Last Thanksgiving, we discussed the true history of the holiday, and the legacy of the pilgrims can still be felt to this day.

In this episode, we speak to a Hillsdale College professor about the pilgrim's long-term impact, how it ties into the modern culture wars, and the future of religiosity in the United States.

I'm Georgia Howe with Daily Wire, editor-in-chief John Bickley.

It's Thursday, November 28th, happy Thanksgiving, and this is Morning Wire.

Here to discuss the Pilgrims and their long and interesting influence on American culture is Hillsdale College Professor of History, Miles Smith.

Dr. Smith, thanks so much for coming on.

Oh, it was my pleasure.

So listeners may recall last year we brought on a Plymouth Plantation historian to talk about the true story of the first Thanksgiving.

And that was a fan favorite episode, which we're going to link to in the description. But this year, I want to talk about the Pilgrim's

cultural legacy in America. So first off, who were the Mayflower Travelers? That group included more

than just pilgrims. How did that group come together and who did it

include? Well, it's a motley crew. About 30 to 40 percent are the group of people we call the pilgrims.

They're dissident English Protestant. They were called the Brownest in England. They were

followers of a guy named Brown, and they're convinced they have to actually completely

separate from the Church of England. They're not even interested in reforming it. They've got to

get out of England. And so they're kind of seen as cranks, interestingly enough. They go to the

Netherlands first, and then they decide, oh, Holland's maybe even not as holy enough for them. So they

sort of set out to find a place where they can truly

build what they think is a godly commonwealth. And so they charter a wine ship, interestingly enough.

The Mayflower had been a wine ship. And this was sort of controversial. The Puritans were sort of

very pious people who had some thoughts. Well, maybe we shouldn't drink alcohol. Some of them did,

by the way.

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