Enlighten me about Thanksgiving...

[Jeny]

We don't have it here in the Philippines, but since I have an American employer, we have no work this Friday. What is it anyway? It's history, purpose and significance...

[HappyChristian]

Jenny - the American Thanksgiving is truly an American holiday. Harvest festivals were common in Europe, but this wasn't just a harvest festival.

In England, the king was the head of the Church of England, and everyone was required to be a memeber of that church and to worship and pray the way the king subscribed. Violaters were fined and jailed. There were two groups of people who didn't approve of the Church's practices. They received the names Separatists and Puritans. The Separatists wanted to completely separate from the Church of England while the Puritans wanted to purify it.

The Separatists met in secret because it was against the law for them to meet and for men to preach without a proper license. But they were often found and jailed. After a time, they prayed and decided to go to Holland, where the king could not reach them and they would be able to worship God according to the Bible and not man's dictates. Their journey to Holland was fraught with trouble, also. But eventually they made it. They lived in Holland for several years, enjoying the freedom. But then trouble came knocking. The king began sending spies over (there were some political things going on that increased his authority there), and the Separatists began noticing that their children were growing up Dutch (marrying Dutch, joining the Dutch army...). They didn't want this, because, even though they didn't agree with the king's high handed dealings with religion, they loved England and they wanted their children to keep their heritage. So they began praying again.

They decided that they needed to go to the New World (America). There they knew they could have the freedom for worship they sought, and rear their kids as Englishmen. So back to England they went, to load on two ships (this, of course, took much time...I'm being as brief as I can) - the Speedwell and the Mayflower. They took off, but the Speedwell sprung a leak and they had to turn back. The Speedwell was not able to go on the journey, so some of the Separatists, who by now had begun being called Pilgrims, volunteered to stay behind. The Mayflower was overcrowded, but they were on their way to freedom.

For seven weeks they sailed. Seven weeks in a ship too small, with food stores for less people than were on board, down in the dark hold most of the time, seasick, etc. But on their way to freedom!!! While on the ocean, a baby was born. Oceanus. One of the pilgrim men couldn't take being in the hold anymore, so during a storm, he ran topside - and was swept over. But!! A hook caught him by chance (chance? Nah....) and he lived. The only one who died on the way over was a ship's hand who tormented the Pilgrims.

Finally land was sighted, and the Pilgrims had a service, thanking God for bringing them there. Sixteen men got into the ship's boat and went ashore. They found land that looked good to them, and the men began building houses. This land had it's own story.

Several years before this, the Patuxet Indians lived there. Tisquantum was one of them. He was kidnapped, along with some other braves, by slave peddlers. Sold into slavery, he and his fellow Indians were miserable. But Tiquantum eventually ended up learning English, and was sent back to his country. By the time he got back, though, sadness awaited. His entire tribe was gone - wiped out by plague. He was tribeless, but Chief Massasoit (my ancestor! :Green ) of the Wampanoag tribe kind of adopted him.

Finally, homes were built and the women and children could leave the ship. By this time, one of the women had died. She had fallen overboard, while the ship was in harbor. Her name was Dorothy Winslow. There was speculation then, and it has never been decided, that she committed suicide because she couldn't bear to be apart from her children, who had been left behind until the next go-round.

They were not prepared for the harsh winter that they encountered. Almost half of the 100 Pilgrims who sailed from England died that winter. They feared the Indians finding out their reduced number and attacking them, so they buried them at night. The Indians did help them with food.

They met an Indian who could speak a little English - Samoset. Samoset later brought Tisquantum, who eventually moved in with the Pilgrims and was given the nickname Squanto. They also met Chief Massasoit. Edward Winslow went out to meet with him, and a friendship was formed between the Wampanoag's and the Pilgrims. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to plant (put little fish in the ground to feed it, along with the corn...) and how to hunt. By the fall, there was plenty of food and the Pilgrims were so thankful. They decided to have a harvest fest to give thanks to God for His providence and care. They invited the chief and planned a three day feast. The chief surprised them by brining 90 braves, but sent them out to hunt to add to the food.

But...they used up too much of the food, and the Indians had to help them again that winter. The following year, they had another feast of thanksgiving, but were a little wiser in their food usage.

More Pilgrims continued to join them. They were truly blessed. Of course, this glosses over the hardships they endured, and some of the stupid things they did in regards to the Indians. But the feast became an almost yearly thing as a time to thank God for His blessings as a community. By Gge Washington's (another ancestor of mine! :Green ) time as POTUS, congress asked him to declare a day of thanksgiving and praise. Abe Lincoln declared the last Thursday of Nov. as a day set aside for thanksgiving and praise. But FDR was the POTUS who made it a national holiday and determined that it would always be on the fourth Thursday of Nov.

The idea behind it was to thank God for His bounty and blessing. Nowadays for most people it's just a day off work and time to eat turkey. It's even called "Turkey Day" by many.

The Puritans, on the other hand, had nothing to do with the establishment of Thanksgiving. They gave us other things that added to the freedoms of this country (believe it or not, since they weren't real fond of anyone who didn't tow their line!). But Thanksgiving Day in America traces its roots to 1621 and the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony.