#84 1621 in New England Part 2

The History of the Americans

Jack Henneman

History

4.9 • 632 Ratings

🗓️ 19 August 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the spring of 1621, the Pilgrims have met Samoset and Tisquantum, and were learning from Squanto to feed themselves. This they would be able to do within one growing season, something the settlers at Jamestown took many years to accomplish. They had also signed a peace treaty with the grand sachem of the Wampanoag, Massasoit.

Now they are learning that Massasoit was weaker than he postured, and that even some of his own sachems were planning to rebel, just as the Narragansetts to his west were increasing the pressure on him. From May to August 1621, the Pilgrim leaders would make decisions and take actions, all very much in the fog of pre-war, that would cement the peace with the tribes closest to them, and strengthen their ally Massasoit immeasurably. They did this without any loss of life, all while constructing their settlement, growing their own food, rebuilding their families, and worshiping their God. They concluded their miraculous year with a great three-day feast, in which they were joined by almost 100 Indian warriors. Even at that “first Thanksgiving” they might have been slaughtered at any time, but had so established themselves as measured and, it should be said, useful, that no trap was sprung, no ambush launched.

Twitter: @TheHistoryOfTh2

Facebook: The History of the Americans Podcast

Selected references for this episode

Nathaniel Philbrick, Mayflower: Voyage, Community, War

John G. Turner, They Knew They Were Pilgrims: Plymouth Colony and the Contest for American Liberty

William Bradford and Edmund Winslow (presumed), Mourt’s Relation: A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Welcome to the History of the Americans podcast, episode 84.
0:11.1	I'm your host, Jack Heneman, and I'm recording this on August 18th, 2022, in my closet in New Orleans.
0:20.3	If you are new to the podcast,
0:22.1	we are telling the history of the lands
0:23.8	now encompassed by the United States
0:25.9	from the beginning without presentism.
0:29.4	That's a hot topic on Twitter history this week.
0:33.0	And if you are a fan of the podcast
0:35.5	but have failed to express yourself to that effect, please share
0:39.6	your enthusiasm with your curious and thoughtful friends and write us a review on Apple or
0:45.0	wherever you listen to podcasts. That'd be great. Well, I'm back in the South after just shy of a
0:50.4	month enjoying the cool weather in the Northeast. Of course, for much of that time,
0:55.4	the locals thought it was unbearably hot up there, too. But for us, it was a break. It was
1:01.0	great, including a week in the Princeton area, some of that was business in Philly,
1:05.9	a week driving through New England, and two weeks in the Adirondacks. If you follow the
1:10.2	podcast account on Twitter,
1:11.6	you can scroll back and see a lot of the pictures. Anyway, I managed to produce three episodes of
1:17.4	the podcast during those four weeks on the road, which is pretty good, if I may say so myself.
1:23.0	I also had a nice meeting with a listener in Lake Placid, Rob, from Saratoga Springs in Elizabethtown,
1:29.2	New York. We met at the Lake Placid pub and brewery and hoisted a few. Thank you, Rob, for the conversation,
1:36.1	and for picking up the tab. If you need a lawyer in Saratoga Springs were in the Adirondacks,
1:42.0	send me a note, and I'll connect you with Rob.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jack Henneman, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jack Henneman and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.