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by Dennis Rupert It seems that every year we are treated to articles attempting to disprove the "myth of Thanksgiving." In these
articles we are told that: Some of these accusations are not a serious concern. After all, who cares if the
Pilgrims served cranberries or not? But what seems to lie behind some of these articles is a desire to devalue the religious
nature of our present Thanksgiving holiday. This is unfortunate since Thanksgiving is one of the few holidays on the America
calendar that is not swept away with commercialism or mixed with pagan elements. So here is "The True Thanksgiving Story." We have included references to primary
sources which you can read for yourself. After reading I believe that you will still be able to eat your turkey with a happy
stomach and a grateful heart to God. Who observed the first Thanksgiving? Okay, it wasn't the Pilgrims. Of course, native Americans celebrated many thanksgiving
festivals before Europeans ever arrived in America. For example, the Wampanoag (Indian allies of the Pilgrims) held six thanksgiving
festivals during the year. The first recorded Christian thanksgiving in America occurred in Texas on May 23,
1541 when Spanish explorer, Francisco Vasquez de Coronado, and his men held a service of thanksgiving after finding food,
water, and pasture for their animals in the Panhandle. Another thanksgiving service occurred on June 30, 1564 when French Huguenot colonists
celebrated in solemn praise and thanksgiving in a settlement near what is now Jacksonville, Florida. On August 9, 1607 English settlers led by Captain George Popham joined Abnaki Indians
along Maine's Kennebec River for a harvest feast and prayer meeting. The colonists, living under the Plymouth Company charter,
established Fort St. George around the same time as the founding of Virginia's Jamestown colony. Unlike Jamestown, however,
this site was abandoned a year later. Two years before the Pilgrims on December 4, 1619, a group of 38 English settlers
arrived at Berkeley Plantation in what is now Charles City, Virginia. The group's charter required that the day of arrival
be observed yearly as a day of thanksgiving to God. Captain John Woodleaf held the service of thanksgiving. Here is the section
of the Charter of Berkley Plantation which specifies the thanksgiving service: "Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrival at the place assigned for plantacon in the
land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god." In addition to 1619, the colonists perhaps held service in 1620 and 1621. The colony was wiped
out in 1622. It was a private event, limited to the Berkeley settlement. Thus Spanish, French and British colonists held several Thanksgiving services in America before
the Pilgrim's celebration in 1621. Most of these early thanksgivings did not involve feasting. They were religious in nature,
i.e. worship services of thankfulness to God. What about the Pilgrim's Thanksgiving? In a The Pilgrims set aground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter
was devastating. Weakened by the seven-week crossing and the need to establish housing, they came down with pneumonia and
consumption. They began to die -- one per day, then two, and sometimes three. They dug the graves at night, so that the Indians
would not see how their numbers were dwindling. At one point, there were only seven persons able to fetch wood, make fires,
and care for the sick. By the spring, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower.2 The Pilgrims obviously needed help The harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one and the remaining colonists decided to celebrate
with a feast. The author of The First Thanksgiving states, "This was not a day of Pilgrim thanksgiving." Instead, she
writes, "This was pure celebration."3 This is the type of subtle statement that often occurs in reading about the
Pilgrim's first thanksgiving. It is not based on factual history, however. One can only guess at the motives of people who
write such things, but statements like this appear to be motivated by a desire to rob the event of any religious meaning. It is quite true that the word "thanksgiving" is not used in referring to the feast.
Much is made of this by secular authors who attempt to reinterpret the Pilgrim thanksgiving. But the only letter that we have telling us about the first Thanksgiving praises God for the harvest, makes reference to the "goodness of God"
in providing for them, and says that the feast was held so that they "might after a special manner rejoice together."4
That sounds like a Thanksgiving feast to me! (See the link to Primary Sources below.) Another author states: "In fact, the colonists didn't even call the day Thanksgiving.
To them, a thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and thank God for a specific event, such
as the winning of a battle. On such a religious day, the types of recreational activities that the pilgrims and Wampanoag
Indians participated in during the 1621 harvest feast--dancing, singing secular songs, playing games--wouldn't have been allowed.
