Plymouth earns its distinction
First and foremost, the 400th anniversary of Plymouth's founding needs to be historically accurate ("For town birthday, foresight is 2020," Globe South, June 14). Plymouth's story, as noted by Town Manager Mark Sylvia, is very much different from that of Jamestown. The men who landed in Jamestown in 1607 were members of a business organization, the Virginia Company, who were looking for adventure, gold, and commercial profit. Although it is true that the House of Burgesses first met in 1619, the governor was appointed by the Virginia Company, who in turn appointed the Governor's Council.
The Pilgrims were looking for a permanent home and freedom from English rule. Descendants of the Pilgrims still live in Plymouth, and the Mayflower Compact is often thought of as the first written document that recognized that governments can only rule with the consent of those being governed. The Mayflower Compact remains the embodiment of American governance.
The focus of the Plymouth celebration should be that Plymouth is truly "America's Hometown." Sylvia correctly acknowledges that the Pilgrims were the first English settlers looking for a new and "permanent" home for their families. I am a direct descendant of John and Priscilla Alden, and I live here. I am not the only direct descendant who can make that claim. There are no Jamestown settlers who can make a similar claim, because no one lives in Jamestown.
Jamestown was abandoned, and its current US Census Bureau population is 0. It is difficult to understand how people can claim that Jamestown -- a "town" that no longer exists -- is the first "permanent" English settlement in America when no one lives there. Jamestown, as the article notes, is now a "historic site" maintained by the National Park Service, not a "town." Hence, Plymouth, more accurately than Jamestown, is America's first "permanent" English settlement and, without any argument, it is the only "permanent town" that can claim to be "America's Hometown."
Richard Davis
Plymouth
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