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The
Thanksgiving Story
Most stories of Thanksgiving
 history
starts with the harvest
celebration of the pilgrims and the Indians that took place in the
autumn of 1621. Although they did have a three-day feast in
celebration of a good harvest, and the local Indians did
participate, this "first Thanksgiving" was not a holiday, simply a
gathering. There is little evidence that this feast of thanks led
directly to our modern Thanksgiving Day holiday. Thanksgiving can,
however, be traced back to 1863 when Pres. Lincoln became the
first president to proclaim Thanksgiving Day.
The
holiday has been a fixture of late November ever since.
However, since most school children are taught that the
first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 with the pilgrims and Indians,
let us take a closer look at just what took place leading up to
that event, and then what happened in the centuries afterward that
finally gave us our modern Thanksgiving.
The
Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were
originally members of the English Separatist Church
(a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious
persecution. There, they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but
they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life,
thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists
negotiated with a London
stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America. Most of those making the
trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to
protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the
original colonists were Separatists.
The
Pilgrims set ground at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their
first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following
fall, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the
Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the
remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast -- including
91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year.
It is believed that the Pilgrims would not have made it through
the year without the help of the natives. The feast was more of a
traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving"
observance. It lasted three days.
Governor
William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and
geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast.
However, it is certain that they had venison. The term "turkey"
was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.
 Another
modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie.
But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The
supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or
pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and
they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There
was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was no
domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered
potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But
the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried
fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
This
"thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. Many
years passed before the event was repeated. It wasn't until June
of 1676 that another Day of thanksgiving was proclaimed. On June
20 of that year the governing council of
Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine
how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen
their community securely established. By unanimous vote they
instructed Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day
of thanksgiving. It is notable that this thanksgiving celebration
probably did not include the Indians, as the celebration was meant
partly to be in recognition of the colonists' recent victory over
the "heathen natives," (see the proclamation).
 1676
Thanksgiving Proclamation
"The
Holy God having by a long and Continual Series of his Afflictive
dispensations in and by the present War with the Heathen Natives
of this land, written and brought to pass bitter things against
his own Covenant people in this wilderness, yet so that we
evidently discern that in the midst of his judgments he hath
remembered mercy, having remembered his Footstool in the day of
his sore displeasure against us for our sins, with many singular
Intimations of his Fatherly Compassion, and regard; reserving many
of our Towns from Desolation Threatened, and attempted by the
Enemy, and giving us especially of late with many of our
Confederates many signal Advantages against them, without such
Disadvantage to ourselves as formerly we have been sensible of, if
it be the Lord's mercy that we are not consumed, It certainly
bespeaks our positive Thankfulness, when our Enemies are in any
measure disappointed or destroyed; and fearing the Lord should
take notice under so many Intimations of his returning mercy, we
should be found an Insensible people, as not standing before Him
with Thanksgiving, as well as lading him with our Complaints in
the time of pressing Afflictions:
The Council has thought meet to appoint and set apart the
29th day of this instant June, as a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and
praise to God for such his Goodness and Favor, many Particulars of
which mercy might be Instanced, but we doubt not those who are
sensible of God's Afflictions, have been as diligent to espy him
returning to us; and that the Lord may behold us as a People
offering Praise and thereby glorifying Him; the Council doth
commend it to the Respective Ministers, Elders and people of this
Jurisdiction; Solemnly and seriously to keep the same Beseeching
that being persuaded by the mercies of God we may all, even this
whole people offer up our bodies and souls as a living and
acceptable Service unto God by Jesus Christ."
 A
hundred years later, in October of 1777 all 13 colonies joined in
a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic
victory over the British at
Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair.
George
Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789,
although some were opposed to it.
George Washington's 1789
Thanksgiving Proclamation
Whereas it
is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of
Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits,
and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both
Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to
"recommend to the people of the United States a day of public
thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with
grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God,
especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish
a form of government for their safety and happiness:"
Now,
therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of
November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the
service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent
author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we
may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble
thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this
country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and
manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His
providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the
great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since
enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have
been enable to establish constitutions of government for our
safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately
instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are
blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful
knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors
which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also
that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and
supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech
Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us
all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several
and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our
National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly
being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws,
discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and
guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown
kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace,
and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true
religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and
us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of
temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given
under my hand, at the city of
New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
G. Washington (his actual signature)
There was
discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few
pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President
Thomas Jefferson opposed the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.
