pWere the pilgrims illegal immigrants?

Results

57 %

No, of course not

30 %

Yes, they were

13 %

I can see both sides

@Feb '13 V 432 votes c 242 comments

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432 Votes

u

Mon
Atcman endorsed gammler

v No, of course not
u

Mon
aladinsane endorsed Dan_Tien

v Yes, they were
Mon

razrbackrepub

v I can see both sides

It wasn't right at all what happened to the native Americans. It is a dark period in America's history. I have Scottish and Cherokee ancestry. Both are proud and humble people. Either way they were almost wiped out by English.

Post
Mon

Greggmcneill

v Yes, they were

Europeans stole this land from the Native Americans who were here over 10,000 years earlier.

Post
u

Sun
valerie0714 voted

v Yes, they were
u

Sun
veryconfused voted

v I can see both sides
Jun 16

1971tennessee

v No, of course not

How can you be an illegal alien in a country that does not exist yet?

Post
Jun 15
Mojave888 endorsed Dan_Tien

v Yes, they were
Jun 15
Nonya voted

v I can see both sides
Jun 15
ladywaterwood voted

v I can see both sides
Jun 14
east2west voted

v Yes, they were
Jun 14

wangotango

v No, of course not

Theres no comparison between the pilgrims and the law breaking illegal aliens. There wasnt any laws at that time. Now there is and illegals have ruined certain types of businesses and damn sure shouldnt be given any rights afforded to a US citizen. They are lawbreakers and should be treated as such.

Post
u

Jun 13
kosmik endorsed Litdes

v Yes, they were
Jun 12
usmom3 voted

v Yes, they were
Jun 11
foodbaby voted

v Yes, they were
Jun 10
dfaustin voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 10
Liam_npc voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 9
Bjwalker1371 endorsed gammler

v No, of course not
u

Jun 8
hancel voted

v No, of course not
Jun 8
Republiccommi endorsed DanielZ

v I can see both sides
Jun 6

jeffreyknee

v No, of course not

The natives also took lands from each other over centuries.

Post
u

Jun 6
USN-22 voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 6
skspls voted

v I can see both sides
Jun 6
stevesampson voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 6
HMB1114 voted

v I can see both sides
Jun 6
JumpRoundhouse endorsed Thunderchicken

v No, of course not
u

Jun 6
iraya endorsed blue_yahoo

v No, of course not
Jun 5
LGRepublican endorsed Thunderchicken

v No, of course not
Jun 4
7777777GGG voted

v Yes, they were
u

Jun 4
yorgi voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 4
sml11 endorsed DanielZ

v I can see both sides
u

Jun 4
DIAMONDG81 voted

v No, of course not
Jun 3
Tbplummer1951 voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 2
Knoll37 voted

v Yes, they were
u

Jun 2
gemstone voted

v No, of course not
u

Jun 2
sspphoto endorsed gammler

v No, of course not
Jun 1
rtoberl voted

v No, of course not
u

May 31
aledar voted

v No, of course not
May 31
H311RA151N voted

v No, of course not
May 30
O_S_Thomas endorsed Dan_Tien

v Yes, they were
May 30
BravoJuliet endorsed Thunderchicken

v No, of course not
u

May 30
Texasbuzz voted

v No, of course not
May 29
InquisitiveMe voted

v I can see both sides
u

May 29
Mlg1141 voted

v Yes, they were
u

May 28
politicteen voted

v Yes, they were
May 27

busseja

v No, of course not

and they say there are no dumb questions.

Post
u

May 26
farmer_bruce endorsed Dan_Tien

v Yes, they were
May 26
Carach voted

v No, of course not
May 26

Thegrif

v No, of course not

No, there was no law, and no America, so how could they be illegal anything.

Post
u

May 25
Pacdog voted

v No, of course not

Mon

razrbackrepub

v I can see both sides

It wasn't right at all what happened to the native Americans. It is a dark period in America's history. I have Scottish and Cherokee ancestry. Both are proud and humble people. Either way they were almost wiped out by English.

