IMMIGRANTS AND THE CHANGING MEANING OF THANKSGIVING by Marisa Masterson

Thanksgiving. Food. Shopping. Family. A precursor to Christmas. Perhaps one of these fits your holiday this year. Really, if one thinks about it, the holiday has had several purposes over the decades and centuries here in the United States.  

When Lincoln officially made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863, he did so during a terrible time. After two years of bloody fighting, the American Civil War still raged. He wanted to set aside a day for Americans to pray. It was a remembrance day rather than a true feast.

Later, as immigrants flooded the country during the later half of the 1800s, the holiday became a way to welcome newcomers. Symbolism allowed the immigrants to practice American traditions. The turkey, the pie, the celebration of a harvest in their new country. Thanksgiving changed from a time of remembrance to more of the celebration and feast we know it as today.

A poem by Douglas Malloch captured the idea of the glory of a good harvest at Thanksgiving time:

To explain the shopping emphasis surrounding Thanksgiving, we have to look later to the 1920s. During that decade, the annual parades started. We can thank Gimbel and Macy for that. For my part, I prefer to associate this day with the warm joy of a thankful heart and a full plate.

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THANKSGIVING AND PRAYER: a look at the origin by Marisa Masterson

 Thanksgiving Day. I think of many things on that day--food, shopping, parades--but I rarely connect it with prayer. Yet, the roots of the holiday go back to that very thing.

William Bradford, the Plymouth colony's first governor, declared a religious feast after a successful corn harvest. The focus, as I found in research, was to give thanks to God for their very survival. Bradford's idea for this feast was inpsired by the Hebrew Feast of Tabernacles, a time when the people refrained from work and recited the great deeds of the Lord. While the Pilgrim feast wasn't a day of fasting as Bradford called for at other times in Plymouth, the Puritan Thanksgiving undoubtedly included prayer.

The harvest observance remained relatively unknown until the American Civil War. Bloody and decisive, the Battle of Gettysburg was a victory for Union forces. After it, Lincoln called for the nation to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on November 26 of that year, 1863.

Excerpt from Abraham Lincoln's 1863 proclamation--

It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American people. I do, therefore, invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea, and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a Day of Thanksgiving and Prayer to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens. And I recommend to them that, while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union.

Notice that Lincoln refers to it as a day of prayer. Earlier that year, he had signed a proclamation for a national day of prayer and fasting. Using a holiday known only in New England, he was able to once more that year call for a day of prayer. And he recommends what the citizens of the Union should pray for.

Thanksgiving Day, the day I know, comes about later. In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt establishes a specific day for Thanksgiving each year. Why? He wanted to boost sales for the Christmas buying season. It seems to me that our modern, hedonistic holiday traces back to his decision. But the true roots of the holiday, well, those are worth remembering.

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When Thanksgiving was Political

 

According to historian Michael LaCombe, Chief Massasoit and his people contributed freshly killed deer for the first Thanksgiving. Much appreciated by the Pilgrims, I’m sure. However, LaCombe asserts that the Native Americans undermined Governor William Bradford’s authority by giving the meat to the colony’s leading members, rather than to Bradford himself, for redistribution. Thereby thumbing their nose at Bradford’s rule.

"The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth"
(1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe; public domain {{PD-US}}

Decades later, in 1675, Massasoit’s son, Philip (alias Metacom or Metacomet), gathered together several tribes who had been enemies. Faced with spreading, permanent English colonization, they fought the colonists in “King Philip’s War” – called the deadliest war in American history, in proportion to population. Doubtless, the natives did not favorably recall the first Thanksgiving.

In 1776 colonists accused King George III of allowing “the merciless Indian Savages” . . . to attack “the inhabitants of our frontiers”. In truth, these early Americans had spent more than a century taking native territory that did not belong to them. When the Revolutionary War ended with the defeat of Great Britain and her native allies, more indigenous territory was seized. How to divide so much land between southern slave interests and northerner anti-slavery forces ultimately sparked the American Civil War.

