Actual Thanksgiving history

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Thanksgiving history - originally Christian in nature in the USA or not?

I honestly don't know, but it reminded me of a funny story about my kid and I hope you don't mind me sharing it. He's going to be a Native American in his school play and he said "Hey mom, I'm gonna be a made-up American at school." Now I'm just wondering when I should tell him that it's really the other way around.

As for the actual event that people say inspired Thanksgiving, the Wampanoag people were not Christians. They had their own native beliefs. Saying that this event was a Christian one is like saying that the Wampanoag people didn't matter.

As for the American holiday, I'm not sure what to say. It's history is long and complicated.

Simply because it's interesting, here's a Native American's perspective on Thanksgiving: http://www.oyate.org/resources/shortthanks.html It's kind of grim.

I recall from my high school days in German class, where out teacher told us that in Germany, they celebrated Thanksgiving as Dank Fest - that is Thank Festival. Since I seriously doubt that a Thanksgiving celebration in Germany would have American roots (though stranger things have happened), it's possible it had had its origins in celebrating the harvest. And as in so many such old world celebrations, I think you could trace it's origins to Pre-Christian times. Perhaps our American Thanksgiving may have had some sort of roots in an age old harvest celebration in Britain.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

What did the Wamppanoags have to be thankful about?

When the Wamppanoag chief first spotted the sails of the Mayflower off the Mass. coastline he said: ....ummm. There go neighborhood....

ruveyn

I just saw a show about the origins of Thanksgiving on the History Channel the other night. My memory's not great, but they seemed to find historical, religious, and retail origins of the holiday. Supposedly, the first Thanksgiving was in 1621 (I think) and there exists only one document of the event which was lost for over 200 years. So in the meantime, there was no Thanksgiving. Its resurrection had something to do Christianity and its calendar date was purposefully placed to mark the beginning of the Christmas shopping season. FDR tried to move it soon after The Great Depression to the third Thursday of November to give retailers some extra early business, but that didn't work out.

As far as the initial event, there was no recorded invitation given by the Pilgrims, but there was record of a shared feast. I don't know how accurate the History Channel is and I was never very good at history, but that's what I've learned. I usually prefer to stick to math and science.

Rush Limbaugh and a US congressman have declared that Thanksgiving celebrates the escape by the Pilgrims from the evils of socialism!

Now that has just gotta be the stupidest thing I've ever heard. There was no friggin' socialism back then! If anything, they were escaping from the Church of England, who were not too keen on Calvinistic fundamentalists like the Pilgrims.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer

Not so. The Mayflower company originally held all land in common. What happened for the first two years at Plymouth Rock was The Tragedy of the Commons and it nearly killed the Mayflower company.

It was only when land was individually owned and tilled that enough food was produced.

ruveyn

Okay, the Mayflower company fits as a socialistic society. But I was saying that what the Pilgrims were fleeing from in England was hardly socialistic.

-Bill, otherwise known as Kraichgauer