Post
Mon

Greggmcneill

v Yes, they were

Europeans stole this land from the Native Americans who were here over 10,000 years earlier.

Post
Jun 16

1971tennessee

v No, of course not

How can you be an illegal alien in a country that does not exist yet?

Post
Jun 14

wangotango

v No, of course not

Theres no comparison between the pilgrims and the law breaking illegal aliens. There wasnt any laws at that time. Now there is and illegals have ruined certain types of businesses and damn sure shouldnt be given any rights afforded to a US citizen. They are lawbreakers and should be treated as such.

Post
Jun 6

jeffreyknee

v No, of course not

The natives also took lands from each other over centuries.

Post
May 27

busseja

v No, of course not

and they say there are no dumb questions.

Post
May 26

Thegrif

v No, of course not

No, there was no law, and no America, so how could they be illegal anything.

Post
May 25

DogLady_1

v No, of course not

Pilgrims invaded and wiped out peaceful communities and tribes of people... But the natives of this continent do not believe that anyone owns the earth. It belongs to everyone, and we can't take it with us when we die. What the Indians didn't expect is for the pilgrims to not understand the concept of sharing the land and being a good steward of natural resources and living peacefully with other human beings. In other words, pilgrims were more like termites, than immigrants... Invasive, destructive pests who only cared about what they wanted, and cared nothing about who/what they had to annihilate to get it.

B1

Post
u

May 24

cpier14

v No, of course not

No laws no crime

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May 21

FreelancerFl

v I can see both sides

Consider the following, there was no defined nation at the time, and the Indian tribes didn't have the same definition of land ownership as the Europeans. So, if the Indians did share the same definition of land ownership they could be considered illegal immigrants because they took land from the Indians, sometimes by force.

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May 19

mikev9359

v Yes, they were

Technically, yes. But at that time there were no set government to dictate law in this hemisphere as there was in Europe and Asia. Once the people who migrated here banded together and formed a government with laws, then it became an issue for those coming within those territories.

Post
u

May 19

fayban

v No, of course not

Of course not. We were conqueros then and still are whats the problem. This is our country won by war. All immigrants here currently should feel privileged we allow them here. What country wasn't built by war?

r1 reply

Post
May 21

FreelancerFl

New Zealand?

@FreelancerFl Post
u

May '13

Gatnos

v No, of course not

This is an example of the trash that is being taught in schools these days. It is part of the "Common Core" curriculum. In order for an activity to be illegal, there must be a law against that activity. No immigration laws existed at the time of the pilgrims.

r4 replies

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May 21

FreelancerFl

Actually, if the Indians viewed land ownership in the way the Europeans did, they would be considered illegal immigrants.

@FreelancerFl Post
u

May 21

Gatnos

@FreelancerFl But that's not the case, is it?

@Gatnos Post
May 22

FreelancerFl

@Gatnos Since there were no immigration laws at the time there was no such thing as illegal immigration.

@FreelancerFl Post
u

May 22

Gatnos

@FreelancerFl Correct!

@Gatnos Post
u

May '13

HawkTheSlayer

v No, of course not

And the forces that be are still trying, albeit for entirely different reasons. The afore mentioned groups all came here to have a better life, even the pilgrims, and sacrificed much to get here. They endured the hardships, era by era. The fight was an internal struggle with winners and losers from the inception of this nation through the struggles of cival war to modern day. This nation can resolve any problem or difference it has. That used to be my thinking until the '90's. The outside influence is strong. And getting stronger every day. Those who wish american success today do not have american values. Sadly, this includes many americans. Especially, those i...

Post
May '13

MongoAPillager

v No, of course not

We came,We saw,We kicked Ass,GET OVER IT!!! Moral of the story,right or wrong,Don,t bring a stick to a gun fight!!!

r3 replies

Post
May '13

Decent-Dissent

Mongo only pawn in game of life.

