Until "European Immigrants" began settling the Eastern Seaboard of North America, there was not much chance for capitalism anywhere in the world. Even Great Explorers like Marco Polo,Ericsson, Columbus, Magellan, Cook - great adventurers all- but they traveled at the pleasure of their Monarch; Monarchs used to have all the  Capital!
    And then along came The Pilgrims- rag tag refugees (twice, they went to Holland first) fleeing religious oppression in England. The 1st settlement of free immigrants started a new CAPITALIST WORLD at Plymouth Plantation!

      In the next two paragraphs you will learn The Real Truth about Capitalism.

   We have a marvelous first-person account of 37 years by William Bradford- the second Governor of Plymouth. After languishing for two years, loosing more than half of the colony to sickness and barely growing enough corn to survive , Governor Bradford writes "So they begane to think how they might raise as much corne as they could and obtaine a beter crope then they had done, that they might not still thus languish in miserie...the Govr... gave way that they should set corne every man for his owne perticuler, and that regard trust  to themselves...And so assigned to every familie a parcell of land...This had very good success; for it made all hands industrious... The women now wente willingly into the feild, and tooke their litl-ons with them to set corne which before aleg weaknes, and inabilitie; whom to have compelled would have bene thougth great tiranie and oppression. "² [sic].

 In the next paragraph, the Governor challenges Plato, "The experience that was had in this common course and condition, tried sundry years, and that amongst godly and of sober men, may well evince the vanitie of that conceite of Platos and other ancients, applauded by some of later times; that the taking away of propertie, and bringing in communities into a comone wealth, would make them happy and florishing; as if they were wiser than God. For this comunitie (so farr as it was) was found to breed much confusion and discontent, and retard much employment that would have been to their benefit and comforte."[sic].³ This a clear description of their attempts of commune-ism vs capitalism. One failed; one succeeded!
 What was the capital?... Land, Muskets, Shot, Seed, Tools for clearing and cultivating, and much real toil driven by moral self interest - and survival of the colony.
    At no time in history and no place on earth had all these elements combined:
1. Land - lots and lots of it not controlled Monachies or Tyrants (yet).
2. Corn - Corne was the Indian's Gift to mankind and the Indians helped The Plymouth Plantation reach "maximize production".
3. Good Guys - The Mayflower settlers and crew were WASPs⁵ seeking freedom from religious oppression of England and Europe.
4. Moral Self Interest⁶ - Some pretty strong core values of the Pilgrams and the loss of 52% to hunger and sickness, survival and what   Adam Smith later described as self interest prevailed.
5. Capitalism - If there is a better or earlier example than these 51 Survivors  engaged in Private Ownership of Means of Production; I am still seeking it. If you know of one, Please...info@capitalistworkersofamerica.com 
                              
    And everyone lived happily ever-after. Are you kidding; it took almost 160 years, wars with Indians (Native Americans to those educated in socialist public schools)  France and Spain, 12 more English Colonies and a True Expansion of the Age of Enlightment. The "Age of Aquarius" pales by the coincidence of Adam Smith, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and King George III! Not to mention George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Samuel Adams, John Adams and a bunch of farmers who "clung to their guns and their Bibles" as well as their Freedom.
 
   You probably don't remember (and if you are under 50, you weren't taught about ) how this bunch of farmers decided Tyrannical Kings do not make good landlords. In fact , those guys concluded Kings, Queens, Monarchs, Rulers of any type Do Not Make  Good Government...
We the People do!

WHY SO MUCH HISTORY ? If you have to ask; you should probably go back to MTV or moveon.org.

BUT WAIT!  THERE IS MORE! Maybe you are curious why more Americans believe in Free Enterprise, Free Markets, Capitalism and American Exceptionalism than feudalism, socialism, communism and liberalsim?
That, my friend, is a lot of "ism"s...Choose One and We Will Do Battle. 

     Publication of Thomas Paine's Common Sense and Adam Smith's The Wealth of Nations coincided with The First American Revolution .

                                             More History of American Free Enterprise and Capitalism  will be here.
                                               Please help with your additions and corrections at our GuestBook Page.
                                                                                     Thanks, Larry