Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States and celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. For the past 150 years, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving feasting on large meals with their family. A fabricated story was created of pilgrims and Indians eating together to celebrate unity. Every year across the country many elementary and middle schools celebrate Thanksgiving by creating paper cutouts of Pilgrims, Indians, and Turkeys while being told the fake Thanksgiving story.
For many, a typical Thanksgiving now consists of eating mass meals, shopping, and watching football, while protesters and any reminders of the real story of Thanksgiving are not mentioned. I have provided a timeline of significant relevance about Thanksgiving which contains cannibalism, massacres, epidemics, treaties, government law, feasts, and football.
What is the meaning of Thanksgiving?
An expression of thanks to God. a public act of religious observance or a celebration in acknowledgment of divine favours. Along with prayer, a person may fast or feast while giving thanks to God.
During all different time periods throughout history, humans have celebrated an Autumn feast or fall celebration. In many cultures, this was after the final crop collection of the year.
*Important to note that Thanksgiving prior to the late 1800s was not like today with the large family feasts.
Thanksgiving History Timeline
1513 – Ponce De Leon gives Thanksgiving upon arrival in Modern Florida.
1541– Francisco Vasquez de Coronado gave Thanksgiving at Palo dur Canyon in the modern-day Texas Panhandle.
1598 – Juan de Onate ordered Thanksgiving after reaching granted lands in modern-day Texas.
1564 – French Huguenot colonists celebrated Thanksgiving with Timucua tribe near the modern-day area of Jacksonville, Florida.
1565 – Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles and Spanish colonists have Thanksgiving with Timucua tribe.
1607 – Popham Colonists and Native Americans have Thanksgiving.
1610 – Jamestown celebrated Thanksgiving when a supplies ship arrived.
1619 – Thanksgiving practiced by early British Colonists in Virginia.
1621 – Feast between Native American tribe Wampanoag and the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth.
1637 – Connecticut colonists have a Thanksgiving feast after killing hundreds of the Pequot tribe.
1675 – Metacomet is killed and beheaded, mutilated by Pilgrims.
1705 – First canceled Thanksgiving on record.
1777 – The Continental Congress and General George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving.
1789 – George Washington proclaimed Thanksgiving in honor of the new US constitution.
1817 – New York State becomes the first state to celebrate Thanksgiving.
1863 – President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving the 4th Thursday in November.
1870 – President Ulysses S. Grant signed Thanksgiving into law with the Holidays Act.
1890 – Pilgrims and Indians added to the Thanksgiving tradition.
1939 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt switched the date of Thanksgiving to the 3rd Thursday in November.
1941 – President Franklin D. Roosevelt switched the date of Thanksgiving back to the 4th Thursday in November.
1513
In 1513, European explorer Ponce de Leon gave a formal thanksgiving for a safe crossing from Puerto Rico arriving in Florida.
1541
In 1541, the first Thanksgiving in America was observed by Spanish explorer Francisco Vasquez de Coronado. Accompanied by 1,500 men in full armor, Coronado left Mexico City in 1540 and marched north in search of gold. As the Camply camped in Palo Duro Canyon, Padre Fray Juan de Padilla called for a feast of prayer and Thanksgiving.
1564
In June of 1564, French Huguenot colonists celebrated Thanksgiving near the modern-day area of Jacksonville, Florida. They held a service of Thanksgiving and feasted with the Timucuans to celebrate the establishment of Fort Caroline along the St. John’s River in present-day Jacksonville. French explorer Rene Goulaine de Laudonniere wrote in his journal:
“We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching him that it would please his Grace to continue his accustomed goodness toward us,”
Unfortunately, the French Huguenots were attacked by the Spanish slaying 130 of them. Weeks later the Spanish massacred another 200 French shipwreck survivors near St. Augustine.
1565
On September 8, 1565, Spanish Admiral Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles and approximately 800 colonists gathered around Father Lopez while he performed a mass of thanksgiving for their safe arrival in St. Augustine. Menendez invited the onlooking native American tribe name Timucua to join them in a meal.
1598
Another Texas site is listed as the first Thanksgiving in America. Spanish dignitary Juan de Onate was granted lands among the Pueblo Native Americans in the American Southwest region. After the long journey, they had a 10-day rest and recuperation near modern-day San Elizario Texas, which Onate ordered a feast of Thanksgiving.
1607
On 10/4/1607, A Thanksgiving took place between the Popham colonists and the Native Americans. In the book Historie of Travaile in Virginia Britannia; expressing the Cosmographie and Comodities of the Country, Togither with the manners and customes of the people. by William Strachey, Gent:
“There came two canoas to the fort, in which were Nahanada and his wife, and skidwares, and the Basshabaes brother, and other other called Amenquin, a Sagamo; all whome the president feasted and entertayned with all kindnes, both that day and the next, which being Sondaye, the president carried them with him to the place of publike prayers, which they were at both morning and evening, attending yt with great reverence and silence”.
