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 Thanksgiving's
Origin
The celebration of Thanksgiving in America was probably
derived from the harvest-home ceremonies originally held in England. These were
days reserved to thank God for plentiful crops and a bountiful harvest.
Accordingly, this holiday still takes place late in the Fall Season, after crops
have been gathered. Most recently, Thanksgiving Day in the United States is
usually a family affair, complete with sumptuous dinners and happy reunions;
however, it is also traditionally a time for serious religious contemplation,
church services and prayer.
The first observance of Thanksgiving in America was entirely
religious in nature and involved no form of feasting. On December 4, 1619, a
group of 38 English settlers arrived at Berkeley Plantation on the James
River...a location now known as Charles City, Virginia. The charter of the group
required that the day of arrival be observed as a Day of Thanksgiving to God.
The first Thanksgiving in the New England area was celebrated
in 1621, a little less than a year after the Plymouth colonists had settled in
America. Popularly known as the Pilgrims, they had set sail from Plymouth,
England on a ship called the Mayflower on September 6, 1620. They were fortune
hunters, bound for the resourceful 'New World'. The Mayflower was a small ship
crowded with men, women and children, besides the sailors on board. Aboard were
passengers comprising the 'separatists', who called themselves the "Saints",
and others, whom the
separatists called the "Strangers".
After land was sighted in November following 66 days of
a lethal voyage, a meeting was held and an agreement of truce was worked out
between the Saints and Strangers. It was called the Mayflower Compact.
The agreement guaranteed equality among the members of the two groups. They
merged together to be recognized as the "Pilgrims." They elected John Carver as
their first governor.
Contrary to popular belief, however, Plymouth Rock was not the
site of the original colony. When the Pilgrims landed there on December 11, 1620
in search of fresh provisions, they were greeted with hostility by the natives
in the immediate vicinity and put back out to sea almost at once. A little
further south, they came across Cape Cod, a much more favorable anchorage than
Plymouth had proved to be and a native population which was more cordial in
nature. Weary from their voyage and in no mood to hunt down the site mandated by
their charter (which was considerably further down the coast and somewhere
within the limits of the original grant of the Virginia Company of Plymouth),
the Pilgrims decided to establish their colony within this friendly territory.
That initial harsh Massachusetts winter killed approximately
one-half of the original 102 colonists. In the following Spring of 1621, the
Indians, led by two braves named Samoset (of the Wampanoag Tribe) and
Squanto (of the Patuxtet Tribe), taught the survivors how to plant corn
(called "maize" by the natives) and how to catch alewives (a variety of the
herring family) in order that the fish might be used as a fertilizer to growing
pumpkins, beans and other crops. Samsoset and Squanto also instructed the
Pilgrims in the arts of hunting and angling. By that Summer, despite poor crops
of peas, wheat and barley, a good corn yield was expected and the pumpkin crop
was bountiful. In early Autumn, to recognize the help afforded the colonists by
the Indians and to give thanks for having survived, Governor William Bradford
arranged for a harvest festival. Four men were sent "fowling" after ducks and
geese. Turkey may or may not have been a part of the forthcoming meal since the
term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any type of wild fowl.
The festival lasted three days. Massasoit, local sachem or
chief of the Wampanoag, together with 90 Indians from the various Eastern
Woodlands Tribes, participated in the ceremony. There can be little doubt that
the majority of the feast was most likely furnished by the indigenous
population. It is certain that they provided venison. The remainder of the meal,
eaten outdoors around large tables, also probably included fish, berries, boiled
pumpkin, watercress, leeks, lobster, dried fruit, clams, wild plums and
cornbread. The celebration of this first New England Thanksgiving is believed to
have taken place sometime between September 21 and November 9.
The event, however, was a one-time celebration. It was not
repeated the following year, nor was it intended to be an annual festival. It
was not until 55 years later than another Thanksgiving Day was officially
proclaimed, when the Governing Council of Charlestown, Massachusetts convened on
June 20, 1676 to weigh how to best express thanks for the good fortune that had
secured the establishment of their community. By unanimous vote, Edward Rawson
(the Clerk of the Council) was instructed to announce June 29 as a Day of
Thanksgiving. Yet again, this proved to be only a one-time event.
The story of Thanksgiving continues in "How
it became a National Holiday?"
Personalized
Letter Making Program An automated program for making highly
personalized holiday letters. About 200 letters to choose from. Kids
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raised by this program.
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