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Thanksgiving: a history of the holiday
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Most of us in the U.S. consider Thanksgiving an American tradition starting with the Pilgrims celebrating their escape from religious persecution in England. Did you know the Pilgrims originally fled to Holland, and settled there before coming to America. They left Holland because they considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat to their children's education and morality. From Holland they boarded a ship to travel to the "New World." Their trip was financed by The Merchant Adventurers, a group of English investors.
The agreement was that the Pilgrims would be given room and board upon the Mayflower in exchange for 7 years work for The Merchant Adventurers. The Mayflower set sail for the New World on On Sept. 6, 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 trip took 65 days, and because the ship was made of wood, all food was eaten cold, and the ship was not heated.
Many passengers on the Mayflower became sick due to the cold and dampness on the trip, and one person passed away. After land was sighted, the Saints and Strangers held a meeting that resulted in a pact ultimately called the "Mayflower Compact." As a result of this pact, the Strangers and Saints joined to form one group and called themselves the Pilgrims.
The Pilgrims finally settled at Plymouth and endured a long, devastatingly cold winter that resulted in the death of more than half those who arrived on the Mayflower. Only 50 of those who originally sailed on the Mayflower survived the first winter.
On March 16, 1621 the Pilgrims had their first official contact with the Native Americans in the New World. An Indian named Samoset who was an Abnaki Indian, walked into the Plymouth settlement and said "Hi." He spoke English that he had learned from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset. Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English.
Squanto who taught the Pilgrims much about how to survive in the New World, such as how to tap the maple trees for sap, and which plants were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to plant the Indian corn and fertilize the seeds with fish which decomposed and provided nutrients to the corn.
The harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves with enough food to put away for the winter. They had corn, fruits and vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky fires.
The Pilgrims were so grateful for their unexpected alliance with the Indians, all they had learned, and their successful first harvest, that they decided to have a celebration which lasted 3 days. That celebration, which is believed to have taken place in October 1622, was the first unofficial Thanksgiving celebration in America. The first declared and recognized Thanksgiving did not happen until 3 years later on November 29th.
The first official Thanksgiving holiday was declared by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863, more than 250 years after the Pilgrims landed in the New World. Now Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November every year, with each President proclaiming the holiday.
Did you know that Thanksgiving traditions date back to the 5th century and have been celebrated all over the world. Thanksgiving around the world has always been a celebration of a successful harvest. In fact, cornucopias, the traditional "horns of plenty" that grace so many Thanksgiving tables or sideboards for the holiday, first appeared in harvest celebrations that date back to the 5th century. Cornucopias have always symbolized "abundance, food, and fertility."
While details of the celebrations continue to evolve throughout the world, the reason for the celebration has remained the same through the ages. Throughout the world, the Thanksgiving celebration has come to symbolize all that we are thankful for in our lives, whether it is food, love, family, abundance or a new child. There is always something to celebrate, no matter how difficult life has been throughout the year.
Traditionally, the President of the United States has a huge Thanksgiving celebration with a bounty of food to share with family, staff, and dignitaries. So far there has been no word on how Thanksgiving will be celebrated by President and First Lady Obama, but you can be sure I will post that information when it becomes available.
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