It was
Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually
led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many
editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine,
and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year
campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and
presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863,
President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a
national day of Thanksgiving.
Lincoln's
Thanksgiving Proclamation
By the
President of the United States of America
The year
that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the
blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these
bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to
forget the source from which they come, others have been added,
which are of so extraordinary a nature that they cannot fail to
penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible
to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a
civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes
seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their
aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has
been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and
harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military
conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the
advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of
wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the
national defense have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the
ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the
mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have
yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has
steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made
in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country,
rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is
permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of
freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand
worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the
Most
 High
God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath
nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper
that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully
acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American
People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of
the United
States, and also those who are at
sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart
and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of
Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in
the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the
ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and
blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national
perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all
those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in
the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged,
and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to
heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be
consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of
peace, harmony, tranquility and Union.
In
testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal
of the United States to be affixed.
Done at the City of Washington,
this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand
eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the
Independence
of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln
William H. Seward,
Secretary of State
 Thanksgiving
was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of
times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week
to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas
shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the
president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years
later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by
Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.
If we look
at the proclamations above and extract the essential objective
from each, we might find that they were motivated to declare a day
to thank God for His Grace and logistical favor on this nation.
“day of Solemn
Thanksgiving and praise to God for such his Goodness and Favor
…the Lord may behold us as a People offering Praise and thereby
glorifying Him.”
“to
acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to
be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection
and favor; "recommend to the people of the United States a day of
public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging
with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God,
especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish
a form of government for their safety and happiness…"
“a day of
Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in
the Heavens … offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for
such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with
humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience,
commend to His tender care all those who have become widows,
orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in
which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the
interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the
nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the
Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony,
tranquility and Union…”
 Therefore
we look to the Scriptures to see that God instructs us to be
thankful . . .
2
Corinthians 9:15 Thanks be to God for his indescribable gift!
1
Chronicles 16:8 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make
known among the nations what he has done.
Nehemiah
12:31 I had the leaders of
Judah
go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give
thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward
the Dung Gate.
Psalm
35:18 I will give you thanks in the great assembly; among throngs
of people I will praise you.
Psalm
95:2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with
music and song.
Psalm 100:
4 Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise;
give thanks to him and praise his name.
Psalm 118:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures
forever.
Psalm 136:
1 Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good. His love endures
forever.
Romans 1:
21 For although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God
nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their
foolish hearts were darkened.
1
Corinthians 11: 24 and when he had given thanks, he broke it and
said, "This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance
of me."
1
Corinthians 15: 57 But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory
through our Lord Jesus Christ.
Philippians 1: 3 I thank my God every time I remember you.
Philippians 4: 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in
everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present
your requests to God.
Colossians
2: 6-7 So then, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord,
continue to live in him, rooted and built up in him, strengthened
in the faith as you were taught, and overflowing with
thankfulness.
Colossians
3: 15-17 Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as
members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. Let
the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish
one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever
you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
1
Thessalonians 5: 16-18 Be joyful always; pray continually; give
thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in
Christ Jesus.
Hebrews
12: 28-29 Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot
be shaken, let us be thankful, and so worship God acceptably with
reverence and awe, for our "God is a consuming fire."
1 Timothy
4: 3-4 They forbid people to marry and order them to abstain from
certain foods, which God created to be received with thanksgiving
by those who believe and who know the truth. For everything
God created is good, and
nothing is to be rejected if it is received with thanksgiving,
because it is consecrated by the Word of God and prayer.
 
There has always been a Biblical Thanksgiving Day!
Every Day! It
should not take a National Holiday or National Ritual to Thank God
for …. things that we
are proud of (and thankful) about the USA, on this day
25th 2011:
1.
Military and freedom via military victory to worship the
only true God
2.
Personal freedom to choose for or against Jesus Christ
3.
Teaching of the Word of God, whenever, wherever . . .
4.
Police and personal volition
5.
Provincial care in our lives by God the Father
6.
Love of our families
7.
Good food and opportunity to gather and for churches,
pastors, missions and evangelism opportunities…
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