History of Thanksgiving

THANKSGIVING is known to be the most celebrated, long weekend holiday in the United States. It is a time of reunion where families, friends and relatives gather for a holiday feast and a time to reflect on all the blessings we’ve received. Celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, it is considered an annual American Federal holiday which commemorates the harvest festival.

Thanksgiving generally is not based on any specific religion or doctrine. Its origin, however, may have started as a harvest festival but it has a religious undertone related to the deliverance of the Pilgrims, first from religious persecution and second from the brutal winter at Plymouth, Massachusetts.

To most Americans, the Pilgrims of Plymouth Massachusetts are the inspiration for today’s Thanksgiving Feast. According to historical sources, the Pilgrims who sailed to America were originally members of the English Separatist Church. They fled to Holland to escape religious persecution. Although, in Holland, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of living. In the hope of a better life, the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower in 1620. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44 Pilgrims, who called themselves “the saints,” and 66 others, whom the Pilgrims called “the strangers.” The long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. It led to many disagreements between the saints and the strangers. After land was sighted, a meeting was held, and an agreement was worked out, called the Mayflower Compact, which guaranteed equality and unified the two groups. They joined together and named themselves the "Pilgrims." They settled in Plymouth for it offered an excellent harbor. The first winter was exceptionally hard for the Pilgrims. Many died during the long winter. Out of 110 Pilgrims who left England, less than 50 survived.

After the winter of 1620, the pilgrims formed a relationship with the neighboring Wampanoag tribe who taught them about fishing, planting and hunting. By autumn of 1621, the pilgrims had collected enough food to feed the community through the coming winter. The Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness, they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had beaten the odds, and it was time to celebrate. The Wampanoags joined the pilgrims for a three-day feast in honor of their bounty. The feast probably did not include our modern Thanksgiving staple: turkey. More likely the pilgrims and Wampanoag dined on roast goose along with corn, codfish and lobster. This 1621 harvest meal is now commonly thought of as the first Thanksgiving.

The custom of an annually celebrated Thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. Yet for later generations of colonists, New England days of Thanksgiving has little to do with the 1621 harvest festival. Theirs was a religious holiday descended from the Puritan days of fasting, prayer and giving thanks to God. Every autumn, the governor of each colony declares days of Thanksgiving for bountiful harvests, victorious battles or drought ending rains. In late 1770, during the American Revolution, a day of national Thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress. In 1817, the New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century, many other states also celebrated Thanksgiving Day. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday. And the rest as they say is history. This Thanksgiving, let us be reminded of the story of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans. Let us honor a piece of the early American history and be thankful for what we have — no matter how much or how little. (www.asianjournal.com)

(Published November 19, 2008 p.mgzn2 LAMDWK)

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