How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims

Today is Thanksgiving. So it’s time for my annual post on how private property rights saved the Pilgrims. Economist Benjamin Powell tells the story here:






This 1999 article by Tom Bethell has a more detailed account.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

UPDATE: Reason TV has more on this subject here.

UPDATE #2: For the benefit of various commenters, it’s worth nothing that, contrary to popular mythology, Native Americans made extensive use of property rights too. Other commenters try to defeat my point by noting that Plymouth Plantation was a corporation. However, corporations had a very different status in 17th century England than today. They were not purely private organizations, but individually chartered by the government to carry out purposes specifically mandated by the state. Until the establishment of general incorporation laws in the 19th century, it was not possible for any private party to form a corporation at will for the purpose of pursuing its own goals. More to the point, this corporation, like some others at the time, was specifically created to carry out governmental functions: it was given a monopoly of force, control of the justice system, and every other power typically wielded by the state. Local governments in England were legally referred to as “corporations” and regulated by such laws as the Corporation Act of 1661. The fact that a government is called a “corporation” for legal purposes does not change its nature. If the United States government changed its name to “USA, Inc.” tomorrow, it would not thereby cease to be a government.