Be Thankful that Jesus is Alive! In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states. It wasnt until 1863, in the midst of the Civil War, that President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving DAy to be held each November.In In September 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers-- an assortment of religous separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cage Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth. Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurby and outbreaks of contagious disease. Only half of the Mayflowers original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his homeland on an exploratory expedition. Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans. In November 1621, after the Pilgrims first corn harvest proved succesful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colonys Native American allies, incluiding the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as Americans first Thanksgiving-- although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time--the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquets exact menu, the Pilgirm chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a fowling mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrieved bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflowers sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.
Posted on: Thu, 28 Nov 2013 18:33:18 +0000
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