As we gather for Thanksgiving, a holiday rooted in gratitude, we also admire the grit and self-reliance of the earliest American settlers. It is worth reflecting on the foundations they laid for our nation, as their understanding of liberty (freedom from government) still shapes debates today. Even while Iowans consider the modern-day problem of property tax bills, we should step back and ask a key question: is government actually working as it was originally intended, and is it meant to function this way?
To answer that, we must look to the worldview of the first English settlers.
When the early colonists came from Europe, they brought with them not only supplies and religious convictions but a belief that they were building a model society. John Winthrop famously described this vision as a “city upon a hill,” watched by the world. This sense of purpose shaped their expectations of government (what it could and couldn’t do) and one another. At the heart of their political philosophy was a simple conviction: government exists to secure rights, not to manage society.
Liberty was seen as a natural right, a gift from God and nature, not a privilege granted by rulers. Settlers in the various colonies up and down the Atlantic coast believed the role of government was limited, protective, and strictly restrained.
Early Americans understood something we often forget today: institutions do not create a free people; a free people create the institutions. Families taught virtue, churches reinforced moral duties, and neighbors relied on one another in times of need. Education, charity, and civic life were handled locally, through voluntary cooperation—not through centralized programs.
These habits shaped a citizenry capable of self-rule.
We still see echoes of this today. During the recent federal government shutdown, Americans on food assistance temporarily lost their subsidy. Churches, nonprofits, and private donors stepped up significantly for their neighbors. This giving reflected a deeply rooted American belief that society, not government, should be the first responder to human need.
Life in the New World reinforced these ideals. Far from Old World aristocracies and centralized authority, settlers were thrust into an environment that demanded self-reliance. Families cleared land, built homes, forged livelihoods, and defended what they created, all while being free to worship as they saw fit. Liberty was not abstract, it was practical and essential.
And because their survival depended on the fruits of their labor, property rights became personal, tangible, and sacred.
Applying principles behind America’s founding make today’s property-tax burden hard to justify. John Locke, whose writings profoundly shaped the Declaration of Independence, argued that people form governments to protect their natural rights, foremost among them being property. In Locke’s view, individuals surrender only enough freedom to create a government capable of safeguarding what they already own. That view, when translated to current policy discussions, means that when rising property taxes threaten a family’s ability to stay in their home, the government is no longer protecting property—it’s consuming it. That violates the very social contract the Founders believed legitimate government depends on.
Colonial governments, though tiny by modern standards, were built around this understanding. Their core responsibilities were to:
They did not run welfare systems, regulate daily life, or manage the economy. Citizens feared that dependence on government would weaken responsibility, undermine virtue, and ultimately threaten liberty itself.
Today, Iowa grapples with high property taxes and state and local officials should remember this fundamental truth: America’s early governments were not designed to provide an ever-expanding list of services; they were designed to protect rights so that free individuals and communities could flourish on their own.
This Thanksgiving season, with a new legislative session just over the horizon, Iowans (and Iowa lawmakers in particular) should reflect on the legacy of a people who believed freedom was precious, property was sacred, and self-government was both a right and a duty.
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