Wait, a Native American who spoke English?

The untold story from early American history

In our last post, we looked at how European explorers “discovered” the Americas during the Age of Exploration. Today we’re continuing the story, focusing on a group you’ve definitely heard of: the Puritans.

They’re often called the Pilgrim Fathers and remembered as the founders of the United States. But when you dig into their actual journey, you find stories that rarely make it into school textbooks. Stories that are unfamiliar, emotional, and very human.

Freedom of religion? Or nowhere else to go?

In England, the official Church of England didn’t tolerate much religious diversity. The Puritans found themselves increasingly pushed to the margins of society.

By 1620, they’d had enough. They decided to leave England in search of religious freedom, setting their sights on present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

But why North America specifically? Well, South America was already claimed by the Spanish. Most other places were either too dangerous or already colonized. In reality, they didn’t have a lot of options. It was part survival instinct, part religious conviction.

No refrigeration, no comfort, just more than 4,000 miles across the ocean

The Puritans made the journey on a ship called the Mayflower. This wasn’t exactly a luxury cruise. No refrigerators, no modern comforts of any kind. For more than two months, they had to rely on wind, waves, and each other as they sailed more than 4,000 miles across the Atlantic.

Not everyone made it. Sickness and hunger took lives along the way. But eventually, in the winter of 1620, they reached the east coast of what we now call the United States.

They carved “1620” into a rock to mark their arrival. That rock still exists today as a tourist site called Plymouth Rock.

The thing is, the land wasn’t empty. Native people had been living there for generations.

A surprising greeting: “Hello!”

Right from the start, the Puritans faced hostility from Native Americans. And honestly, who could blame them? Earlier European explorers had stolen food, spread diseases, and even kidnapped native people. The locals had good reason to be wary of more newcomers.

Then something completely unexpected happened. One day, while the Puritans were huddled together, tired, cold, and scared, a Native man walked straight up to them and said, in perfect English, “Hello.”

Imagine their shock.

Meet Squanto: kidnapped, educated in Europe, and back home

That man was Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe.

Around 1605, Squanto had been kidnapped by British explorers and taken to Europe. He spent years there learning English and experiencing European life. He even converted to Christianity.

When Squanto finally made it back home, he discovered something heartbreaking. His entire tribe had died from diseases brought by earlier European visitors. He was the only one left.

Despite everything he’d been through, Squanto chose to help the Puritans. He became their interpreter and helped keep the peace.

Without Squanto, there might be no Thanksgiving

Squanto taught the Puritans how to plant corn, catch fish, and identify fertile land. He even showed them how to hunt wild turkeys, which were completely unknown to Europeans at the time.

Thanks to his help, the Puritans survived their first brutal winter. That successful harvest became what we now know as the first Thanksgiving.

In many ways, Squanto saved them.

But peace didn’t last long…

Unfortunately, the peaceful coexistence didn’t last. While the Puritans had arrived as religious refugees, the situation changed rapidly once the English government and colonial powers got involved.

The Jamestown colony had already been established in Virginia in 1607, and those settlers viewed Native Americans as “uncivilized.” Violence was inevitable.

In 1622, after a Native alliance attacked Jamestown, the English retaliated with massacres.

By 1646, colonial laws officially classified Native Americans as inferior to European settlers.

So much for that early peace. The age of expansion and conquest had begun in earnest.

“That early peace was just part of the founding myth. The real colonial history was one of brutal expansion.”

— Howard Zinn, A People’s History of the United States

The real story behind the feast

The story of Squanto and the Puritans goes way beyond a simple feel-good origin myth. It’s a complex tale of faith, survival, cultural collision, and the beginning of what would become an empire.

This Thanksgiving, when you’re carving that turkey, maybe take a moment to think about the real history behind the tradition.

<Recommended Book for Further Reading>

• A People’s History of the United States Paperback – by Howard Zinn (Author)