Carving up Thanksgiving myths
French pilgrims beat the Mayflower, and other holiday facts
Thanksgiving: More than just pilgrims and Native Americans
(AP Photo/The News Sun, Kimberly Ryan)
On Thanksgiving, said Karl Jacoby in the Los Angeles Times, “we like to imagine that we are reenacting a scene that first took place in 1621.” But to be historically accurate, we would eat venison and corn in late September. That’s if we ate at all; “devout Pilgrims” usually gave thanks through worship and fasting. We could also commemorate the “Publique Thankesgiving” of 1676, when the Pilgrims celebrated the bloody defeat of their Indian dinner companions of 1621.
It would be “more appropriate” to nosh on “coq au vin and a nice Bordeaux” in June, said Kenneth Davis in The New York Times, when the first Europeans “seeking religious freedom” arrived—from France, 50 years before the “Mayflower Pilgrims.” The French Huguenots had their own thanksgiving in Florida in June 1564. Life was good—until the Spanish massacred them in 1565.
Well, the first American Thanksgiving was in 1777, in York, Pa., said Ira Stoll in The Wall Street Journal. In the dark days of 1776, we had only “two days of ‘solemn fasting’ and worship.” But as the American troops started beating the British in 1777, the nascent Congress declared Thursday, Dec. 19, “a day of Thanksgiving.” It wasn’t fixed on the last Thursday of November until 1941.
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10 Comments
Posted by Aaron, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 12:45 pm It's so nice to have a forum for all the America haters. Tear it all down, man. Tear it down!
Posted by dc, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:01 pm truth monsieur... truth
Posted by fred moleck, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:07 pm 1. Hatred is only in the eye and heart of the beholder. 2. Abraham Lincoln asked for prayer and thanks with his proclamation of December 3, 1863. The war between the states was at its peak.
Posted by mikehattan, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:38 pm For one thing, its not late SEPTEMBER, its NOVEMBER dude! Who said they wouldn't eat wild turkey? I would think they would eat anything they could get their hands on. Anyway it's too late now. All turkeys beware, and that includes the biggest turkey of all time. George Bush
Posted by Don, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 2:46 pm What's the purpose of this article? One would think that you would be doing an article on why we should be thankful. Or maybe it's not politically correct to say anything positive about our society. Anyway, the American Indians celebrated a harvest feast long before any Europeans arrived.
Posted by Michael J. Gorman, Wednesday, November 26, 2008, 3:11 pm Who cares about precise historical accuracy? Most of our lives are based and supported by myths and harmless lies anyway. I don't want the foundations of my identify and self-esteem to be undermined by alleged historical accuracy, dug up by some obsessive-compulsive, anal-retentive reprobate -- whose motive is to destroy my mental well-being. THEREFORE, THANSGIVING IS WHAT IT IS: TURKEY DAY, INDIANS, PILGRIMS, FAMILY, LEAVES FALLING, GENTLE BREEZES, PUMPKIN PIE, and I don't want to hear any more attempts at depressing French nonsense, masquerading as historical accuracy.
Posted by Jonathan Westbay, Thursday, November 27, 2008, 2:07 am the truth was always known. just glossed over and distorted in favor of nationalist pride.
Posted by Jonathan Westbay, Thursday, November 27, 2008, 2:28 am mr gorman, I share your sentiments to some degree, regarding the party poopers. People should always come before facts. Traditions make the majority of people happy. I often find myself in the minority. It's tempting to "set people straight" but ultimately what does it matter. It's just yet another version of history and it still may not be the final say. Although, it most likely will be, because if an unhappy, torn civilization falls into decline, and the nation dissolves, then these will be the milestones of a foreign and distant place. It will be an ancient curiosity, and none more. The media is not a dictatorship, but bucking whatever trends are concocted, puts one at risk at social ostracization, which only the independently wealthy can afford. Freedom to follow the herd, or get left behind and starve, since the state owns everything. So no, I don't really want to place my self-esteem and identity with the herd. I have come to view my humanity itself with a sort of detached curiosity. I bought into free will and I watched my investment vaporize. You may be happy today in your intellectual prison, but words won't do much good when there's no longer food on the table and your personal safety and survival becomes paramount. Most thought is just an indirect mode of survival anyhow. The eye is not a camera, it subconsciously traces the lines of the characters you interpret as words. How long before your mind becomes restless, uncooperative, intolerant of coloring within the lines? Even within the rebel camp there is a code of conduct. Grow up, people. When we fight, no one wins. Nature itself is fundamentally based on cooperation, not competition. But this balance continues to be tampered with. I digress. Basically, my point is, the shepherds are now herding your thoughts in another direction. If you identify yourself as one of the flock, and the master has forsaken you, then your complaint is baseless, you have chosen your fate. To follow the tides of society. I would seriously consider a new identity.
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