Plymouth Colony and the Beginnings of Liberty in America: A Q&A with NEH Public Scholar John Turner
(WorldNews Netherlands)

Twitter Facebook NEH Public Scholar John Turner wants to change what you were taught in elementary school about the Mayflower Compact being a precedent for democracy and how the Pilgrims brought religious freedom to the New World. The Mayflower Compact, a short legal statement that provided a framework of government, was often touted by the nation`s early historians as one of the first steps in the evolution of self-government in the United States-a view that survived centuries. Meanwhile, the Pilgrims are seen as the importers of religious freedom to the United States and stalwarts of the idea that each person should be able to worship as they choose, a narrative that is repeated annually...