The history behind Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is a legal holiday in all states, the District of Columbia, the Canal Zone, Guam, Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Thanksgiving with its roast turkey, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pies is a distinctively American holiday. The legacy of the Pilgrims is cherished by all Americans as a time for giving thanks for the harvests and for other blessings the year has brought. The idea of such a day was not new with the Pilgrims. It is claimed that the Chinese observed such rites thousands of years ago. “Thanksgiving can also be traced back to the ancient Jewish Feast of Tabernacles, which lasted eight days, also to a nine-day celebration, the Greek feast of Demeter, goddess of agriculture; and the Roman Cerealia, honoring Ceres. Both the Greek and Roman festivals featured sacrifices to the deities; and these ceremonies were combined with music and feasting”.
The pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious prosecution in their native England. “In 1609 a group of pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years their children spoke Dutch and they had become attached to the Dutch way of life. But the Pilgrims considered the Dutch lighthearted and considered them a threat to their children’s education and morality”. They decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. Their trip was financed by a group of English investors, the Merchant Adventurers. It was agreed that the Pilgrims would be given passage and supplies in exchange for their working for their backers for 7 years.
On September 6, 1620, the Pilgrims set sail for the New World. 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. There was the danger of fire on the wooden ship, so food had to be eaten cold. Many passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted on November 10th.”The long trip led to many disagreements between the “Saint” and the “Strangers”. After land was sighted a meeting was held and an agreement was worked out. This document was called the Mayflower Compact. It guaranteed equality and unified the two groups”. They joined together and called themselves the Pilgrims. Although they had sighted land off Cape Cod, they did not settle until they arrived at Plymouth which had been named by Captain John smith in 1614. A large brook offered a source for fish. Their biggest concern was attack by the local Native American. The Patuxets was a peaceful group.
The small band of Pilgrims, who landed at the bleak shore of Plymouth on December 11, 1620, passed a winter filled with sickness and hardship. Forty seven of the 103 Mayflower passengers died. When the spring reach each family had a home; and a friendly Native American, Squanto brought the Pilgrims some corn. He taught them hot to grow it, also how to net fish. Squanto also taught the Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap, which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. In the spring the settlers planted twenty acres of corn, and some peas. The corn did well; the peas were dried out by the hot sun.
During their stay in Holland, the Pilgrims had seen the Dutch celebrate a day of thanksgiving for their victory over the Spanish in October 1575. It seemed appropriate to have a day for feasting and celebration. The pilgrims sent out four men out to hunt. The hunters returned with many wild turkeys, wood pigeons, partridges, geese, and ducks. Other brought clams, eels, and various kinds of fish. The women were busy preparing foods. They ate boiled pumpkins, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn corp. The feast included fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, lamb, and plums.
The pilgrims had made a treaty of peace with the Indians and their chief, Massasoit, they decided to invite them. Ninety natives accepted the invitation. The Indians killed five deer for the feast and are said to have introduced the settlers to eating oysters. After dinner, the pilgrims and their guest engaged in races and the pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills.
During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress set several Thanksgiving Days for the people to rejoice in their homes and churches for victories won. In 1778 George Washington proclaimed a day on which to give thanks for the treaties just concluded with France. Three years after the War of 1812, President Madison pro claimed a special thanksgiving for peace. In 1817, New York had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom.
By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. Eventually it grew over the land and that we should have a national thanksgiving day. After the victory at Gettysburg, there was great rejoicing in the North. President Lincoln issued a proclamation and named the last Thursday in November as the date.
Reference:
http://www.history.com/minisites/thanksgiving/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving
http://members.aol.com/calebj/thanksgiving.html
http://www.pilgrimhall.org/f_thanks.htm
http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/
