The Virginia version is not widely known -- particularly outside the South. ON SEPTEMBER 16, 1619, a group of 38 English colonists headed by Captain John Woodlief sailed from England aboard the Margaret. They landed at Berkeley Hundred 10 weeks later. The settlers were sent by the London Company; it owned thousands of acres in the area, and settled and supported Berkeley Plantation. Exhibit A in the Virginia claim to firstness is this sentence in the companys instructions to the settlers -- instructions to be opened upon reaching Virginia: We ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God. These settlers held that Thanksgiving at Berkeley Hundred on December 4, 1619 -- a year before the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth. Surely Woodlief and his followers were equally as grateful as the Pilgrims -- equally schooled in adversity, equally determined to renew themselves with roots in the land. Surely they were equally devout and equally thankful. To suggest that they were disobedient and did not give thanks requires a superabundance of credulity and moral pretension. But lest we forget, there were numerous trips to Virginia prior to Woodliefs: the Raleigh expeditions of the 1580s, and the London Companys initial expeditions -- beginning with the one under Christopherr Newport that founded Jamestown in 1607. The London Companys charter of May 23, 1609, was written principally by Sir Edward Sandys with the concurrence of Sir Francis Bacon, the early philosopher of natural right. It was probably the first document to say that government derives its authority from the consent of the governed. It was the closest thing to a constitution and bill of rights that colonists in Virginia had for three years, until refined in 1612. The Sandys charter was written 11 years before the first Pilgrim reached Plymouth. On November 18, 1618, the London Company issued instructions to Sir George Yeardley upon his appointment as Governor of Virginia; those instructions provided for a liberal form of government. At Jamestown, in 1619, Yeardley convened the first legislative assembly in the New World. That was a year before the landing at Plymouth. THOSE WERE firsts of considerable magnitude. They, and the events in Virginia during the 35 years prior to the Plymouth landing, tell us a good deal about the Virginia colonists. They were God-fearing people. Just about every one of their existing documents speaks of their duties and obligations to a God almost always described as almighty. These also were people of discipline and self-will. Contrary to so many of us today, they were people determined not to tear down the old to make way for the ersatz old. They retained their umbilical ties to the past, as Virginians -- inhabitants of the most English of states -- tend to do still. Their past was England, and central to England were the church and God. Even without the instructions to Woodlief, is it not logical to assume that the colonists in Virginia regularly prayed and gave thanks prior to 1621? Do we not have to overlook too much to believe they did not? In 1962, the evidence proved overwhelming to Harvard historian Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., then an adviser to President John Kennedy. In December of that year he repented of an unconquerable New England bias on the question, and acknowledged that Virginias claim is quite right. But despite the evidence, the bias persists. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: J WONDERFUL! NOW IF WE COULD FIND SOMETHING ON THE FIRST THANKSGIVING—THE REAL ONE BEFORE THE PILGRIMS. THERE IS PLENTY OF PROOF THAT ONE EXISTED…BUT NO DETAILS. : When one thinks about the Thanksgiving holidays we often have the astonishing image of peaceful Native Americans sitting around a table with grateful Pilgrims feasting on deer and corn. Pictures in our third grade Weekly Readers have imprinted this picture in our brains. The truth is the Pilgrims who fled Eng- land seeking religious tolerance were anything but tolerant, and after they arrived on the easy coast of North America they exiled those whose faith differed from theirs. Oh, yes, as to the Native Americans, the Pilgrims eventually succeeded in destroying their cul- ture and the people. We often hear that the first national Thanks- giving Proclamation was issued by Abraham Lincoln on October 3, 1863 in Washington. The Northern history books fail to state that Lincoln copied the Thanksgiving Proclamation issued by Confederate States of America President Jefferson Davis a full two years before in Virginia. The celebration was first observed in 1777 as declared by Gen. George Washington as the former colonies celebrated a victory over their English masters following the Battle of Saratoga - an exceedingly important event leading to French recognition of the colonies as separate states, but as a national or even state event it did not catch