The First Thanksgiving Feast
The English colonists we call Pilgrims celebrated days of thanksgiving as part of their religion. But these were days of prayer, not days of feasting.
Our national holiday really stems from the feast held in the autumn of 1621 by the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag to celebrate the colony’s first successful harvest. View the slideshow here to see what this first “Turkey Day” might have looked like. (See Scholastic.com)
Do you think our nation’s leaders have outside influences today? Consider Sarah Hale who commenced a letter-writing campaign in 1846 to make the last Thursday in November a National Thanksgiving Day holiday. On August 6, 1863, 17 years after Sarah Hale began her campaign, President Abraham Lincoln declares the last Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
One would have thought this would have settled the matter but in November of 1939 President Franklin D. Roosevelt changes the date to the next to the last Thursday in November thanks to the encouragement of the National Retail Dry Good Association urging him to do so in order to extend the Christmas shopping season. Was this the first inkling of “Black Friday”?
Due to the confusion about the date established in 1939, President Roosevelt finally signs legislation establishing the 4th Thursday of November as Thanksgiving Day.
Each of us has our own Thanksgiving tradition. Perhaps it is being with family. Maybe watching a football game or two on television. Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade anyone? Or perhaps to some it is just another day at work. However, you spend the day, Rocking Chair Wisdom urges you to take time to reflect on our national heritage and give thanks to God for the many blessings He has bestowed upon this country and upon you as an individual. Enjoy the day and be safe.
Tags: Blessing, Rocking Chair Wisdom, Thanksgiving, Traditions, Turkey Day
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