Which brings us back to Thanksgiving.

Sarah Josepha Hale, ca. 1831; public domain

In 1863, novelist and magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale convinced Abraham Lincoln to make Thanksgiving a national holiday on the last Thursday in November. She had started campaigning for the holiday in the 1840s, hoping a national day of celebration would help prevent the quarrel over slavery from erupting into Civil War. Her idea met with resistance from the southern states, as well as inconsistencies in how to celebrate the holiday.

Since colonial times, the meaning of thanksgiving days has varied greatly. Prior to 1863, thanksgiving events occurred throughout the year and could involve religious fasting and feasts to mark important events. In 1777, the Continental Congress proclaimed a day of thanksgiving for all 13 states to celebrate winning a battle against the British at Saratoga.

Professor Matthew Dennis observes that by 1850 every northern state, and several southern, Midwestern and far western states (including Arkansas, California, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Oregon, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin) celebrated Thanksgiving, at least occasionally.

Sarah Josepha Hale believed an official thanksgiving date would give the states more in common than they had differences. In 1854, as editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, she wrote: “The last Thursday in November has been selected as the day best suited to the general convenience, when the people from Maine to Mexico, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, might sit down together, as it were, and enjoy in national union their feast of gladness.”

In the south, however, slaveholders viewed the holiday as an opportunity for Yankee preachers to sermonize against slavery, and in their eyes to push the country closer to war. In 1853, Governor Joseph Johnson of Virginia refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday, and in 1859, Governor Stewart of Missouri proclaimed December 8^th instead of November 24^th a day of Thanksgiving, a deliberate act of defiance.

Despite Hale’s efforts, war broke out, and Lincoln’s decision to make the holiday a national one was intended to support the north’s cause as much as to commemorate an event in the nation’s history. Thanksgiving did not prevent the Civil War, but it was used to help bolster the Union’s cause – partially through food. Mentions of turkey, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce appear in association with Thanksgiving in 1860s editions of Godey’s Lady’s Book.

In this year of the terrible Covid pandemic, Thanksgiving may not be a subject for political debate, but it does present a challenge for all of us. Common sense calls for us to avoid large family gatherings, to stay home in our personal bubbles and, I pray, live to see next year's national day of thanks. Amen.

Lyn Horner is a multi-published, award-winning author of western historical romance and paranormal romantic suspense novels, all spiced with sensual romance. She is a former fashion illustrator and art instructor who resides in Fort Worth, Texas – “Where the West Begins” - with her husband and two very spoiled cats. As well as crafting passionate love stories, Lyn enjoys reading, gardening, genealogy, visiting with family and friends, and cuddling her furry, four-legged babies.

 

Amazon Author Page: viewAuthor.at/LynHornerAmazon (universal link)  

Website:  Lyn Horner’s Corner 

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History of Thanksgiving

My to-do list was long this morning (Thanksgiving Eve), and became longer when I looked out the window at the snow that had piled up overnight. While my husband fired up the snow-plow truck, our granddog, Bear, and I started shoveling the front patio. The snow was so thick and heavy, and snowman perfect, that I decided rolling it into large balls for a snowman would be easier than shoveling. So that is what I did, with Bear at my side the entire time. (Bear is a 115 lb yellow lab. He gets dropped off at our house every morning around 7:00 and is picked up every evening around 6:30. We love having him around as much as he loves being here.) We still had plenty of shoveling to do after assembling the balls, and after that, we added the finishing touches to our snowman. It wasn't until I put the gourds in for the snowman's eyes that Bear truly took notice of the creature.

The rest of the day has been full of prep work for tomorrow, and I'm glad I took the time to make the snowman this morning. The grandchildren are going to be surprised to see him standing in the yard when they arrive tomorrow.
AND because I still have a few things to accomplish, I'm recycling a blog I'd posted about the history of Thanksgiving a couple of years ago.

