THE HISTORY OF THANKSGIVING

Introduction

Thanksgiving is a day to celebrate the blessings and good fortune in our lives. Families gather together and feast upon turkey, pumpkin pie, and all the other traditional thanksgiving trimmings. After the big feast, families may visit; watch a football game or parade on television, or even take a nap.

Unfortunately, what we are taught in school is not always the true history of Thanksgiving. Historically, the first Thanksgiving was not at Plymouth Rock. Many years before the Europeans arrived on America's soil, the Indians had celebrations of thanksgiving. Furthermore, there were several other recorded thanksgivings. One of these was at St. Augustine, Florida on September 8, 1856. In celebration of their safe arrival to the New World, Spanish settlers held a mass with a feast afterwards. Another thanksgiving was at Berkely, Virginia on December 4, 1619. The English Colonists knelt along the banks of the James River and had a prayer of thanksgiving for their safe arrival.

Who Were the Plymouth Colonists?

Part of the Plymouth colonists were Separatists. They did not celebrate Thanksgiving as we do today. For them, Thanksgiving was a time of prayer, fasting, and reflection.

Separatists were English Puritans who broke away from the Church of England because they felt the church did not complete its work on Reformation. Harassed and persecuted in Europe, they wanted to make a new life in America. However, the Puritans cannot be looked at as victims. If anything, they were exploiters.

When the English landed in America, they already were aware Indians inhabited the land. They had seen Native Americans who had been captured and taken to England to use as slaves. However, it did not matter to them that the land was inhabited. Believing the Indians were heathens, they thought any undeveloped land was theirs for the taking, and they fully intended on taking the land away from the Native Americans.

The Journey to America

Initially, two ships, the Mayflower and Speedwell, left Southampton, England for America. However, after leaving port, the Speedwell leaked water. After two unsuccessful attempts, half of the discouraged passengers went back home while the other half boarded the Mayflower. Finally, on September 16, 1620, the Mayflower embarked for America with 103 passengers and additional crewmembers.

The Mayflower voyage was not without problems. One callous, young man condemned and cursed those who were poor and sick on a daily basis. Accordingly, he wanted to throw them overboard; but in the end, he met his own karmic justice. Becoming deathly ill, he died. Afterwards, he was thrown overboard instead.

Except for the hardhearted sailor, the first part of the voyage was smooth sailing. However, the second half of the voyage was perilous. Buffeted by fierce storms and crosswinds, the ship leaked. One of the main beams bowed and cracked, and they raised the beam with a large iron screw. One man was even swept overboard. Managing to grab a hold of the topsail halyards, he was rescued with a boathook.

Sixty-six days and 2,750 miles later, the Pilgrims landed at Cape Cod on November 21, 1620. Initially, their destination was the mouth of the Hudson River. However, because of the storms and navigational errors, they were off course.

Colonization at Plymouth Rock

After they arrived at Cape Cod, they sent a small party of men to explore the surrounding countryside for a suitable settlement. Returning on December 26, they set sail again and landed at Plymouth. At Plymouth, they sent another exploration party out. Because of shoals and the treacherous seas, they decided to remain at Plymouth rather than sail for the Hudson.

After exploring the land, they decided to place the settlement between Cole's Hill and Fort's Hill because it was a defensive location. They also selected this location because a lot of the land was already cleared since it was prior Indian settlement. While exploring the settlement, they stole a cache of corn and desecrated and robbed a few Indian graves. Obviously, they did not have any respect for the Indians. Furthermore, in a 1623 Thanksgiving sermon given by "Mather the Elder," he gave special thanks to God for the smallpox plague that wiped out the prior settlement.

While the healthy men began building the settlement, the women, children, and sick men stayed within the ship. They started with a common house, and by mid January, they began to unload provisions off the ship. By February, they already had a few tense interactions with the neighboring Indians. Consequently, they placed another four canons on Fort Hill. In March, the remaining ship's inhabitants moved out. In April, the Mayflower returned to England. By spring, only four common houses and seven residences were built. However, by April 21, nearly half of the passengers had died too. If it was not for a neighboring Indian called Squanto, it is questionable whether any of the colonists would have survived until Thanksgiving.

Who Was Squanto?

