No matter how many times I hear the different stories out there that have to do with Thanksgiving, it is still a bit confusing for me, only because I feel that no one really knows the truth about Thanksgiving. In the mean time I will write what I know, not what I feel.
Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating. It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. Or is it? It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving’s real meaning.
The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hard working and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The Pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God.
They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land he has given them. The official story then has the Pilgrims living more or less happily ever after, each year repeating the first Thanksgiving. Other early colonies also have hard times at first, but they soon prosper and adopt the annual tradition of giving thanks for this prosperous new land called America.
The problem with this official story is that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves. In the “History of Plymouth Plantation,” the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for tears, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with “corruption,” and with “confusion and discontent.” The crops were small because “much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable.”
In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, “all had their hungry bellies filled,” but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first “Thanksgiving” was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men. But in subsequent years something changes.
The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, “instead of famine now God gave them plenty,” “Bradford wrote, ” and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God. “Thereafter, he wrote, “any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day.” In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn. Which then formed markets.
Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday. Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is: Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them!
Just in case some people forget, this is an FYI. Unless other wise. Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in November. The reason we celebrate Thanksgiving is to give thanks. Give thanks for everything we have and enjoy, Thanksgiving meal enjoyed with extended family and friends, consisting of Turkey and fixings. Macy’s Thanksgiving parade in New York City, plus football games.
I guess you can see why it is so confusing to me, so I look at and keep my Thanksgiving like this: It’s Thanksgiving, and Charlie Brown is supposed to spend this day at his Grandmother’s. Before he can leave, however, Peppermint Patty decides she wants “Chuck” to host a Thanksgiving dinner of his own, on the spur of the moment, and only hours before he must go to his Grandmother’s. She invites herself, and her friends, to this meal. With hardly any time to prepare for this feast, Charlie Brown throws together whatever he can find in the kitchen; none of which represents a true Thanksgiving meal. No turkey, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes and gravy, ect.
When Peppermint Patty and her friends arrive, they are dismayed to find that the main course turns out to be popcorn of all foods. She lays into Charlie Brown, scorning him for not knowing how to put together a Thanksgiving meal, until he feels so ashamed he trudges away into the house, defeated and embarrassed. It is here that Linus explains to Peppermint Patty and everyone else the true meaning of Thanksgiving, and how sorely Patty has treated Charlie Brown.
We are even no longer mad at Peppermint Patty for all the ill will she has caused poor Charlie Brown; for she has learned the message as well, and we can forgive her in the spirit of Thanksgiving. In closing I would like to add that I really am thankful for many things in my life, Even though it truly is misunderstanding to me. But I am truly thankful for my new daughter, Alonna-Marie Olivia Porter. I hope to spend lots more thanksgiving with her for many, many, many, years!