B2

@Decent-Dissent Post
May '13

MongoAPillager

@Decent-Dissent don, t know where choo choo went

@MongoAPillager Post
May 21

FreelancerFl

Rather, bring a knife to a gun fight. Stab them in the throat while they're laughing.

@FreelancerFl Post
u

May '13

URBS

v No, of course not

Funny how this debate uses, "Illegal" while all the other ones use, "Undocumented".

Post
May '13

PayThatCEO

v No, of course not

To have been "illegal" there would have had to be an immigration policy, which there wasn't. There would have had to be a country, which there wasn't. What the pilgrims (as well as those who came after them) was land owned by no one. Native Americans did not own the land. They had no deeds, no titles to anything. Legally, they owned nothing so nothing could be taken away. In their minds they might have thought they owned whatever land they sat on, but even tribes fought over ownership of land and once white men got to America they brought the rule of law with them.

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May '13

Prime_Meridian

v Yes, they were

Yes. By legal definition. If the Native Americans didn't give them permission to come here and establish colonies, that alone makes them "illegal immigrants", but then, so were the Native Americans who first came here from across the Bering Straits, from the South Seas and from Europe. There WERE people living in the Americas way back then. Just like we had TINY HORSES here before they became extinct and the Spaniards imported European and Arabic varieties of horses.

r1 reply

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May '13

PayThatCEO

No permission was needed. In the eyes of the law we believed in then and believe in now, Native Americans owned nothing in the way of land.

@PayThatCEO Post
o

May '13

Goose

v No, of course not

"Illegal" means against the law(s). Only civilized societies have those.

Post
u

May '13

DotsonB

v Yes, they were

Last time I checked they weren't citizens of The United States when they came here.

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R Load more comments...

Feb '13

Thunderchicken

v No, of course not

How can an act be illegal if there is no law against it?

B3

r12 replies

e56 endorsed

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Feb '13

Dan_Tien

v Yes, they were

...and the Native Americans tribes either didn't have the sense or the power to make them leave. Some of them said "Live and let live. They are already here. Let them live among us as neighbors and equals. What could it hurt?" Then look what happened.

r13 replies

e25 endorsed

Post
Feb '13

gammler

v No, of course not

What a ridiculous question! Using the same logic one could say the American Indians were illegal immigrants. They came from Asia.

B1

e21 endorsed

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Feb '13

spiritglove

v No, of course not

For the Pilgrims to be illegal immigrants there would have to be a law that defined any non-native as an immigrant and a system of immigration. the Native Americans believed the idea of owning land to be repugnant, they considered themselves part of the land. Pilgrams can be considered settlers, or invaders even but illegal immigrant status would require a body of laws that did not exist at the time. What a stupid controversy.

e13 endorsed

Post
u

Feb '13

Litdes

v Yes, they were

Either that or thieves. Takes your pick.

r1 reply

e10 endorsed

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Feb '13

DanielZ

v I can see both sides

To the extent that native people welcomed them, no; to the extent that they cheated and killed native people, yes.

e9 endorsed

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Feb '13

methinks

v No, of course not

Illegal immigrants to what country? There were various native tribes here, but there was no formal country with formal laws.

B1

r3 replies

e5 endorsed

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Feb '13

standout

v I can see both sides

my ancesters were cherokees.they did not believe that you owned the land.they also did not believe in lying or stealing.

r2 replies

e6 endorsed

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Feb '13

ASmith

v Yes, they were

They were not just illegal immigrants but imperialists, colonialists and mass murderers. Send them and their descendants back to Europe.

r1 reply

e4 endorsed

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u

Feb '13

bobrob

v Yes, they were

Not only were they illegal, but also immoral. The manner in which they ravished native American women would today get them the penthouse suite the slammer.

r1 reply

e4 endorsed

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