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Thanksgiving
- Thread starter plinker2
- Start date
KingJMobile
Active Member
Unfortunately, I don't give thanks in the UK, but happy Thanksgiving.
SomePlayer5000
Active Member
its all thanking and giving until someone gives thanks
Sharmon the Impaler
Well-Known Member
It's a little off to me. We are celibrating almost wiping out a race of humans in order to take all their resources.
Johnny B. Goode
Well-Known Member
In reality, the current feast day of Thanksgiving has nothing to do with "the first thanksgiving". The current feast/holiday of Thanksgiving was instituted during the American Civil War by Abraham Lincoln and finally made a permanent national holiday by FDR. This is a quote from Britannica's article about the day:
"The holiday associated with Pilgrims and Native Americans has come to symbolize intercultural peace, America’s opportunity for newcomers, and the sanctity of home and family."
To clarify, the association with Pilgrims and Native Americans is obsolete. While some still cling to that myth, most have moved beyond it. The holiday is about giving thanks for the blessings that we enjoy now, not about celebrating the past.
PJS299
Well-Known Member
We are celebrating peace that the Pilgrims and Natives had when we first landed. They shared a meal together and had fellowship. Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on how blessed we are, and to be with family. We look back on the past year, and at the same time, we look forward to the next year and give thanks for all that we have.
Johnny B. Goode
Well-Known Member
See, this is part of the problem. Nobody is celebrating that on Thanksgiving Day. The more people repeat this fallacy, the more other people believe it.
PJS299
Well-Known Member
I was just using that as more of a set-up to talk about the fellowship and all the other things in there. Like blessings and giving thanks.
PJS299
Well-Known Member
Make a turkey and cheese sandwich and drink some cranberry juice. You're American now!
KingJMobile
Active Member
Nice. Never tried cranberry juice or turkey in a sandwich except for some random time in Subway lol.
Pericles the Lion
Well-Known Member
Cancel culture?
You might want to recheck your facts. "Thanksgiving" dates back to 1621 with the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag people. From that time, up until 1863, it was celebrated on no particular day. In 1863, Lincoln declared a National Thanksgiving Day to be held on the last Thursday in November. In 1939, FDR tried to extend the Christmas shopping season by mandating that Thanksgiving be held on the third Thursday in November. Finally, a few years later, Congress declared that Thanksgiving would be recognized on the fourth Thursday in November. Bottom line, Thanksgiving, in some form or another, has been celebrated in the US since 1621.
As for why people celebrate Thanksgiving, I think that folks have their own reasons.
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Johnny B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Cool. How's this?
“The reason that we have so many myths associated with Thanksgiving is that it is an invented tradition. It doesn’t originate in any one event. It is based on the New England puritan Thanksgiving, which is a religious Thanksgiving, and the traditional harvest celebrations of England and New England and maybe other ideas like commemorating the pilgrims. All of these have been gathered together and transformed into something different from the original parts.”–James W. Baker, Senior Historian at Plimoth Plantation.
So while the Puritan meal with the Native Americans is part of it, it is by no means the origin of it. Harvest feasts of thanksgiving have been around for much longer than that. Back to at least Old Testament days, as a matter of fact. Maybe you should also read Lincoln's proclamation from 1863. It curiously never mentions the "first" harvest feast of the Pilgrims, nor any other previous feast or festival. Just because the Pilgrims' feast with the Native Americans is one of the most famous early such feasts in America does not mean every other one after that stems from it. Far from it, it was merely continuing a tradition that probably started about the time farming did.
Pericles the Lion
Well-Known Member
You did some homework. Here's another quote from Mr. Baker: The Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621. The exact time is unknown, but James Baker, the Plimoth Plantation vice president of research, stated in 1996, "The event occurred between Sept. 21 and Nov. 11, 1621, with the most likely time being around Michaelmas (Sept. 29), the traditional time."
So, if James Baker is correct, the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States (Thanksgiving with a capital "T") is rooted in a documented historical event. It is not, as you said above, "a fallacy" or "mythical". Celebrate Thanksgiving any way that you choose, but don't expect the vast majority of US Americans to uncouple it from the generally accepted tradition simply because you think that it is - as you said - "obsolete".
Johnny B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Nice try, but in his quote that you shared he didn't mention Thanksgiving, merely gave a time frame for that Pilgrim feast. And if you actually read all of the quote of his that I shared, you'll notice that it was he who referred to it as a "myth", not me.
Pericles the Lion
Well-Known Member
No, you called it myth.
Sharmon the Impaler
Well-Known Member
And this is why I block that clown , he is the most arguementative in here and I have no use for his tropes.
Pericles the Lion
Well-Known Member
You should give yourself more credit. I'm a mere amateur compared to you.
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Johnny B. Goode
Well-Known Member
Merely repeating what the expert said. I notice that's the only thing you're remotely able to dispute about my post, though. LOL
Disgruntled Veteran
Active Member
Haha, funny thread!
I was born and raised in MA. I've gone on field trips to the Mayflower as well to Plymouth Rock. I lived only an hour - hour and a half away from Plymouth. I was greatly taught about the history behind the pilgrims that came to Plymouth and the resulting "Thanksgiving."
Peace is something that had to be created. Native Americans were absolutely not welcoming to foreigners they couldn't understand. The settlers weren't exactly friendly either. You are aware that England sent prisoners to America to get rid of them before the Mayflower arrived, right? The first settlers were very far from being good people.
However, that first Thanksgiving between the Natives and Pilgrims IS how Thanksgiving came to be.
I was born and raised in MA. I've gone on field trips to the Mayflower as well to Plymouth Rock. I lived only an hour - hour and a half away from Plymouth. I was greatly taught about the history behind the pilgrims that came to Plymouth and the resulting "Thanksgiving."
Peace is something that had to be created. Native Americans were absolutely not welcoming to foreigners they couldn't understand. The settlers weren't exactly friendly either. You are aware that England sent prisoners to America to get rid of them before the Mayflower arrived, right? The first settlers were very far from being good people.
However, that first Thanksgiving between the Natives and Pilgrims IS how Thanksgiving came to be.