Today, I’m thankful for days that remind us to give thanks.
Historically, on Thanksgiving Day, many of us gather with family, friends, and loved ones to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, the pandemic has changed how we all approach this holiday. What is normally the busiest travel season of the year has been replaced with quarantine, social distancing, and mask wearing. So, recognizing this point, I decided to remind everyone why we celebrate this holiday in the first place. In doing so, I hope to offer up some of the learnings I’ve garnered from that event that transpired 400 years ago in Plymouth, Massachusetts.
As many of you are aware, the holiday began as a day of offering up gratitude for the blessing of the recent harvest and the events that transpired in the prior year. The first Thanksgiving feasts have their roots in England, where it was often common for ‘Days of Thanksgiving’ to be offered up by the Puritans in response to auspicious events or following infamous occurrences. For instance, such days were celebrated in England the last 16th Century with the victory over the Spanish Armada (in 1588), as well as following the end of natural disasters such as the plague (in 1604) and a drought (in 1611).
The event that occurred in present-day Massachusetts can be traced back to a celebration that took place in the New England colony of Plymouth in 1621. Pilgrims who emigrated to the New World from England, often as a means to escape religious persecution, brought with them the tradition from their native land. According to these poorly-documented events, the Pilgrims had traversed the Atlantic Ocean in the Mayflower and landed in Plymouth in 1620 (nearly 4 centuries to the day), after an extremely devastating, tumultuous 66-day journey. The ensuing winter was treacherous, with only about half of the original 102 passengers surviving to see the following spring; interestingly, many of the Pilgrims still lived on the ship and, under these tight conditions, suffered and succumbed to a multitude of infectious diseases and scurvy during the winter. When these immigrants finally moved ashore in 1621, they were greeted by a Native American named Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe, who could speak English, as he had previously been kidnapped by an English captain and sold into slavery in London; of note, he subsequently escaped and returned to New England, only to find that his tribe had been wiped out by an epidemic infection. As the last of his tribe, Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to fish the Cape, cultivate maize (corn), collect sap from maple trees, and build settlements in the new land. He also helped broker a deal with the Wampanoag tribe, which would allow for harmony and collaboration for the colonists and the Native Americans for another 5 decades. In recognition of the first successful corn harvest that year, the Governor of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, organized a Day of Thanksgiving in the autumn of 1621, which lasted for 3 days and included meals containing seafood (fish, mussels, clams, and lobster) venison (deer), fowl (duck, goose, and swan), local vegetables (including corn, onions, beans, spinach, cabbage, and carrots), and fruits (including blueberries, plums, and, yes, cranberries). Notice there is no mention of turkey, potatoes, or pumpkin pie. Notably, the event, which most likely occurred in the October month, was attended by the ~50 Pilgrims and ~90 Native Americans, including the leader of the Wampanoag tribe, Massassoit.
Similar events would occur in the ensuing years, including a larger event in 1623 and for nearly 5 decades thereafter. The lore of these events were passed down in the colonial days, and, following the American Revolution and the ratification of the Constitution, the first President of the newly-formed United States, George Washington, proclaimed the first Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789. Similar proclamations would occur in subsequent years by other presidents or state governors. However, the holiday as we know it today did not officially become an annual event until 1863, when then President Lincoln proclaimed it as any event to take place on the 4th Thursday of every November. Interestingly, Thanksgiving Day replaced another holiday that superseded this event, Evacuation Day, which commemorated the last withdrawal of the British from the United States after the American Revolution ~80 years earlier. Perhaps, with the annual commemoration of the holiday, Lincoln was trying to remind Americans, who were in the midst of the Civil War at that time, what the foundation of the United States was, the importance of gratitude, and the need to avoid infighting.
So, when you think about it, Thanksgiving is a day intended to unite us – a day we welcome into our homes, our communities, and our nations those who need a new home. With this in mind, I offer up my blessing and appreciation for all the immigrants who made this country what it is today. Ironically, when you think back to the significance of the first Thanksgiving event, what defines the occasion is the fact that those English immigrants who arrived in a foreign, rugged, scary place were afforded the chance to prosper with the support and auspices of the Native Americans coexisting peacefully among them. The most amazing part of the United States is that it has always been a place where those from other places could emigrate to for a better livelihood, or the chance to receive an education, or the possibility to escape from an oppressive existence. These immigrants brought their hopes and dreams with them, and, as a nation, we have matured and succeeded as a result of their visionary thinking, inspiring stories, or knack for innovation.
I’m reminded of the Scottish-born immigrant Alexander Graham Bell, who developed hearing devices as a means to help those inflicted with such deficiencies, before ultimately parlaying his experiments into the invention of the telephone. In fact, one of the first experiments of his new device was performed between Boston and Salem on this day (Nov 26) in 1876. As you sit at the dinner table today chastising your children for having their iPhones at the table, you can thank Mr. Bell for the mess he started.
I’m also reminded of the Italian-born immigrant Enrico Fermi, who worked on the ‘Manhattan Project’ during World War II at the University of Chicago, where he developed the first nuclear reactor (Chicago Pile 1) under the bleachers of Stagg Field. In fact, he would perform the first nuclear reaction this week way back in 1942. His war-time efforts, along with those of many others, helped to end the war, ultimately ensuring that the Man in the High Castle could remain as a fictional account.
Finally, I’m reminded of the Irish-born immigrant Mary Harris Jones, who lost her husband and all 4 children (all of whom under the age of 5) to yellow fever early in her life. Instead of wallowing in her misery, she spent the next 60 years of her life helping to organize workers throughout the country against the treacherous conditions in mines and factories. She galvanize the development of child labor laws that remain into effect today. On this week that we celebrate the 90th anniversary of her passing, we should pay fitting homage to the lady we affectionally call Mother Jones.
If you think about it, we are essentially all here in the United States because either our distant ancestors, our parents or grandparents, or we ourselves made the courageous, daunting leap of faith to migrate to this nation. Let’s never forget that someone gave us (or our predecessors) a chance to revel in the ‘cornucopia’ of delights and wonders that this country has to offer. I wake up each morning reminded that I was born in the United States, but my parents, just one generation earlier, were born in a more frightening place and during an era of sheer poverty, unrest, and uncertainty. Their incredible sacrifices afforded me the opportunity to be where I am today. If this is not enough to be thankful for, then frankly I do not know what is.
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