On the fourth Thursday of November, Americans will get together with their families and often sit down to large dinners (and go searching for bargains the next day on Black Friday). The premise of Thanksgiving is wholesome enough – be thankful for what you have and spending time with family – but its origins are not entirely as sweet as grandma’s pumpkin pie.
The First Thanksgiving
The very basic story goes that the first Thanksgiving took place around 1621, following the Pilgrims’ first successful harvest on American soil after being taught to cultivate local crops, like corn, by Native Americans. In a gesture of goodwill, the Pilgrims invited the Natives to the feast.
Firstly, the idea of having a meal following the harvest was not a novel concept for the time. In Europe, such a celebration is regarded as ‘harvest festival’ where people would pray to give their thanks to God for a bountiful harvest. Harvest festival often took place (and continues to do so) around early October. In numerous European cultures, the harvest festival was a time to be with family.
Arguably, the notion of Thanksgiving did not start in 1621. The Jamestown colonists in Virginia recognized the autumn festival of harvest, holding their first festival in 1610.
The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving
Landing in modern day Massachusetts, the Pilgrims colonized land where nearly every Patuxet Indian died in an unspecified plague – the only survivor was Squanto, who was a slave in Europe. Squanto had been kidnapped by English explorer, Thomas Hunt, and later sold in Malaga, Spain. He managed to travel to England and returned to North America in 1619.
Because Squanto spoke and understood English, he proved central to brokering peace talks between the local Pokanokets (sometimes referred in sources as the Wampanoag) and the Pilgrims through the arrangement of a meeting with Massasoit, leader of the local tribe. The Pilgrims were able to establish basic trade with the Abenaki through contact with the tribe’s sagamore, Samoset, who traded deer skins for food.
Squanto lived with the Pilgrims for 20 months, teaching them to sow and fertilize local crops following the failure of the Pilgrims’ European crops, namely wheat. The harvest was abundant with corn, fish, fowl, and venison, but the Pilgrims did not invite the natives. Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag joined the Pilgrims in fowling. The natives stayed for three days, offering the Pilgrims five deer.
The celebration of the harvest in 1621 had no intention of starting Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims’ first true ‘thanksgiving’ was in 1623, after a fast and a 14-day rainfall, which resulted in a larger harvest. They gave thanks to God for providing the needed rain following a drought, but this event is thought to have taken place in July – before the autumn harvest usually associated with Harvest Festival and modern day Thanksgiving.
Dark Origin
Some historians argue that the first Thanksgiving (as in a feast to literally “give thanks”) was in 1637 and was part of the Pequot War.
Relationships between the settlers and the local tribes strained quickly. Tribes competed with each other to get ahead with the European fur trade, particularly between the Pequots (who traded with Dutch colonists in modern day New York region) and the Mohegans (who traded with the English colonists in Massachusetts). War broke out in 1636 following the murder of English trader, John Oldham, with officials in the colonies blaming the Narragansett Indians. Both the native tribes (mostly the Pequots) and settlers begin raids.
In May 1637, Connecticut colonists (as well as armed men from other colonies, like Massachusetts), and their Mohegan and Narragansett allies surrounded a Pequot fort near the Mystic River. The fort was set alight, and anyone who ran from the fort was shot. The colonists sought revenge for numerous Pequot raids, with this event now being referred to as the Mystic Massacre. As many as 700 Pequot men, women, and children were murdered. The Narragansett were disgusted by the slaughter and returned to their home in Rhode Island.
After being informed of the ‘victory’ at Mystic River, Massachusetts Bay Colony governor, John Winthrop, proclaimed a “thanksgiving” ceremony to celebrate the return of the men who had returned from Mystic. It was to give thanks to putting an end to Pequot raids.
As A Holiday
As for your school or boss giving you time off for Thanksgiving, you might want to give thanks to Abraham Lincoln and Sarah Josepha Hale. In 1863, Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to be a federal holiday, that year celebrated on the 26th on November (the month’s final Thursday). He was prompted to declare a holiday by Sarah Josepha Hale, a prolific writer who wrote the rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” (published 1830). She had been campaigning to have Thanksgiving as a national holiday since 1846. Until 1863, Thanksgiving was primarily a New England tradition, with states having their own days for Thanksgiving, from as early as October to as late as January. Lincoln believed that having a national day for Thanksgiving would be an effort to help unify the country.
