Separating Fact from Fiction

The United States of America has a way of whitewashing history. When I say white washing, I mean that they make the whites seem clean. Many stories that we've been told on a myriad of topics, from the music we listen to, to the very people we admire, have been edited. The Thanksgiving Holiday is no different. Practically every part of the story was fabricated. The only part that is true is that the Pilgrims and Indians shared a meal together. Even the clothing we picture is inaccurate. Black was reserved for Sundays, and buckles weren't yet in fashion.

There are two common depictions of Thanksgiving, and while your race determines which version you buy into, neither one is correct. The first Thanksgiving was not designed by the Pilgrims as a way to perpetrate a planned massacre upon the Wampanoag Indians. In fact, the Indians weren't even invited at the start. Relations between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans were strained at the time of the feast. Teachers will tell you that the Pilgrims came to the New World in search of religious freedom. However, they fail to tell the rest of the story. The Pilgrims heard that an illness (historians don't know the exact cause, although small pox and yellow fever have been suggested) had spread through killing many of the Natives of this region. The Pilgrims had heard that these particular Natives had cleared much of the land and had built primitive homes and grew plentiful gardens. While they did seek religious freedom, they were much more concerned with the fact that they could take over this land with little trouble and that there was next to no work left to be done to it. While sailing on the Mayflower (the Pilgrims, in fact, made up only about a hundred of the Mayflower's population) they commandeered the ship and steered it not to Virginia as was planned, but instead they went to the Massachusetts area.

When the Pilgrims landed, their provisions were sparse. It is true that they would have starved if not for the help of Squanto; however the other Indians were not so forthcoming. In fact relations were tense almost from the beginning. Unfortunately, the Pilgrims decided that it was easier to take food from the Indians rather than grow their own. After a while they began taking more than just food. They began taking land, and they even tried to take slaves. Squanto entered peace talks with the Pilgrims, but after a while they went back to their old tricks.

When the Pilgrims had their feast, it was to celebrate their survival after a year. A force of about forty Natives appeared. They wanted to discuss the treaty in an attempt to regain some of their stolen land. In an impressive Public Relations move, the Pilgrims invited the Indians to stay. Together they shared dancing, games, and food. However it wasn't the food that we are used to. There wasn't any Turkey. They ate pheasant and duck. They didn't have pumpkin pie, but they did have an abundance of squash. They also didn't wait until the fourth week of November. It was probably some time between the end of September and the beginning of November. Also, the "festivities" lasted for three days.

The holiday wasn't again repeated until the Revolutionary War. After that, states slowly began adopting Thanksgiving as a holiday; however, it wasn't officially adopted by Congress as a National holiday until 1941.