Most
stories of Thanksgiving history start with the harvest celebration
of the pilgrims and the Native Americans that took place
in the autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day
feast in celebration of a good harvest, and the local natives
did participate, this "first thanksgiving" was
not a holiday, simply a gathering. There is little evidence
that this feast of thanks led directly to our modern Thanksgiving
Day holiday. Thanksgiving can, however, be traced back to
1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the first president to proclaim
Thanksgiving Day. The holiday has been a fixture of late
November ever since.
However, since most school children are taught that the
first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 with the Pilgrims and
Indians, let us take a closer look at just what took place
leading up to that event, and then what happened in the
centuries afterward that finally gave us our modern Thanksgiving.
The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower
were originally members of the English Separatist Church
(a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England
and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious
persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance,
but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way
of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the
Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance
a pilgrimage to America. Most of those making the trip aboard
the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect
the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original
colonists were Separatists.
The Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11,
1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning
of the following fall, they had lost 46 of the original
102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621
was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided
to celebrate with a feast - including 91 natives who had
helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. It is believed
that the Pilgrims would not have made it through the year
without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a
traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving"
observance. It lasted three days.
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling"
after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild
turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that
they had venison. The term "turkey" was used by
the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
Another
modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin
pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that
treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so
there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they
did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried
bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider,
potatoes, or butter. There was no domestic cattle for dairy
products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered
by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include
fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams,
venison, and plums.
This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the
following year. Many years passed before the event was repeated.
It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of thanksgiving
was proclaimed. On June 20 of that year the governing council
of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine
how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had
seen their community securely established. By unanimous
vote they instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim
June 29 as a day of thanksgiving. It is notable that this
thanksgiving celebration probably did not include Native
Americans, as the celebration was meant partly to be in
recognition of the colonists' recent victory over the "heathen
natives," (see the proclamation). By then, it had become
apparent to the settlers that the natives were a hindrance
to their quest for more land, so the good will they shared
at the first feast had long been lost.
A
hundred years later, in October of 1777 all 13 colonies
joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated
the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But
it was a one-time affair.
George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving
in 1789, although some were opposed to it. There was discord
among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few
pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later,
President Thomas Jefferson opposed the idea of having a
day of thanksgiving.
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts
eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale
wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston
Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally,
after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters
to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality
when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday
in November as a national day of Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving
was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date
was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin
Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday
in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public
uproar against this decision caused the president to move
Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later.
And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress
as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.