The feast was a secular celebration, so it never would have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds."5 A "secular" celebration? Not a "religious" celebration? That all depends on how
you define "secular" and "religious." If "religious" celebration can only happen in a church building, then yes, the Pilgrim's
thanksgiving was not a religious celebration because it was not a church service. But this certainly misunderstands the mindset
of Pilgrims who were steeped in the idea of all life being "religious" and under the providential hand of God. And it certainly
is not the way Christians use the term "religious" today. The author is guilty of the fallacy of equivocation (to change the
meaning of a key word in order to make your point). The letter which describes the event says "God be praised" and refers to "the "goodness of God." These are not secular statements. Read the letter and decide
for yourself. The event occurred between September 21 and November 11, 1621, with the most likely
time being around Michaelmas (September 29), the traditional time for English harvest homes. The settlers asked Squanto and
the leader of the Wampanoags, Massasoit, to bring their immediate family and to dine with them. The English had no idea how
large Indian families could be and Squanto and Massasoit arrived accompanied by 90 relatives. The feast lasted three days
- not just one day as our present Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims and Indians ate outdoors at large tables and competed together
in tests of skill and strength.6 Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks, geese, and turkey.7
The warriors brought five deer. The feast probably consisted of the following items (constructed from original sources and
historical research by the Plimoth Plantation): Were there other thanksgiving feasts held by the Pilgrims? The Pilgrim's first thanksgiving feast was not repeated the following year. In the third year, when many of them had become
preoccupied with cultivating more land, and building on to their houses, and planting extra corn for trading with the Indians,
they were stricken by a prolonged drought. Week followed week with no rain, until even the Indians had no recollection of
such a thing ever happening before. The sun-blasted corn withered on its stalks and became tinder dry, and beneath it the
ground cracked open and was so powdery that any normal rain would be of little use. And still the heavens were as brass. Finally, in July, Governor Bradford called a council of the chief men. It was obvious that God was withholding the rain
for a reason, and they had better find out why. Bradford declared a day of fasting, humiliation and prayer, and they gathered
in their blockhouse church and began to search their hearts. It turned out that even these 'saints', had things to repent
for -- spiritual pride, jealousy, vindictiveness, and greed, as well as a number of broken relationships. One after another,
as they became convicted, they asked God's forgiveness and that of their fellow Pilgrims. A tender, peaceful spirit grew among them and was enhanced as each hour passed. Late in the afternoon, as they emerged
from the blockhouse, the sky which that morning had been hard and clear (as it had been every morning for nearly two months),
was now covered with clouds all around them. The following morning, it began to rain -- a gentle rain that continued on and
off for fourteen days straight. Writing of it, Bradford said: Their harvest that fall, was so abundant that they ended up with a surplus -- to the benefit of Indians to the north who
had not had a good growing season. To everyone's delight, the Governor "sett aparte a day of thanksgiveing" and apparently
once again invited Chief Massasoit and his braves to eat with them.8 A "The Council has thought meet to appoint and set apart the 29th day of this instant June, as
a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God for such his Goodness and Favour, many Particulars of which mercy might be
Instanced, but we doubt not those who are sensible of God's Afflictions, have been as diligent to espy him returning to us;
and that the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him; the Council doth commend it to the
Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this Jurisdiction; Solemnly and seriously to keep the same Beseeching that being
persuaded by the mercies of God we may all, even this whole people offer up our bodies and souls as a living and acceptable
Service unto God by Jesus Christ." Was Thanksgiving practiced during December 18, 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration.
It commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga: "It is therefore recommended by Congress, that Thursday the 18th. day of December next be set apart for Solemn Thanksgiving
and Praise; that at one time, and with one voice, the good people may express the grateful feelings of their hearts, and consecrate
themselves to the service of their divine benefactor; and that, together with their sincere acknowledgements and offerings
they may join the penitent confession of their sins; and supplications for such further blessings as they stand in need of."
President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving for November 26, 1789
to honor the formation of the United States government. His proclamation called for a day of prayer and giving thanks to God. It was to be celebrated by all religious denominations, but discord
among the colonies prevented it from being practiced by all the states. Washington wrote in his November 26th diary entry:
"Being the day appointed for a thanksgiving I went to St. Paul's Chapel though it was most inclement and stormy--but few people
at Church." President Washington later provided money, food, and beer to debtors spending the holiday in a New York City jail. Thanksgiving failed to become an annual tradition at this time. Only Presidents Washington,
Adams, and Madison declared national days of thanks in their terms. Thomas Jefferson and John Quincy Adams considered the
practice to infringe upon the separation of church and state. During the War of 1812, President Madison proclaimed three days
of fasting and prayer in response to Congressional requests (August 20, 1812, September 9, 1813, and January 12, 1815). He
was the last president to call for a national thanksgiving until Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Governors, on the other hand--particularly
in the New England states, regularly issued proclamations of thanksgiving. How did Thanksgiving become a yearly national practice? 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. She was fired with the determination of having the whole nation join together in setting apart a national
day for giving thanks "unto Him from who all blessings flow." In 1830, New York proclaimed an official state "Thanksgiving Day." Other states soon followed
its example. The Territory of Minnesota celebrated its first Thanksgiving Day on December 26, 1850. The whole territory, including
all of what is now the State of Minnesota plus the Dakotas as far west as the Missouri River, contained approximately 6,000
settlers but the book, The Frontier Holiday, describes a spirited celebration. Territory Governor, Alexander Ramsey, proclaimed the day of thanks: "Young in years as a community, we have come into the wilderness, in the midst of savage men and uncultivated nature to
found a new empire in aid of our pursuit of happiness, and to extend the area of enlightened republican Liberty . . . . Let
us in the public temple of religion, by the fireside and family altar, on the prairie and in the forest, join in the expression
of our gratitude, of our devotion to the God who brought our fathers safely through the perils of an early revolution, and
who thus continues his favors to the remotest colonies of his sons." By 1852, Hale's campaign succeeded in uniting 29 states in marking the last Thursday of November
as "Thanksgiving Day." Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents,
Hale's passion became a reality. On September 28, 1863, Sarah Josepha Hale wrote a letter to President Lincoln and urged him
to have the "day of our annual Thanksgiving made a National and fixed Union Festival." On October 3, 1863, President Lincoln
proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national day "of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father." Here is
the text of Lincoln's proclamation: By the President of the United States of America. A Proclamation.