1610
The severe winter of 1609 to 1610 in Jamestown Virginia killed most of the colonists. Approximately 240 of the 300 settlers died during the winter which was called “Starving Time”. The colonists had a food shortage due to storms damaging supplies en route to the new world. In addition, some of the local Native American tribes had begun a war with the colonists. The tribe had confided the colonist to their palisade and killed any trying to leave.
The settlers ate everything from horses, dogs, cats, snakes, rats to boots, shoes, and other leathers. Eventually, they turned to cannibalism as they dug up dead corpses out of graves and ate them. This information is taken from testimony from George Percy. George Percy’s A Trewe Relacyon mentions a pilgrim murdering his wife and eating her:
Among the rest this was most lamentable, that one of our colony murdered his wife, ripped the child out of her womb and threw it into the river, and after chopped the mother in pieces and salted her for his food. The same not being discovered before he had eaten part thereof, for the which cruel and inhumane fact Iajudged him to be executed, the acknowledgement of the deed being enforced from him by torture having hung by the thumbs with weights at his feet a quarter of an hour before he would confess the same…
John Smith’s General Historie of Virginia, New-England and the Summer Isles (1624) states:
Nay, so great was our famine, that a Salvage we slew, and buried, the poorer sort took him up again and eat him, and so did divers one another boiled and stewed with roots and herbs: And one amongst the rest did kill his wife, powdered her, and had eaten part of her before it was known, for which he was executed, as he well deserved; now whether she was better roasted, boiled or carbonado’d, I know not, but of such a dish as powdered wife I never heard of.
Note: John Smith’s account is a second-hand account as he left Jamestown in 1609 just before the “Starving Time”.
In 2012, researchers unearthed an incomplete human skull and other bones at the former site of James Fort. which they claim came from a 17th-century 14-year-old girl of English origin, nicknamed “Jane”. The bones recovered show signed of cannibalism.
On 5/23/1610, Thanksgiving was celebrated when a supplies ship arrived at Jamestown.
1619
On 9/4/1619 Sir William Throckmorton, Richard Bearkley, George Thorpe, and John Smyth discussed with Captain John Woodlief various ordinances, directions, and instructions, including one for an annual religious of Thanksgiving at the newly established Berkeley Hundred plantation in Virginia.
“Wee ordaine that the day of our observance ships arrival at the place assigned for planta in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and prepetualy keept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
The 38 British settlers landed their ship “Margaret” on 12/4/1619. They followed those orders for two years until the native Powahatans attacked Berkeley on 3/22/1622, killing 347 people in several settlements.
1621
In September of 1620, a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England carrying 102 passengers. 66 days later they crossed the Atlantic, Ocean dropping anchor due to severe storms near what is today known as Cape Cod. While anchored in Cape Cod, the English men stole corn and other valuables from the local native tribes. In December of 1620, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts bay and established a village at Plymouth.
Unfortunately, the settlers of Plymouth were doomed from the start. The settlers had to anchor their ship more than a mile from shore due to the harbor of Plymouth not deep enough. The settlers had to ferry supplies through the trenches of ice-cold waters. They built fewer houses and a smaller palisade then planned to protect from attacks from Native Americans. Native Americans stayed in the area around the fort, enclosing those inside. Most stayed on board the Mayflower until Spring and did not survive the first winter. In fact, at one point the Mayflower was converted to a hospital for the sick and dying. Half of the settlers did not survive through the first winter.
*According to Phineas Pratt who arrived at Plymouth in 1623, he was told by the surviving settlers that the dead had been propped up against trees positioned to imitate a guard on duty and leaving the corpses there to rot.
In the spring, a Native American named Samoset or Somerset snuck into their fort and approached them. Samoset was a sagamore (subordinate chief) of an Eastern Abenaki tribe that resided in what is now Maine and knew many English fishermen from which he learned English. He greeted the pilgrims in English and even requested a beer. He mentioned the lands they are on is called Patuxet and about 4 years ago the village was whipped out due to an epidemic.
Samoset returned to the pilgrims with Squanto. Squanto was the last remaining member of the Patuxet tribe. Squanto could speak the English language because he had been enslaved by the English years before. Squanto arranged a meeting with Massasoit who was the sachem or leader of the Wampanoag. Massasoit feared the Narragansett rival tribe would attack and attempt to take over the lands, Pilgrims agreed to a treaty of protection with the Wampoag. To build trust within the new alliance, the pilgrims attempted to reconcile with the tribes they stole from.
Massasoit instructed Squanto to remain with the pilgrims to teach them harvesting, hunting tactics, and fur trading.
The Wampanoag was a confederation of several tribes including Patuxet. Many of the tribes were whipped out by European disease then massacres by the English colonists.
