The Pil­grims did­n’t just give Amer­i­ca Thanks­giv­ing cel­e­bra­tions. They believed reli­gious free­dom and lib­er­ty were worth dying for. They made the Bible America’s most-read guide to life. And the Pil­grims’ covenant with God and man in 1620 and the form of self-rule they pio­neered would even­tu­al­ly shape America’s Con­sti­tu­tion and the entire government.