As word came in today of the “eviction” of the Occupy Wall Street protesters from Zuccotti Park in Manhattan, I thought about our weekend visit to Williamsburg and Jamestown.

As a kid, the story told in my history lessons was that the Pilgrims came to America for its freedom. What this weekend’s visit to the Jamestown Settlement Museum reminded me of was that the first (European) settlers in America – the Jamestown settlers of 1607 – weren’t seeking freedom at all but riches. Those settlers weren’t seeking to establish a government, colony, or society but a company: the Virginia Company. America’s government was a business.

The other interesting thing was the tour of the historic gaol (jail) in Colonial Williamsburg. The cells housing prisoners were all spartan and exposed to the elements, except for the cell for debtors. The debtors’ cell was the only one that had a fireplace. Financial crimes weren’t considered as serious as robbery or other crimes.

Not a lot has changed in four hundred years, has it?