November 27, 2018
The Truth About Thanksgiving
Although many people think of Thanksgiving as a holiday to celebrate arriving at American and making peace with the Natives there, the truth about Thanksgiving is that it was in fact a celebration of triumph, not peace. Some people still think of this theory as “absurd” and “delusional”, while some think of it as truthful to adults. The whole story of the Pilgrims coming to Massachusetts and being greeted by the Natives there and ending up in a grand feast is what we tell the children of society so they will feel comforted and happy that there was not too big of a conflict (besides men dying of disease). Yet, this isn’t particularly true. What probably happened was that in 1914, Tisquantum (Squanto) and some other Natives were captured and taken to Europe where they were sold as slaves from the Plymouth 400. Eventually in the 1830s, England started to think of this as a holiday. Although they didn’t say the term “Thanksgiving”, it was still thought of as special as they viewed themselves as having triumped over the Natives, not so much as making peace with them. So, Europe wasn’t so innocent when it came to Natives, contrary to what kids might think since we teach them false lessons about Thanksgiving in school.
Also, another thing that differed from how children viewed Thanksgiving was that they were taught that Pilgrims came to Plymouth as they were seeking religious freedom. However, in reality, the Pilgrims mostly came to Plymouth against religious freedom instead of for it because they were not very fond of other people worshipping “false” gods at the time, so some of the Pilgrims travelled to Plymouth to get away from the people they deemed of worshipping “false” gods. This part of the children’s story is mostly cut out or not mentioned whatsoever so kids won’t be “encouraged” to become xenophobic or racist in any way. In fact, before the voyagers were called Pilgrims in 1880, they were originally called Separatists (like some of the bad guys from Star Wars), which made the people sound more sinister after everyone saw Star Wars, making them seem like xenophobic travelers who wanted everyone to becomes exactly like them. So, to get away from people they didn’t like was another reason the Pilgrims had to celebrate Thanksgiving.
Perhaps the most confusing fact of the creation of Thanksgiving is that there was no true evidence that Natives were invited to the feast held by the Pilgrims. There wasn’t even evidence that they acquired turkey or pumpkin pie for the first Thanksgiving. However, in stories we tell to children, the Natives were clearly invited by the Pilgrims and they had a lovely feast together. It’s unknown if this really happened, but some think that the Natives rather just showed up to the feast instead of being formally invited (like the stereotype of the one guy at a party who wasn’t invited). It’s possible that the Pilgrims were planning to just celebrate by themselves and didn’t even care that the Natives supposedly helped them live on Plymouth or it could be that the Pilgrims just somehow adapted themselves and that they didn’t want the Natives’ help. Either way, the Pilgrims triumphed that they had made it this far, with or without help from the Natives, but didn’t seem to show them much gratitude if they weren’t invited.
The true reason Thanksgiving was made a traditional holiday wasn’t because of peace with Natives, it was because of the victories of war in later years. In 1789, George Washington wanted thanks to celebrate the end of a war and the ratification of the US Constitution, however no formal declarations were issued. Eventually in 1861, Jefferson Davis issued Thanksgiving in Southern states after victories in the South during the Civil War. And in 1862, Abraham Lincoln issued Thanksgiving after Northern victories. Thanksgiving was seen as a great feast for thanks of winning war, not forming peace during the Civil War. If this is what Thanksgiving was for in the Civil War, couldn’t it be for the same purpose in the 1600s on Plymouth? For victory?
Before Thanksgiving was here to stay, traditions became very different in New York especially in the late 19thcentury to the early 20thcentury. Instead of just being called Thanksgiving, it was called “Ragamuffin Day” or “Thanksgiving Masking”. This was when poor children dressed up in costumes (like a faust, bandit, or sailor) and begged adults for money, candy, or fruit (sound familiar? Halloween?). If you dress up strange and are practically begging people for things, what are you really thankful for? It’s degrading and just sad. If you are thankful for anything on Ragamuffin Day, it’s that you get food or money, which is kinda different from what Thanksgiving’s purpose was supposed to be, spending time with family and friends and being peaceful with each other. Instead. on Ragamuffin Day, you try to get as much as you can beg for and celebrate it, which honestly doesn’t sound that different from celebrating the end of a war on Thanksgiving. Eventually, parents got sick of this and after the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was created, Thanksgiving returned and Ragamuffin Day was gone for good.
Sources:
Sources:
