Yours and Mine: The Lesson of 1623

Overview

Looking to win the affection of a Plymoth Plantation enactor, a man takes a job enacting as her husband, and in the process learns that much of what we learned in school about the Pilgrims is not necessarily so. For example, did you know that the Pilgrims wore colorful clothing, and that many came to American soil in search of profit, not religious freedom? The enactor also learns that while the Plymoth Colony originally followed practices of property sharing, it became evident quickly that this system had major flaws. By 1623, the Pilgrims decided that private property ownership allowed for a much more efficient and productive workforce, yielding plentiful crop harvests. This laid the foundation for today's practices of private property rights, affecting many of our possessions such as i-Pods and cell phones.