As many of us were taught, the first Thanksgiving took place in the fall 1621. It was a three day feast of thanks hosted by the Pilgrims and a local tribe of Wampanoag. Intermittent days of thanks continued for the next hundred and fifty years, often celebrating an event, good harvest, or end of a time period, such as a drought or battle. In 1777, George Washington declared the last Thursday in November as a ‘national day of public thanksgiving and prayer’ which all thirteen colonies celebrated, particularly giving thanks for the new constitution of the newly formed nation. The next national day was declared in 1789, by then President George Washington. However, it still didn’t become a ‘yearly’ celebration, until 1863.

For over 40 years, Sara Josepha Hale, the author of Mary had a Little Lamb, advocated for an annual day of Thanksgiving, and during the Civil War while looking for a way to bring the nation together, President Abraham Lincoln consulted with Ms. Hale prior to issuing the Thanksgiving Proclamation that declared the last Thursday of November (based on Washington’s date) as a national holiday. 

75 years later, in 1939 retailers begged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to change Thanksgiving to the second to the last Thursday of the month, therefore giving people more shopping days before Christmas. He did so, but the confusion didn’t settle well with the county. Calendars were off, schools vacations had to be rescheduled, and yes, even football games reorganized. Many believed the reason of the date change was not a fitting cause and controversy split the nation. 23 states agreed to change the date, and 23 states refused. Colorado and Texas chose to celebrate both days. Even though businesses reported no real direct change in shopping, the two Thanksgivings (with states choosing which to observe) continued until 1941 when congress passed a law declaring Thanksgiving as a national holiday that would occur on the fourth Thursday of November every year. 

So, there you have it.

History and controversy aside, for me, Thanksgiving brings family to mind. If I live to be a hundred, nothing will ever replace the sweetness of the word “Grandma!” I am thankful for so much, every day of my life—for living in a wonderful country, for freedom, for my right to worship God, for all the obvious and not to be taken lightly things which include my family, home, community, friends, vocation, my publishers and their belief in me, and especially the people who read and find delight in my books. 

Thanks for sharing this wonderful life with me.

My Thanksgiving wish is that each of you reading this blog has a blessed and beautiful holiday. 

Lauri Robinson

THANKSGIVING AND SUKKOT (TABERNACLES) AND A BLESSING

By Mary Adair. Guest Author

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. I give thanks every day for my blessings, but to have a day set aside for thanks giving is truly special.  Knowing many  (if not all) Americans celebrate by remembering all the good things and wonderful people in their lives for which they are thankful adds to the festivity.

I decided to look into the roots of the celebration, and this is what I learned. According to some scholars, before coming to the new world, the Pilgrims lived for a decade among the Sephareic Jews in Holland.  Holland was considered a safe haven from religious persecution at the time.  

The Pilgrims, being devout Calvinist and Puritans considered themselves as “new Israel”. I can see where they likely learned that Sukkot commemorated Israel’s deliverance from the religious persecution in ancient Egypt and thought of it as a parallel to their own situation.

After they immigrated to the promised land of America, it is not surprising to me that the Pilgrims may have considered the festival of Sukkot when planning their own celebration. The Pilgrims considered their perilous journey to the new world as a type of exodus and wanted to associate their new celebration to the appropriate Biblical holiday.

It is interesting to me that the Jewish observance of their holiday always falls on Thursday and there is a special prayer of “Thanksgiving” before eating the meal.  It is also interesting to note that the Hebrew word for turkey is tarnegol hodu, literally “Indian chicken”.  Is it a happy coincidence that we customarily eat turkey on thanksgiving?

We all have times of ups and downs. We all have something and someone (probably more than one someone) to be thankful for. My Thanksgiving wish for all my friends and family is well expressed in this:

Cherokee Prayer Blessing

May the Warm Winds of Heaven Blow softly upon your house.

