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The First Thanksgiving- traditions and their origins
Most of us are familiar with the stories of the first Thanksgiving the Indians and the Pilgrims meeting together and having a feast in the woods in 1621. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor Wm. Bradford (a devout Christian) proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast.
They suffered from cold, starvation and disease, and half of them were dead by spring. The survivors were in danger of suffering the same fate without much delay. But everything changed in the spring, when a lone Indian walked into the settlement and said, in English:
Welcome, English. I am Samoset. Do you have beer?"
The Pilgrims were astonished. Of all the places in America they could have come ashore, a friendly Indian, who somehow spoke their language -- and knew about beer, had found them. Once again, they were sure this was a sign of God's personal intervention.
Samoset explained he'd learned English -- and the fact that ships routinely carried beer -- from having had contact with English fishing vessels.
Unfortunately, one of the vessels had apparently also brought smallpox, which wiped out some of the local tribes. Samoset had survived. Therefore the local Indians invited their cousins from the Potomac River area to come to provide entertainment.
One tradition that is true, but little known is the Pilgrims enjoyed brewing beer. They learned how to brew beer during their 12 years long stay in Holland, before they set sail back to England, and ultimately to Massachusetts. But they do not teach that to the children for fearing that the little children will bring home paper beer steins instead of turkeys for Thanksgiving vacation.
Some older accounts of Thanksgiving history state that Pocahontas joined Captain Myles Standish for the first Thanksgiving celebration. Revisionist history states this isn't so because Pocahontas actually died just a few short years before the first celebration.
However according the newest data in regards to the history of Thanksgiving, we know the body of Pocahontas was dug up for the celebration and propped up at the end of the table. She was regarded as the wise old aunt who barely spoke a word and probably had too much beer since she was smiling the whole time
Originally the feast lasted three whole days. According to scholars of Thanksgiving history, this autumn harvest festival was a time of overeating, dancing, drinking and merriment. During that time, the women of the colony took care of the children, cooked the means, cleaned the tables and washed the dishes while gossiping about their husbands.
Not to be accused of not doing their share of work, the Pilgrim men went out and created a large, rectangular playing area in the woods with logs placed along side as benches. Thanksgiving legend states that pilgrims and Indians played games such as rugby, Native American soccer, badminton and Lawn Darts.
When those games ran their course, the local Indians decided to show the Pilgrims some of their animal husbandry skills with the animals of the woods. They taught the domesticated animals to chase after an animal skin trying to catch it. That is why they invited their cousins from the Potomac River area to participate with the trained animals of the north. Here is where the pilgrims and their friends began two new Thanksgiving traditions: smoking pipes, and drinking beer while they watched North American soccer with da Bears playing with the Washington Redskins.
Different days of thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the colonies after fall harvests; all thirteen colonies did not, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time until October 1777, when George Washington was the first president to declare the holiday, in 1789.
There are many other traditions for Thanksgiving, including the use of cranberries. Originally called crane berry, it derived its name from its pink blossoms and drooping head, which reminded the Pilgrims of a crane.
The different nicknames for Thanksgiving Day: Turkey Day (after the traditional Thanksgiving dinner), Macys Day (this is exclusive to New York City it is a reference to the Macys Day Parade), Yanksgiving (Canadians sometimes call the Thanksgiving in the US as Yanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.)
President Lincoln in his Thanksgiving proclamation of 1863 began the tradition of having Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. President Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. But Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains.
Regardless of the companionship and fun we find in this holiday, history does remind us that this is a religious holiday first. We do not give thanks to nothingness; we give thanks to God. That is because in our heart of hearts, we know that God has blessed us abundantly, far more than we can imagine, or even deserve. Yes, times are tough, and people out of work, but we do not have a dust bowl and depression as our grandparents did. God granted us the privilege of choosing our leaders, and an economy that will again grow.
God is in control always. His degree of control is absolute, and the evils of the day diminish neither his control of the universe nor concern for you who is the only creature on the planet made in the very image of God. Now that is something to really be thankful about, eh?
Some true things here, but not all
Most of us are familiar with the stories of the first Thanksgiving the Indians and the Pilgrims meeting together and having a feast in the woods in 1621. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621, to commemorate the harvest reaped by the Plymouth Colony after a harsh winter. In that year Governor Wm. Bradford (a devout Christian) proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. The colonists celebrated it as a traditional English harvest feast.
