Thanksgiving, a tradition celebrated by millions of people in America and different variations around the world, is a time for showing gratitude for people we love. It is a time of togetherness and unity of families and friends. People often see Thanksgiving as turkey and stuffing under holy prayers of thanks, and people know the legend of “The First Thanksgiving” in Plymouth, Massachusetts. However, there is so much more to Thanksgiving than meets the eye, some facts that are good, others not so much.
On November 20, 1620, a ship named the Mayflower sailed from England to what we now refer to as New England, colonizing new land. The story goes that the native American tribes helped the colonists through their first winter, and that together, they held “The First Thanksgiving.” A harmonious congregation of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe to celebrate a successful harvest that lasted 3 days.
A depiction of the First Thanksgiving (Original image)
However, some of this information is not as it seems. Contrary to belief, the Mayflower did not land in Plymouth or even on undiscovered land. The pilgrims landed on Wampanoag Island (Or St. Davids Island, Bermuda, the name changed from King Phillips War which took place in the 1670’s). Only one person died before the ship made it to the ‘New world”, however, due to illness from the voyage, the cold temperatures, and lack of food, around 50 to 57 out of the 102 original passengers died before the fall of 1621, when the first Thanksgiving was held. Some of the Wampanoag could speak English, which helped us establish peace for the dinner, however, that said peace was very short-lived because of conflicts started by the English expansion in the new world.
“This is one of the reasons why Thanksgiving for some Native Americans is not a celebration but a painful reminder of the devastating impact of European colonization on Indigenous people,” said the National Archives of the United States. It is true that some Native American people do not celebrate Thanksgiving, since the holiday’s backstory was actually very deadly to their culture and ancestry. The first “National Day of Mourning” was held in the 1970s as a protest against the inaccuracy of the legend and to honor Native American ancestry, and is still celebrated by Indigenous people every Thanksgiving day.
Thanksgiving took root during the civil war when the “Thanksgiving Proclamation” speech, given by President Lincoln, declared that Thanksgiving would take place on the 4th Thursday of November. However, during the Great Depression, President Roosevelt (FDR) changed it to the second to last Thursday in order to assist in economic recovery. That means for a while, Thanksgiving was celebrated on two different days, until 1941 when congress decided to make it the 4th week.
“The First Thanksgiving” legend is known to be historically incorrect on multiple points, as shown above, but the story wasn’t even bequeathed by the original event. To establish Thanksgiving as a federal American holiday, lots of fighting took place. Magazine editor Sarah Joseph was the main lobbyist for a defined holiday, and in the mid 19th century. To set it, they came up with the story of the “First Thanksgiving”, which, as said above, is incorrect.
“Thanksgiving today may have little connection with the Plymouth harvest festival 400 years ago, but it has a long history nevertheless,” said the National Archives.
The food that we eat at Thanksgiving according to tradition consists of turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and many other unique American dishes. However, at the actual event, seafood such as fish and lobster was served by the Wampanoag to the Pilgrims, and the main dish served was actually deer meat.
In turn, this holiday may not be the glorified legend that we teach in classrooms, but it is intriguing to learn about and is celebrated by millions of Americans every year.
Happy Thanksgiving!
