The holiday celebration known as Thanksgiving is often considered an “American” tradition. The accepted version of the holiday and its celebration focuses on the Pilgrims and the feast they shared with the local Wampanoag Indians in celebration of God’s providence. Its celebration took place in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. The Pilgrims had much to be thankful for in terms of their survival in the wilderness, escaping the religious persecutions they endured in England, and establishing the first self-governing pact known as the “Mayflower.” Compact”. Although this is the accepted version, there are some inconvenient facts that pop culture historians often leave out.
The Pilgrims’ festival in 1621 was also a testimony that socialism did not work. In the initial planning of the colony, a “community” centered system where everyone contributed to a common stock of food did not work. It was only when each of the families took care of themselves and their families that the food situation began to change.
In fact, the pilgrims had a lot to be thankful for. The festivity identifies them as the reason for the celebration. It is often said that they celebrated the first Thanksgiving in America. The facts are that the 1621 celebration was not the first Thanksgiving holiday commemorated in America.
Some historians claim that Jamestown celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1619, when the settlers held a feast of thanksgiving with a meager meal. They were expressing their gratitude for having survived the harsh conditions of the colony. They celebrated the event with the local Indians. A Reverend Hunt led settlers in a formal Thanksgiving prayer during the event.
24 years before the Pilgrims celebrated their festival, a Spanish expedition enjoyed a Thanksgiving meal. The year was 1598 and the location was El Paso, Texas. Onate’s expedition finally reached the water after a long trek through the desert. At this point a formal declaration of thanksgiving to God for providing for and protecting them in the harsh environment was declared and a meal was prepared. The expedition members enjoyed their meal with the Tigua Indians in this area of Texas. This was 20 years before the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock.
Another contender for the title of America’s first Thanksgiving is St. Augustine, Florida. 56 years before Plymouth, a Spanish explorer landed here on September 8, 1565 and celebrated a Thanksgiving feast with the Timucua Indians. For their celebration they dined on bean soup. It may not sound like a feast, but if you’ve been at sea on ships where it was often too dangerous to have fires, bean soup makes a good meal.
A year before that, in 1564, a group of French Huguenots, escaping religious persecution in Europe, landed in Florida. Shortly after establishing their settlement at Ft. Caroline, they gave thanks for their release. They shared their feast with the local Ticuma Indians. His fare included a locally produced wine, bread from his bakery, and tobacco. Unfortunately, a year later the Spanish expedition was sent to put an end to this small French enclave of those who were trying to escape the intolerance of other faiths that were proliferating in Europe.
Another contender for the title of America’s first Thanksgiving is Amarillo, Texas. It was near here that in 1541, Coronado and his men sat down to eat on Thanksgiving in the spring of that year. The expedition camped next to Palo Duro Canyon and welcomed abundant game and shelter, having experienced a series of severe storms that nearly destroyed the expedition on their journey.
So, although the Spanish had the first Thanksgiving in America in 1541, they had the first Thanksgiving meal with Indians in 1565, and they had the first Thanksgiving party with Indians in 1598, since they did not control the writers of American history, his achievements were overlooked. Although Texas is home to the first Thanksgiving celebrated in the United States, the credit goes to the Pilgrims. It is also of interest that the language used in the Thanksgiving celebration was Spanish.
The Thanksgiving story also has other myths surrounding it. Although Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamation is often touted as the first, history shows that this is not the case. Even before Lincoln’s Thanksgiving proclamations, he was not the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving a holiday. President Sam Houston of the Republic of Texas proclaimed March 2, Texas Independence Day, to be a day of celebration of freedom and thanksgiving. So Texas formally recognized Thanksgiving before it became a national holiday in other nations.
Later, Governor George Wood of Texas proclaimed that the first Thanksgiving celebration in Texas would be moved to the first Thursday in December 1849.
Thanksgiving Day has always been a time to thank God for his blessings. Regardless of its origins, it was a time to express gratitude. The notion of becoming a holiday continued with some of President Lincoln’s proclamations as part of his wartime measures in 1863. Even here, President Jefferson Davis formally proclaimed Thanksgiving days two years before he made by Lincoln in 1861. With that proclamation, the South celebrated Thanksgiving both informally and formally BEFORE the rest of the States did. Although the facts are that in the South, and specifically in Texas, was where the first Thanksgiving occurred and that it was celebrated as a holiday here before it was in the Northeast, they affirm that it is theirs. Thanksgiving Day had been a part of American culture before the war, and George Washington issued a formal declaration for it as a day of thanksgiving and prayer on October 14, 1789. Although it was a day of prayer and Thanksgiving was not a formal day. vacation at that time. Washington’s example of calling such a day was emulated by two other nations.
Thus, Lincoln was not the first president to proclaim Thanksgiving as a national celebration or holiday, nor was the United States the first nation to formally celebrate Thanksgiving.
When the federal government formalized Thanksgiving, which was traditionally a time of appreciation, into a formal holiday, there were reactions. It was in response to this practice of making it a formal holiday that Texas Governor Oran Roberts made this quote: “It’s a goddamn Yankee institution anyway.”
Texas has the unique history of having celebrated two Thanksgiving Days in 1939, due to disagreements between the Governor and the tyrant Franklin D. Roosevelt. The president wanted extra time to shop between Thanksgiving and Christmas that year. Texas refused to accept and change the traditional time of its celebration. The Thanksgiving holiday has become the traditional time for the rivalry football game between Texas and Texas A&M. The game went on as scheduled, and Texas celebrated two Thanksgivings in 1939.
