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Hi, listeners, happy Thanksgiving.

As a special treat, I'm releasing a patron-exclusive minisode from two years ago.

At the time that I wrote and recorded this, I had recently released an episode about the

controversial 1619 project, in which

embellished representations of the pilgrims came up. This minisode was a continuation of that

discussion and a holiday tie-in. It's a good example of the kind of exclusive episodes you get

access to if you pledge as little as a single

dollar a month on Patreon. It's shorter than the main episodes, but it is a fully researched and

produced story, which usually ties in and fills out the recent episode or even acts as a bridge to the next, making historical

blindness a weekly podcast for those who support it. Come check out the other perks of being a

patron on Patreon as well, like getting all your episodes ad-free and accessing the episodes

earlier than they release to the public.

I hope you enjoy this exclusive Thanksgiving special.

On November 9th, 1620, the crew and passengers of the Mayflower, among whom were 37 members of a separatist congregation that would eventually come to be known as the Pilgrims, cited land after a grueling two-month crossing of the Atlantic Ocean.

Before landing in the New World and establishing

their colony, those aboard the Mayflower recognized the need to draft a contract. The tendency

toward democratic independence was indeed strong among separatists who followed the teachings

of Robert Brown, that every church congregation should be seen as a voluntary, self-governing body,

rather than as an appendage of the Church of England.

This was one of the principal reasons for their departure from the church and from their home country.

To say that the Mayflower Compact was some kind of founding document for American

...