Thanksgiving Story
Published: November 26, 2009
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Our story begins with a group of people called the Separatists who traveled to Holland from England to escape religious persecution by the church of England. In Holland, they enjoyed more religious freedom, but they eventually grew tired of the Dutch way of life, thinking it immoral. So the Separatists made agreements with the London Stock Company to finance a pilgrimage to America. About 34 Separatists and 68 other travelers set sail in a ship called 'the Mayflower' sailing across the Atlantic Ocean to North America.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was a disaster. By the beginning of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed across; Most of whom died of starvation and disease.
They turned to Native Americans, who were knowledgeable of the terrain, vegetation, and animals available, and the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. To give thanks to the Native Americans for their help, and charity, ie 'giving', the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast which included 91 Native Americans who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year.
Although America does have 'traditional' foods for thanksgiving, the foods we eat today were most likely very different from the food they ate then. It was William Bradford, the Governor of Plymouth who sent four men hunting wild fowl to be prepared for their dinner. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of the feast, but large numbers of wild turkey do occupy the region of Massachusetts along with wild ducks and geese. The term 'turkey' was used generally by the Pilgrims to mean any kind of wild bird.
It is also unlikely that the first feast included pumpkin pie, which has become one of the standardized desserts for the festival. Their supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or cookies of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a fried bread from their corn crop called 'corn-bread' which is still quite popular in the southern regions of the United States. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There were no domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered to be poisonous by Europeans. But the feast did include, fish, berries, nuts, lobster, dried fruit, clams, deer meat, and plums.
Unfortunately that celebration was not repeated the following year. Many years passed before the event was repeated. Various other forms of thanksgiving days were declared and forgotten over time. It wasn't until 1789 that Thanksgiving in the United States started taking a formal role in our lives.
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it and later, President Thomas Jefferson opposed the idea of having a day of thanksgiving as well. It wasn't until 1863 when President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
Today's Thanksgiving in the United States is a day where you get together with your family and friends, eat, drink, talk, watch American Football, and have a nice relaxing day. My grandmother, on Thanksgiving used make the most delicious cookies you have ever tasted. And fudge, and good old American Apple Pie. Yummy! Most commonly you'll find Turkey and Ham as a common meat, the traditional pumpkin pie, potato salad, cranberry sauce, deviled eggs, and many other wonderful dishes.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Michael - 2009
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Mr Michaels "I want what all men want...I just want it more" 5W2H
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