Squanto taught the pilgrims how to grow crops such as corn and peas. He showed them how to fertilize exhausted soil using fish, and capturing eels in the mud with their feet. All methods proved to be successful and a large yield was collected in the fall and a Thanksgiving was held.
Two pilgrims gave personal accounts of what happened in the fall of 1621 in Plymouth. Bradford mentions the supply of animals. Edward Winslow discusses how the Natives returned with deer and they all ate. The myth of Thanksgiving was fabricated from these accounts.
Williams Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation wrote:
They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty. For as some were thus employed in affairs abroad, others were exercised in fishing, about cod and bass and other fish, of which they took good store, of which every family had their portion. All the summer there was no want; and now began to come in store of fowl, as winter approached, of which this place did abound when they can be used (but afterward decreased by degrees). And besides waterfowl, there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to the proportion. Which made many afterward write so largely of their plenty here to their friends in England, which were not feigned but true reports.
Edward Winslow, Mourt’s Relation wrote:
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruits of our labor. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which we brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you, partakers of our plenty.
In 1623 the pilgrims had another Thanksgiving with a large harvest after a nearly catastrophic drought.
Williams Bradford, in Of Plymouth Plantation wrote:
And afterward the Lord sent them such seasonable showers, with the interchange of fair warm weather as, through His blessing, caused a fruitful and liberal harvest, to their no small comfort and rejoicing. For which mercy, in time convenient, they also set apart a day of thanksgiving … By this time harvest was come, and instead of famine now God gave them plenty … for which they blessed God. And the effect of their particular planting was well seen, for all had … pretty well … so as any general want or famine had not been amongst them since to this day.
In March of 1623, Bradford would accompany Myles Standish and others in the raid against the Nemasket. The incident left many tribal leaders dead. Standish in disgust decapitated a Native American and returned with the head on a stake. The head was placed on display at the fort where it hung for years.
In July of 1623 Plymouth colony had their second Thanksgiving, they also did in 1651, 1668, 1680, and in the Massachusetts Bay colony, similar observances were held in 1633, 1634, 1637, 1638, and 1639. The colony of New York Dutch governors proclaimed 1644, 1645, 1655, and 1664. The English governors proclaimed dates 1760 and 1775.
1637
On May 26th, 1637 the Connecticut colonists under Captain John Mason and their Native American allies Narragansett and Mohegan set fire to the Pequot fort near Mystic River. Killing everyone in the village who tried to escape the flames. Approximate 400 Pequot died. After the defeat of the Pequot tribe, the colonists celebrated a thanksgiving. On that day the Massachusetts colony Governor, John Winthrop, proclaimed such a “Thanksgiving” to celebrate the safe return of an army that massacred the Pequot tribe.
In March of 2020, a John Mason statue was removed on the former forts and site of the Pequot people. The former plaque on the statue had a disturbing message
“To Commemorate the heroic Achievement of Major John Mason, and his comrades who near this spot in 1637, overthrew the Pequot Indians, and preserved the settlements from destruction”.
1675
Sachem Metacomet who was the son of Massasoit is killed and mutilated by the Colonists during what is known today as King Phillip’s War. His head decapitated and placed as a trophy at the Pilgrims fort while his body was chopped into pieces and hung on trees. His hands were sent to Boston and England.
1705
On 10/29/1705, the town of Colchester voted to cancel their Thanksgiving which was to be the first Thursday in November. It was postponed to the second Thursday in November. The postponement was due to convenience and possible shortages.
1777
On 12/18/1777, The Continental Congress and Commander of the Continental Army General George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day. The Continental Congress supported similar Thanksgiving proclamations through 1784.
1789
On 10/03/1789, George Washington made a proclamation and created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America with the newly created constitution.
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 meTo 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 signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”
Washington issued another Thanksgiving proclamation in February of 1795. Later presidents including John Adams and James Madison, declared days of Thanksgiving.
1817
In 1817, New York Gov. De Witt Clinton declared the state to celebrate Thanksgiving. Additional states followed and began a Thanksgiving celebration day. However, many southern states did not recognize Thanksgiving.
1863
On 10/3/1863, Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving. One reason Lincoln favored the holiday was that it would destress the American people from the Civil War. Author Sarah Josepha Hale who was known for the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb” was an advocate and influencer for making Thanksgiving a national holiday. Hale wrote and campaigned to many presidents for many years attempting to persuade for the holiday earning her the nickname the “Mother of Thanksgiving”.
“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”.
1870
On 6/28/1870, President Ulysses S. Grant signed into law the Holidays Act. The law made New Years, Christmas, fourth of July, and Thanksgiving national holidays. However, states celebrated the day at different times.