May the Great Spirit Bless all who enter there.

May your Moccasins Make happy tracks in many snows,

and may the Rainbow Always touch your shoulder. 

Mary Adair is the author of the Passion series: PASSION'S VISION, RAVEN'S PASSION, AND PASSION'S PRICE. These center around the struggles of a colonial Cherokee woman visionary and an emissary of the King of England. Those and others of Mary's titles are available on Amazon and other online vendors.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Photos courtesy Google commons

Thanksgiving Blessings

Hello, Lauri Robinson here, a new Sweethhearts of the West member. I write and read, and read, and read, historical westerns. That’s not to say I don’t read other genres, but put a pair of cowboy boots on the hero and I’m captured, lock, stock, and barrel until the last page even if it means I don’t shut off the light until the wee hours of the morning. 

This is me—the snow princess at my granddaughter’s princess birthday party last year. Dressing up was NOT optional, and I believe this moment was captured as the punch bowl teetered and well,that's another story.

I write for Harlequin, Mills and Boon and The Wild Rose Press, and will have five books released in 2012 starting in January, but I’ll tell you more about them in another blog. Today it’s about Thanksgiving. 

As many of us were taught, the first Thanksgiving took place in the fall 1621. It was a three day feast of thanks hosted by the Pilgrims and a local tribe of Wampanoag. Intermittent days of thanks continued for the next hundred and fifty years, often celebrating an event, good harvest, or end of a time period, such as a drought or battle.

In 1777, George Washington declared the last Thursday in November as a ‘national day of public thanksgiving and prayer’ which all thirteen colonies celebrated, particularly giving thanks for the new constitution of the newly formed nation. The next national day was declared in 1789, by then President George Washington. However, it still didn’t become a ‘yearly’ celebration, until 1863.

For over 40 years, Sara Josepha Hale, the author of Mary had a Little Lamb, advocated for an annual day of Thanksgiving, and during the Civil War while looking for a way to bring the nation together, President Abraham Lincoln consulted with Ms. Hale prior to issuing the Thanksgiving Proclamation that declared the last Thursday of November (based on Washington’s date) as a national holiday.

75 years later, in 1939 retailers begged President Franklin D. Roosevelt to change Thanksgiving to the second to the last Thursday of the month, therefore giving people more shopping days before Christmas. He did so, but the confusion didn’t settle well with the county. Calendars were off, schools vacations had to be rescheduled, and yes, even football games reorganized. Many believed the reason of the date change was not a fitting cause and controversy split the nation. 23 states agreed to change the date, and 23 states refused. Colorado and Texas chose to celebrate both days. Even though businesses reported no real direct change in shopping, the two Thanksgivings (with states choosing which to observe) continued until 1941 when congress passed a law declaring Thanksgiving as a national holiday that would occur on the fourth Thursday of November every year.

So, there you have it. 

History and controversy aside, for me, Thanksgiving is all about family. We lost a very integral part of our family when my mother passed away in June, and Thanksgiving without her and her coleslaw, sweet potatoes, beet pickles and pumpkin pies is going to be bittersweet. Happiness will abound as we gather together for it always does, and sadness will enter in as we miss those we’ve lost while reminiscing of past Thanksgivings as we always do.  (This is hubby and me, my mother, our three sons, their wives and children (absent one sleeping baby and two step grandsons).

Thankfulness for all the blessing we continually receive will also be abundant as we celebrate the day. If I live to be a hundred, nothing will ever replace the sweetness of the word “Grandma!” I am thankful for so much, every day of my life—for living in a wonderful country, for freedom, for my right to worship God, for all the obvious and not to be taken lightly things which include my family, home, community, friends, vocation, my publishers and their belief in me, and especially the people who read and find delight in my books. Thanks for sharing this wonderful life with me.

My Thanksgiving wish is that each and every one of you has a blessed and beautiful holiday.