They suffered from cold, starvation and disease, and half of them were dead by spring. The survivors were in danger of suffering the same fate without much delay. But everything changed in the spring, when a lone Indian walked into the settlement and said, in English:
Welcome, English. I am Samoset. Do you have beer?"
The Pilgrims were astonished. Of all the places in America they could have come ashore, a friendly Indian, who somehow spoke their language -- and knew about beer, had found them. Once again, they were sure this was a sign of God's personal intervention.
Samoset explained he'd learned English -- and the fact that ships routinely carried beer -- from having had contact with English fishing vessels.
Unfortunately, one of the vessels had apparently also brought smallpox, which wiped out some of the local tribes. Samoset had survived. Therefore the local Indians invited their cousins from the Potomac River area to come to provide entertainment.
One tradition that is true, but little known is the Pilgrims enjoyed brewing beer. They learned how to brew beer during their 12 years long stay in Holland, before they set sail back to England, and ultimately to Massachusetts. But they do not teach that to the children for fearing that the little children will bring home paper beer steins instead of turkeys for Thanksgiving vacation.
Some older accounts of Thanksgiving history state that Pocahontas joined Captain Myles Standish for the first Thanksgiving celebration. Revisionist history states this isn't so because Pocahontas actually died just a few short years before the first celebration.
However according the newest data in regards to the history of Thanksgiving, we know the body of Pocahontas was dug up for the celebration and propped up at the end of the table. She was regarded as the wise old aunt who barely spoke a word and probably had too much beer since she was smiling the whole time
Originally the feast lasted three whole days. According to scholars of Thanksgiving history, this autumn harvest festival was a time of overeating, dancing, drinking and merriment. During that time, the women of the colony took care of the children, cooked the means, cleaned the tables and washed the dishes while gossiping about their husbands.
Not to be accused of not doing their share of work, the Pilgrim men went out and created a large, rectangular playing area in the woods with logs placed along side as benches. Thanksgiving legend states that pilgrims and Indians played games such as rugby, Native American soccer, badminton and Lawn Darts.
When those games ran their course, the local Indians decided to show the Pilgrims some of their animal husbandry skills with the animals of the woods. They taught the domesticated animals to chase after an animal skin trying to catch it. That is why they invited their cousins from the Potomac River area to participate with the trained animals of the north. Here is where the pilgrims and their friends began two new Thanksgiving traditions: smoking pipes, and drinking beer while they watched North American soccer with da Bears playing with the Washington Redskins.
Different days of thanksgiving were celebrated throughout the colonies after fall harvests; all thirteen colonies did not, celebrate Thanksgiving at the same time until October 1777, when George Washington was the first president to declare the holiday, in 1789.
There are many other traditions for Thanksgiving, including the use of cranberries. Originally called crane berry, it derived its name from its pink blossoms and drooping head, which reminded the Pilgrims of a crane.
The different nicknames for Thanksgiving Day: Turkey Day (after the traditional Thanksgiving dinner), Macys Day (this is exclusive to New York City it is a reference to the Macys Day Parade), Yanksgiving (Canadians sometimes call the Thanksgiving in the US as Yanksgiving to distinguish it from the Canadian Thanksgiving holiday.)
President Lincoln in his Thanksgiving proclamation of 1863 began the tradition of having Thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. President Roosevelt, seeking to lengthen the Christmas shopping season, proclaimed Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. But Congress passed a joint resolution in 1941 decreeing that Thanksgiving should fall on the fourth Thursday of November, where it remains.
Regardless of the companionship and fun we find in this holiday, history does remind us that this is a religious holiday first. We do not give thanks to nothingness; we give thanks to God. That is because in our heart of hearts, we know that God has blessed us abundantly, far more than we can imagine, or even deserve. Yes, times are tough, and people out of work, but we do not have a dust bowl and depression as our grandparents did. God granted us the privilege of choosing our leaders, and an economy that will again grow.
God is in control always. His degree of control is absolute, and the evils of the day diminish neither his control of the universe nor concern for you who is the only creature on the planet made in the very image of God. Now that is something to really be thankful about, eh?