1890
Public interest in the story of Pilgrims and Wampanoag increased with the popular publications like Henry Longfellow’s best-selling poem The Courtship of Miles Standish (1848), Godey’s Magazine Lady’s Book (1850’s), and the recovery of Governor Bradford’s lost manuscript of Plimoth Plantation (1855). By the early 20th century the Pilgrims and the Thanksgiving holiday were merged with schools teaching the myth of Thanksgiving.
1939 – 1941
During 1939, 1940, and 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November. The reason for the change was an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. The plan faced heavy opposition and termed the name “Franksgiving”. Nearly half of the states did not comply with the change in date during this time and some honored multiple Thanksgiving.
On 11/26/1941, Roosevelt signed into law to change Thanksgiving back to the fourth Thursday in November.
Football
Football and Thanksgiving are almost as old as the creation of the myth story of pilgrims and Indians. There have been more than 1,400 college football games on Thanksgiving. However, since the 1970s college football games played on thanksgiving tapered off.
Like college football, the NFL and earlier professional football leagues play on thanksgiving. However, since 1978 the Detroit Lions and Dallas Cowboys played home games every year. A third game was added in 2006. The Detroit Lions began playing on Thanksgiving in 1934 and the Dallas Cowboys first played in 1966. Over the years, the NFL made Thanksgiving different by having individual MVP awards like the Galloping Gobbler or the multi-legged Madden turkey.
Another controversial issue is the name of the NFL team the Washington Redskins. They have played a total of 12 times on Thanksgiving:
1968: Cowboys 29, Redskins 20
1973: Redskins 20, Lions 0
1974: Cowboys 24, Redskins 23
1978: Cowboys 37, Redskins 10
1990: Cowboys 27, Redskins 17
1996: Cowboys 21, Redskins 10
2002: Cowboys 27, Redskins 20
2012: Redskins 38, Cowboys 31
2016: Cowboys 31, Redskins 26 – 35.1 Million Viewers
2017: Redskins 20, Giants 10 – 16.9 Million Viewers
2018: Cowboys 31, Redskins 23 – 30.5 Million Viewers
2020: Cowboys 16, Washington 41- TBA
In 2017, the Redskins played a home game on Thanksgiving. Native American Protesters were outside the stadium. Sadly, viewers were mad that New York Giants player Oliver Vernon knelt during the national anthem then of the Redskins name.
In 2018, the Thanksgiving game between the Cowboys and Redskins was 8th in the top 20 for tv broadcast viewers with over 30.5 million.
They have played on Thanksgiving 4 out of the last 5 years! In this period, the NFL will subject over 100 million viewers to the Cowboys “America’s team” beating the Redskins “Indians”.
Note: For 2020, Washington has dropped the Redskins name.
Statues and Vandalism
Thanksgiving 2020 came and went with some vandalism around the country. Here is a list of some of the events that happen:
Chicago, Illinois
The day before Thanksgiving an attempt to tear down the statue of former President William McKinley using a rope was unsuccessful. As President William McKinley signed into law the Curtis Act of 1898, which broke up tribal governments and lands. About 90 million acres of land were lost.
Minneapolis, Minnesota
A George Washington statue was knocked over and the Pioneers statue was vandalized with red paint. Some of the words including “no more genocide, decolonize, land back, and more.
Spokane, Washington
A statue of Abraham Lincoln at Monroe Street and Main Avenue was vandalized with red paint.
Portland, Oregon
A monument at Portland’s Lone Fir Cemetery, dedicated in 1903 to the veterans of the Civil War, Mexican, Spanish, and Indian wars, was tagged with anti-USA graffiti and its statue toppled and sprayed with red paint.
The city also had protesters breaking windows and spraying graffiti on buildings
Conclusion
The history of Thanksgiving in America is long and complex. Many events are spread out with different types of colonists and Native American tribes. Most of the events are similar. The colonists take the Native Americans’ lands and resources while spreading disease and murders. The colonists give “Thanksgiving” to God for surviving the Journey or because of victory massacring tribes of Native Americans.
A very short version of the Thanksgiving holiday:
Europeans landed in the New World in search of new lands to colonize. They spread the disease to the Native Americans while murdering, stealing, and enslaving them. In 1621, the Pilgrims of Plymouth in dire need of food and resources befriended the Wampanoag, who feared attacks from the rival Narragansett tribe. A treaty was made for protection. In the fall of 1621, the colonists began a Thanksgiving to God. Chief Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag went to inspect the noise of gunfire to discover a large hunt had taken place by the colonists. The colonists asked them to join for which they came back with 5 deer. Both colonists and Wampanoag feasted…….A generation later the colonists butchered Massasoit’s son Metacomet and massacred the Wampanoag tribe. Afterward decapitating Metacomet’s head and placing it as a trophy for display at their fort while the rest of his body was mutilated throughout the woods.
I personally can see this holiday changing its name. The real story of Thanksgiving is too barbaric to teach in schools and celebrate. The massacres and events which took place are becoming more talked about each year.
