Four hundred years ago, in November of 1620, a covenant was written and signed by the Pilgrims and others aboard the Mayflower as it lay off the shore of the unfamiliar Cape Cod.
"In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten... Having undertaken for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and the honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the northern parts of Virginia; do by these present, solemnly and mutually, in the presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civil body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid." [somewhat modernized spelling]
Since the Pilgrims were under contract with the London Company to equally share all profits from the first seven years, their new colony began under a type of communism. It didn't take long for that to damage work ethic and relationships.
To quote Pilgrim Governor William Bradford:
"The failure of this experiment of communal service, which was tried for several years and by good an honest men proves the emptiness of the theory of Plato and other ancients, applauded by some of later time - that the taking away of private property, and the possession of it in community, by a commonwealth, would make a state happy and flourishing; as if they were wiser than God."
Interestingly, the years of hunger and want on the planation were not left behind until each family was given their own corn to raise for themselves. They took pride in their work knowing that they would only get out of it what they personally put in. Will we learn from the past?
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