Topgrading

 AMERICA’S FIRST GREAT LEADER  

    
Guess what?  If the Pilgrims hadn’t Topgraded, we’d probably be speaking Dutch, Spanish, or French.  The Pilgrims elected William Bradford Governor of the Plymouth Colony, and he did far more than carve the first turkey at the first Thanksgiving in 1621.  He probably should be called:

“The Grandfather of America”

Here’s the short story:

The Pilgrims arrived in the New World, with half the Mayflower passengers dead in the first year.  William Bradford was thought to be dying but nonetheless was elected Governor of Plymouth Colony.  Not only was he the first person elected on our soil, but he was re-elected 30 times.  Because he succeeded, the colony succeeded, and then thousands of Brits came over – the Puritans, who did nasty things like burn witches and push the natives off of their land.  Eventually America embraced what William Bradford, A player founder of our country, introduced, including:

1. Democracy (He led through what he called “Town meetings” – sound familiar?)
2. Free enterprise (Socialism just wasn’t working, and the Pilgrims were about to jump back on the Mayflower and give up until Bradford introduced free enterprise.)
3. A secular (non-religious) government (He conducted civil, not religious marriage ceremonies.)
4. Women’s property rights (Men, if you’re divorced, blame Bradford for losing half the property.)
5. Peace (Governor Bradford and Chief Massasoit had the only treaty not broken by the whites.)
6. Trial by jury (12 jurors – sound familiar?)
7. A popular holiday – Thanksgiving!

In 1995 I published an article in the Mayflower Quarterly entitled America’s First Great Leader:  William Bradford of Plymouth Colony.  If you’d like to read it (maybe over the Thanksgiving holiday) just click (here).