Sqanto lived among a neighboring Indian tribe called the Wampanoags. Originally a Patuxet Indian, he was kidnapped by an Englishman named, Thomas Hunt. When Thomas arrived in Spain with his abductees, he sold them as slaves. Rescued by Spanish friars, Squanto eventually made his way to England. While in England, he was employed by John Slaney. John Slaney sent him on expedition to Newfoundland. After returning to England again with Thomas Derner, later Squanto traveled the New World with Derner. When Squanto arrived at his birthplace, it was empty. The tribe was wiped out by epidemic. Unfortunately, more sorrow was yet to come. Since they were in the area of the Wampanoags, a squirmish developed. Derner was killed, and Squanto was captured.

Learning to Survive at Plymouth

Since Sqanto was familiar with English, in March, he and another Indian were sent as emissaries to greet the new colonists and find out whether the colonists were friend or foe. Since the colonists were unprepared to survive in the New World, when the other emissary left, Squanto remained behind to assist the colonists. He taught them how to plant Indian corn and other local crops. He helped them establish vital trade relationships with the Indians. He also taught them how to fertilize their crops with fish fertilizer. It is unknown whether Squanto learned about fertilization from the Indians or through his travels. However, one thing is known. Although there were problems with Squanto later on, the colony may not have survived without his help. Because of him, the colonists had enough food supplies to survive the upcoming winter.

The First Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving celebrations were common among the Native Americans. Whereas with the colonists, thanksgiving was usually a time fasting and quiet reflection. Regardless of the reason, after the harvest, ninety members of Wampanoags and the colonists joined for three days of feasting, games, and story telling.

Although it is true that the colonists and Wampanoags did have a three-day feast, the initial purpose was not necessarily for thanksgiving. According to one historical document, the governor sent out a hunting party out to gather more food to celebrate "the fruits of their labor." However, Winslow's account said nothing about inviting the Wampanoags to the celebration. It did state that Massasoit, the chief of the Wampanoags, along with some ninety Indians appeared at the celebration. When the Indians saw the colonists were celebrating, they sent out a hunting party too and presented the colony with five deer.

According to some theories, the Indians did not entirely trust the colonists, and they may have shown up to ascertain what the gunshots were from. Likewise, the colonists viewed the Indians as potential threats since they had a larger number of people than the colony. Hence, it is believed by some that the colonists invited the Wampanoags to their celebration for the purpose of negotiating a treaty that would secure the lands of the Pilgrim Plantation for the colonists.

The Celebration

Unlike our Thanksgiving celebrations of today with all the trimmings, the colony's meal was different in many ways. First, it is not known whether they had turkey. Edward Winslow wrote the only surviving account of Thanksgiving. His account only said the colonists had returned with four fowls. Secondly, they did not have white potatoes or yams because they were not grown in the area yet. Third, they did not have boiled corn because the corn supplies would have been dried already in preparation for winter. Fourth, they did not have cranberry sauce because of the low supplies of sugar. Furthermore, it was more than fifty years before berries were boiled with sugar as a meat accompaniment. Neither did they have pumpkin pie since there were not any ovens to bake with. In fact, the fowls were not baked either. At that time, the colonists cooked either over the hearth or on an open spit. However, we know at that time, in addition to wild fowl, local game, and seafood; they did have pumpkins, peas, squash, onions, beans, carrots, grapes, cranberries, blueberries, loganberries, plums, and cherries. Compared to today, their meal was probably much more meat intensive.

In addition to what the colonists served, the food was served differently. Because of the lack of the room, the meal was probably served outside. They did not use forks. Food was either eaten using spoons, knives, or their fingers. Large, cloth napkins were also used to wipe their hands off or pick up food.

It is not known whether they at a table or just grazed from pot to pot when they got hungry. However, if they did eat at a table, adults sat down to eat first while the servants and children served. Plates were not served individually. The best food was placed on the table closest to the most important people, and people usually ate the food which was closest to them. It is interesting to note, at that time, there were only four married woman and five adolescent girls to do all the cooking for approximately 150 people.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Puritans came to America to escape religious harassment and persecution, but it was not a journey without peril and hardship. Although the voyage was treacherous at times, all but two withstood the journey. However, even though they safely arrived; many colonists died shortly thereafter. Their weakened state from the voyage, the lack of shelter, the lack of provisions, and disease took a heavy toll on the colony. Fortunately, with the help of Sqanto and the Wampanoags, the remaining colonists were able to survive.

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