So who was responsible for the change in date, from the definitive last Thursday in November to the fourth? That was Franklin D. Roosevelt.
In 1939, November had five Thursdays. Roosevelt declared the fourth Thursday as Thanksgiving. Although the reasoning is not completely clear, historians believe that the change in date was due to the impact of the Great Depression. Roosevelt aimed to give the economy a small boost by giving retailers extra time to advertise for Christmas, as promoting Christmas before Thanksgiving was deemed inappropriate. It is also believed that Roosevelt was encouraged to do this by Fred Lazarus Jr., the founder of Federated Department Stores (later known as Macy’s), to increase his profits from a longer shopping season.
Roosevelt signed a federal bill in December 1941 that fixed the date of Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday in November.
Thanksgiving Festivities
There are other events going on other than turkey, excessive food, and picking fights with siblings.
Thanksgiving parades are common in most cities across the United States, with one of the most popular being Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York. The parade ends with the Santa Claus, marking the arrival of the Christmas season (if you’ve ever seen Miracle of 34th Street, the parade was featured in the start of the movie). Philadelphia, meanwhile, is home of the oldest Thanksgiving parade, the first launched in 1920.
Sitting down and watching the football is also regarded as a tradition. The NFL has always played games on Thanksgiving since its launch in 1920. With the exception of a few colleges, college football will often hold their games on the Friday or Saturday after the holiday and these games are frequently played between major rivals (Oregon Ducks vs. Oregon State Beavers, or the Michigan Wolverines vs. Ohio State Buckeyes). If football isn’t your thing, there’s also college basketball, or ice hockey, or (if you’re in Delaware) pumpkin chunking. If you’re wondering about the last one, it’s about who can hurl a pumpkin using a machine the furthest distance – so yes, catapults are legal in that game.
Meanwhile in the White House, there is the tradition of turkey pardoning. Often attributed to John F. Kennedy, who spared his turkey in 1963 since he didn’t plan on eating it, it is believed that this goes as far back as Lincoln, who pardoned his son’s Christmas turkey. Ronald Reagan literally gave his turkey a pardon in 1987 (with a presidential pardon), while George H.W. Bush made the tradition official in 1989.
Not So Happy Thanksgiving
Many Native Americans regard Thanksgiving as a day of mourning, and consider the holiday as a celebration of the genocide and conquest of Natives by European settlers.
The United American Indians of New England have a National Day of Mourning, a protest held annually since 1970. The protest takes place at Plymouth Rock, with the UAINE taking issue with the myth behind why the Pilgrims came to Massachusetts and why the first Thanksgiving is not attributed to Jamestown, Virginia. They argue that the Pilgrims took over tribal land, and that the contact between natives and settlers was the first step towards genocide. As for Jamestown, the UAINE believe the reason why the first Thanksgiving is not associated there is because the hardships faced in the colony (starvation, disease, cannibalism) do not correspond with the desired national myth of unity.
In San Francisco Bay, some Native Americans hold an “Unthanksgiving Day” – otherwise known as The Indigenous Peoples Sunrise Ceremony. This event is held on Alcatraz Island, following the 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz, in which a group of Native Americans (under the name Indians Of All Tribes) took over Alcatraz. They argues that the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie, all retired, abandoned, or out of use federal land be returned to the natives. Alcatraz Prison was closed in 1963, leaving the island as surplus federal land.
Unthanksgiving Day is to commemorate the native survivors of genocide, cultural loss, and disease. Groups travel to Alcatraz Island, performing dances before sunrise to honor their ancestors. Other specific tribes and groups may demonstrate cultural practices. The event is open to the public.
What’s the deal with Black Friday?
It seems almost paradoxical to be thankful for what you have on one day and go out to get more stuff at bargain prices the next. Black Friday has not always been attached to Thanksgiving.
Black Friday is typically regarded as the first day of the Christmas shopping season and has been since about 1952. At first, the term did not catch on. In the 1950s, Black Friday (and ‘Black Saturday’ was another bargain day) was used by Philadelphia and Rochester, New York, police departments to refer to traffic congestion rather than the shopping.
What's Going On, America? 