor, did not do less than our Founding Fathers, our Revolutionary War heroes, or any other heroes to bequeath this land and liberty to us today.
In a nutshell… a small vessel, and small group of people – no more people than are on my Facebook site, The US Constitution Coach fan page – started a big dream; The United States of America. We are in a position today of seeing precious freedoms stripped from us by a central government bent on monitoring and measuring every one of the freedoms so many Americans of generations past and present have taken for granted.
IT IS NOT TIME TO RETURN TO EUROPEAN style governance. It is time for another Declaration of Independence in private ways; ways that encourage peaceful reemergence of the American dream our founding families established in their escape from central governments of Europe run my kings, rulers, and political bodies bent on suppressing the natural desires for self-fulfillment found in faith, prosperity, free economy, property rights, and freedom of expression (speech), protection, and self-government.
Learn about the Republic our Founders created. Become informed of the 233 year-old dream and drama that the history of America really is. Get The “US Constitution Coach Kit” at www.amazon.com with more than 60,000 searchable documents of US History and American Heritage. Understand the documents pre-dating America’s; the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Compact, Adam Smith’s Wealth of Nations, and then enjoy what the Founding fathers wrote; giving context and texture to the fabric of the new Republic.
I am not a radical, but these words would seem radical to the modern educated college or high school student because they have not been taught from original documents or sources.
If a small vessel and 102 people could begin an American Republic, we can save one.
James M. Pratt
www.jmpratt.com
