Two years ago, I wrote a piece called, “The Pilgrims Were Jerks.” I want to amend that statement after some more research and basic soul searching.

One of the most annoying traits of the new generation of the perpetually whiny and misinformed, is their aptness to belittle the people of the past based on the societal sensibilities of the present. I have been guilty of this, and I am guessing you have as well. Now, this does not mean that all previous sins are excusable, nor should they be forgotten. But within the context of modern analytics of historical people and events, one must wonder why all of the good that a person or group did is immediately discounted when their characters are found lacking by a modern audience. I think it’s actually rather blatant what is happening. In a nutshell, it is the destruction of one historical commentary to make way for another in the mechanics of the post-modernist idea that the west is horrifying, and at the core of all the world’s problems. I don’t want to get into why that is a blatant fallacy and an example of being intellectually lazy right now. Just pointing out the obviousness of the motives.

I previously wrote about how ornery, disagreeable, pig-headed and generally lousy the pilgrims were. To reiterate, they were all of those things and more. But, thinking about it now, how could they not have been? In order to undertake what they did, they would have had to be.

When they initially absconded from England to Lydon in Holland, they set up shop working as hard as they could. Even then, in the relatively welcoming and tolerant Holland, they wanted something of their own. Even then, in the relatively welcoming and tolerant Holland, William Bradford still printed and smuggled seditious pamphlets criticizing King James in an attempt to rally the Church of England into forcing further reforms. These people were not just satisfied to find a place to blend in and become part of the background, they wanted action. They gathered as much money as they could, purchased a ship, The Speedwell and hired another, The Mayflower and lit out for what was at that time, a largely mythologized, and misunderstood land. They eventually had to head back to England to unload Speedwell’s cargo and passengers onto Mayflower and headed back out to sea. Today, we complain about the amount of leg room we get on planes and trains. These folks were crammed into the 5-foot-tall hold of a Dutch cargo fluyt, along with livestock and all of their possessions and were told to hang out until they got to a country that was the equivalent of what everyday folks today know about Mars.

This is why I must apologize to the memory of these people for my previous post on the pilgrims. They sailed 9 weeks to get to what is now Cape Cod. They got here in November when it is either bar b q weather or a complete tundra. They died by the score. They scrounged around. They explored. They absolutely did steal seed corn from the native tribes. They absolutely did disturb Native American graves. They absolutely, without a doubt, did some awful things. But here is the kicker; who the hell am I to call them jerks? What have I done that is even a fraction as daring and consequential as what they did? What have you or I done that places us so much farther up the ledger than these folks that it would afford us the right to look down, spit and wipe them away from history? I think a little humility when it comes to analyzing ourselves wouldn’t hurt any of us. Does this mean that we cannot judge the actions of the people of the past? Of course not. But what it does mean, is that we cannot simply render judgement on history without taking into consideration motive, method, modern by-product, and the human element in its socio-historical context. If we do, we are no more than movie critics that write for the school paper.

In the end, the lasting legacy of the pilgrims is tricky for a lot of folks. They most certainly were “jerky”, but I won’t call them jerks anymore. This year, I plan on raising a glass to their memory and say a quick prayer for their courage, perseverance, industriousness, faith and adaptability. Even if they themselves would have probably hanged me for being Catholic.