The True Story of Thanksgiving as Told by Rush Limbaugh

Each year as Thanksgiving approaches, we find ourselves inundated with politically correct narratives about the origins of this quintessentially American holiday. But Rush Limbaugh, with his flair for storytelling and razor-sharp wit, consistently offered us the real story—one that avoids the overcooked fluff and replaces it with the sharp, unmistakable flavor of historical truth. Today, we pay homage to Rush by recounting the tale of the Pilgrims and their first Thanksgiving as he might have told it—with humor, clarity, and a keen grasp of what it all really means.

It begins in the early 17th century. Picture, if you will, an England ruled by the dogmatic hand of King James I and the unyielding authority of the Church of England. Anyone daring to worship outside of this established church faced persecution—arrest, imprisonment, even execution. It was a time when the notion of freedom, particularly the freedom to worship as one saw fit, was viewed as a threat to both the state and the crown. So, when a group of religious separatists, who we now know as the Pilgrims, sought a place where they could be free from the king's tyranny, they fled to Holland.

But the Netherlands, though tolerant, was not their dream home. After eleven years, these separatists, about 40 of them, made the perilous decision to sail across the Atlantic to the New World. They knew this journey would be fraught with danger. The Atlantic Ocean was no friend—it was a beast. Yet, to these Pilgrims, the call of freedom was worth the risk. And so, on August 1st, 1620, the Mayflower set sail, carrying 102 passengers, with Governor-to-be William Bradford among them. Bradford, a leader of the Pilgrims, set forth a vision for their new society: the Mayflower Compact. This was a pioneering document that established "just and equal laws" for the benefit of all members of the community—an early experiment in self-governance that derived its inspiration from biblical principles.

As Rush often emphasized, these Pilgrims were no ordinary men and women; they were deeply rooted in the lessons of the Bible. They modeled themselves after the ancient Israelites, seeking a Promised Land. When they finally arrived in the harsh, cold land of New England in November, they found, as Bradford wrote in his journal, a desolate wilderness. There were no welcoming friends, no inns to offer warmth—only a bitter and untamed landscape. That first winter was brutal. Half of them perished, including Bradford’s wife. They died of disease, exposure, and starvation. It was their faith and their belief in their mission that kept them from giving up.

Then came spring. The Pilgrims, with the help of Native Americans—yes, those often celebrated as the saviors of this small colony—learned how to plant corn, fish for cod, and gather resources. Life began to improve, but as Rush Limbaugh famously said, this is where the history books like to leave us—where the sanitized, elementary school version of the story ends. But here’s the truth that Rush always reminded us of: despite all of these hardships, despite the new skills they learned, the Pilgrims were not yet thriving. Why? Because they were still working under a disastrous system.

You see, the Pilgrims' original contract with their London sponsors demanded collectivism. All they produced went into a common store, and from this, everyone was allotted an equal share. Nobody owned any individual property—they just had a communal share. In essence, this was socialism. The houses they built and the land they cleared belonged to everyone, regardless of how hard they worked. Predictably, as Governor Bradford noted, this system bred "much confusion and discontent." Why work harder than anyone else if there’s no individual reward? The industrious were disincentivized, while the idle reaped the benefits of others’ labor. It was, as Rush pointed out, a forerunner to the communes of the 1960s—complete with organic vegetables, but without a hint of efficiency or prosperity.

Bradford, recognizing the dire situation, took a bold step—he ditched collectivism. Each family was assigned their own plot of land, and they were allowed to keep what they produced. Property rights and the spirit of enterprise were unleashed. And what happened next was nothing short of a miracle. With the incentive to work for themselves, the Pilgrims’ productivity soared. As Bradford recorded, "This had very good success for it made all hands industrious." Suddenly, the fields were full of corn, and the colony began to prosper.

This, dear reader, is the real story of Thanksgiving. It wasn't just a meal shared with Native Americans—though they did indeed feast together, celebrating the bounty of their harvest. No, the true reason for giving thanks was far greater: the Pilgrims gave thanks to God for guiding them to the principles that allowed them to survive and then thrive—the principles of hard work, private property, and individual liberty. It wasn’t socialism that saved them; it was capitalism. It was the power of personal responsibility and the freedom to reap the fruits of one's own labor that turned near-starvation into abundance.

This is the story that Rush Limbaugh loved to tell, year after year. He wanted to remind us that the essence of Thanksgiving was about giving thanks for liberty, for the guidance to escape the grip of collectivism, and for the abundance that comes when individuals are allowed to flourish. He often pointed out the similarities to the story of Joseph in Genesis—how Egypt prospered when Pharaoh reduced taxes to 20%. Long before Karl Marx penned a word, the Pilgrims learned a lesson about human nature that socialism has repeatedly ignored.

And so, as we gather with family and friends, let us remember not just the turkey, the stuffing, and the football games—let us remember the real story of Thanksgiving. Let us give thanks for the principles of freedom that saved the Pilgrims from certain doom. Let us be grateful for the insight that individual liberty—not collectivist utopia—is what has driven America to greatness. And let us honor the memory of Rush Limbaugh, who, like those early Pilgrims, had the courage to speak truth to power, to challenge the orthodoxy, and to remind us all of the timeless lessons of history.

Happy Thanksgiving, and may we always be grateful for the liberty that keeps this great experiment alive.

Listen to Rush tell the story:

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