"There’s a Tendency to Grab a Hold of Some Historical Incident and Yoke It to a Current Agenda"

"Historians say that the settlers in Plymouth, and their supporters in England, did indeed agree to hold their property in common—William Bradford, the governor, referred to it in his writings as the 'common course.' But the plan was in the interest of realizing a profit sooner, and was only intended for the short term; historians say the Pilgrims were more like shareholders in an early corporation than subjects of socialism."

In a 2010 New York Times article, Kate Zernike discusses competing narratives about the Pilgrims.