on. Thanksgiving in Peace and War by Virginia Mescher chronicles the history. According to her the various states differed on which day to celebrate and thus getting the national government to agree on a date was almost impossible. President John Adams declared the holiday in two years, but his successor Thomas Jefferson refused to do so because he believed that there should be an absolute separation between church and state. Sarah Josepha Hale, who edited Goodys Ladies Book, in 1847 began a one woman crusade to have Thanksgiving Day declared a national holiday. She initiated a letter writing campaign and also wrote to every successive American President. In 1859 Miss Hale believed a national celebration would bring the country together and avert a civil war. She wrote an editorial calling for the holiday. That year thirty states, including Mississippi, celebrated Thanksgiving Day. Many people give credit to Abraham Lincoln for bringing back Thanksgiving, but this simply is not true. Following Gettysburg, and after another Sarah Hale editorial, Mr. Lincoln finally declared the last Thursday in November set aside for a day of thanks. The myth of a par- doned turkey is also attributed to Lincoln. According to the story a turkey was given to the Lincoln family in the summer of 1863. The bird followed Lincolns son, Tad, every- where, and when Tad discovered his pet was due to be the main course he begged his fa- ther to pardon the bird, which Lincoln duly did, so the story goes. Since 1947 the Na- tional Turkey Federation has presented the U.S. president with a turkey. Meg Thompson writes in a 2011 article entitled, Lincoln Pardons Turkey, But Not General Porter (Union Gen. John Fitz Porter court marshaled in 1862 for failing to attach Gen. Thomas Jackson at Second Manassas), Obama, Clinton, and both Bushes pardoned the foul, however, Reagan, Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford and Johnson served it with cranberry sauce! Yet, little known to history, much less the general public, Lincolns call for a Thanksgiving A CONFEDERATE THANKSGIVING By Wes Teel Day was predated by the Confederate Thanksgiving Day. Both in 1861 and 1862 President Jefferson Davis declared Thanksgiving Day for the Confederate States. His eloquent declaration states: To the People of the Confederate States Once more on the Plaines of Manassas our armies have been blessed by The Lord of Hosts with a triumph over our enemies. It is my privi- lege to invite you once more to His footstool, not in the garb of fasting and sorrow, but with joy and gladness, to render thanks for the great mercies received at His hand. ......................... In such circumstances, it is meet and right that, as a people, we should bow down in adoring thankfulness to that gracious God who has been our bulwark and defense, and to offer unto him the tribute of thanksgiving and praise. In his hand is the issue of all events, and to him should we, in an especial manner, ascribe the honor of this great deliverance. Now, therefore, I, Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States, do issue this, my proclamation, setting apart Thursday, the 18th day of September inst., as a day of prayer and thanksgiving to Almighty God for the great mercies vouchsafed to our people, and more especially for the triumph of our arms at Richmond and Manassas; and I do hereby invite the people of the Confederate States to meet on that day at their respective places of public worship, and to unite in rendering thanks and praise to God for these great mercies, and to implore Him to conduct our country safely through the perils which surround us, to the final attainment of the blessings of peace and security. Given under my hand and the seal of the Confederate States, at Richmond, this fourth day of September, A.D.1862. Jefferson Davis Unlike their northern counter parts, who feasted on turkey, fruit, coffee, and vegetables, our southern soldiers were usually relegated to modest meal of rice, hard tack, sweet potato, and gingerbread cake. Pat Lang writes in his article entitled Thanksgiving in the Field - 1863 On the 26th they had Thanksgiving. Smoot and Harris explained the nature of this feast to Balthazar (a French officer who had come to ob- serve Gen. Lets army), telling him of the memory of Gods providence to the colonists at Jamestown. He (Balthazar) heard them out, and sent hunting parties into the woodland. Jubal Early came to dinner. He sat on a saw horse in the barn where they ate, a tin plate of venison and wild turkey in one hand, a tea cup of whiskey beside him. The troops sat in the hay eating happily. Good old Jubal, never one to turn down a good cup of whiskey. Thanksgiving is a wonderful holiday, but we should give credit to who actually declared it first and that was Jefferson Davis, not Abraham Lin- coln
Posted on: Fri, 01 Nov 2013 16:55:00 +0000
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