The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful
fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from
which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften
even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war
of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression,
peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony
has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the
advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry
to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements,
and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population
has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the
country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large
increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious
gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed
to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice
by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those
who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next,
as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while
offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence
for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners
or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of
the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes
to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.9 Lincoln issued a similar proclamation in 1864. U.S. presidents maintained the holiday on the
last Thursday of November for 75 years (with the exception of Andrew Johnson designating the first Thursday in December as
Thanksgiving Day 1865 and Ulysses Grant choosing the third Thursday for Thanksgiving Day 1869). In 1939, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt declare the next-to-last Thursday of the month
(November 23rd) to be Thanksgiving Day. This break with tradition was prompted by requests from the National Retail Dry Goods
Association. Since 1939 had five Thursdays in November, this would create a longer Christmas shopping season. While governors
usually followed the president's lead with state proclamations for the same day, on this year, twenty-three states observed
Thanksgiving Day on November 23rd, the "Democratic" Thanksgiving. Twenty-three states celebrated on November 30th, Lincoln's
"Republican" Thanksgiving. Texas and Colorado declared both Thursdays to be holidays. Thanksgiving and Christians There are those who want to remove any thought of God from our Thanksgiving celebrations. They
wish to secularize the holiday and they reinvent history to attempt to prove their point. But it is evident from reading primary
sources that Thanksgiving in America was always about giving thanks to God. It is a Christian command and privilege to be grateful for the blessings of God (Deuteronomy
8:10; Psalm 107:19,21; Colossians 1:12-14; Philippians 1:3). Our Thanksgiving celebration is a wonderful reminder to "give
thanks to the Lord, for He is good. His love endures forever" (1 Chronicles 16:34). The Rev. Benjamin Arnett was a prominent African American cleric in the Ohio AME Church.
He preached a Thanksgiving sermon during the centennial of our nation on November 30, 1876. His
sermon is a beautiful expression of gratitude to God for national blessings and a call to continue to pursue righteousness
for ourselves and our nation (Proverbs 14:34): Let us be encouraged in our work, for we have found the moccasin track of Righteousness all
along the shore of the stream of life, constantly advancing holding humanity with a firm hand. We have seen it 'through' all
the confusion of rising and falling States, of battle, siege and slaughter, of victory and defeat; through the varying fortunes
and ultimate extinctions of Monarchies, Republics and Empires; through barbaric irruption and desolation, feudal isolation,
spiritual supremacy, the heroic rush and conflict of the Cross and Crescent; amid the busy hum of industry, through the marts
of trade and behind the gliding keels of commerce. And in America, the battle-field of modern thought, we can trace the foot-prints of the one
and the tracks of the other. So let us use all of our available forces, and especially our young men, and throw them into
the conflict of the Right against the Wrong.
Then let the grand Centennial Thanksgiving song be heard and sung in every house of God; and
in every home may thanksgiving sounds be heard, for our race has been emancipated, enfranchised and are now educating, and
have the gospel preached to them!
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Seethed [boiled] Lobster
"It came, without either wind, or thunder, or any violence, and by degreese in yt abundance,
as that ye earth was thorowly wete and soked therwith. Which did so apparently revive & quicken ye decayed corne &
other fruits, as was wonderfull to see, and made ye Indeans astonished to behold; and afterwards the Lord sent them shuch
seasonable showers, with enterchange of faire warme weather, as, through his blessing, caused a fruitfull & liberall harvest,
to their no small comforte and rejoycing."
