Puritan “Thanksgivings”
The idea of a “Thanksgiving” originated in Puritan beliefs.
An article from America’s favorite holidays: candid histories explains that Puritan beliefs did not include holiday celebrations, but they did have days of thanksgiving. “What was different about these days is that they were not annual observances that took place on the same date each year. They took place only when events warranted. A day of thanksgiving might be declared to celebrate and thank God for a particular military victory, or good health following a wave of disease, or an especially bountiful harvest that saved people from starvation.”
After Puritans came from England to North America, gradually a tradition of holding an annual thanksgiving after fall harvests took shape. Different colonies celebrated it at different times. “By the time of the American Revolution, the tradition of an annual late-fall thanksgiving was well under way in New England, alongside the continuing practice of declaring particular days for fasts or thanksgiving.”
The tale of the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag
The popular image of Thanksgiving is of a 1621 harvest feast shared between the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag people. The Wampanoag have suffered from the legacy of this event–for them, Thanksgiving Day is a day of mourning.
In fact, many modern tribes now have a complex relationship with this day.
How did the Puritan tradition of a “thanksgiving” get mixed up with an idealistic image of the relationship between the colonists and the Wampanoag?
The myth-making process
David J. Silverman, a history professor at George Washington University, explained what happened next in an interview with Smithsonian Magazine:
“In 1769, a group of pilgrim descendants who lived in Plymouth felt like their cultural authority was slipping away as New England became less relevant within the colonies and the early republic, and wanted to boost tourism. So, they started to plant the seeds of this idea that the pilgrims were the fathers of America.
What really made it the story is that a publication mentioning that dinner [with the Wampanoag] published by the Rev. Alexander Young included a footnote that said, “This was the first Thanksgiving, the great festival of New England.” People picked up on this footnote. The idea became pretty widely accepted, and Abraham Lincoln declared it a holiday during the Civil War to foster unity.
It gained purchase in the late 19th century, when there was an enormous amount of anxiety and agitation over immigration. The white Protestant stock of the United States was widely unhappy about the influx of European Catholics and Jews, and wanted to assert its cultural authority over these newcomers. How better to do that than to create this national founding myth around the Pilgrims and the Indians inviting them to take over the land?”
Further reading
Thanksgiving: the biography of an American holiday (eBook, 2009) by James W. Baker
“This classic Yankee holiday is examined in historical and contemporary detail that embraces everything from proclamations, sermons, and local and regional traditions to family reunions, turkey dinners, and recipes. Thanksgiving’s evolving face is illustrated with charming and often revealing period prints that chart our changing attitudes.”
Lies my teacher told me: everything your American history textbook got wrong (print book, 2008) by James W. Loewen
See the chapter “Truth about the First Thanksgiving.”
This land is their land: the Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the troubled history of Thanksgiving (print book, 2019) by David J. Silverman
This book is available through our local public library system. Those who have a public library card can request to pick up holds here at WCC and return them here as well. Learn how to get a free public library card here.