Remember the good old days when we could actually dress up like Pilgrims and Native Americans at school while we had some Thanksgiving inspired snacks and learned about the first Thanksgiving? I’m sure you still know the basics.
The Pilgrims came to the New World so they could practice their religious beliefs landed on Plymouth Rock after a long journey on the Mayflower. They had trouble adjusting to life on a new continent with a more extreme climate, and many Pilgrims didn’t make it through their first year in their new home.
Then, Squanto and a local tribe of Native Americans befriended the Pilgrims, helped them cultivate the land, and the two groups lived together in peace. In celebration of their first successful harvest, the Pilgrims invited their Native American friends for a feast to give thanks to God for their new friends and bountiful crops. (Quick side note- some historical data suggests that Chief Massasoit showed up with 100 warriors without an invitation before the feast began.)
It’s been awhile since I’ve been in a grade school classroom, but I’m willing to bet that fewer American school children know this account of Thanksgiving these days. If they do hear about Thanksgiving in school, they’re more likely to hear that the Pilgrims were colonizers who stole the Native American’s land and killed them with diseases like small pox. I’m sure today’s kids are told that European and “white” depictions of Native Americans are inherently racist… because everything’s racist.
And that’s not even the worst of it. The worst part is that because of everyone’s allergies and dietary restrictions any Thanksgiving treats are probably banned… or edible cardboard, which is worse!
This is what I think we should all know about Thanksgiving.
1. Relationships are complicated.
And the relationships among European settlers and Native Americans are no exception. For example, the Wampanoag Indians didn’t help the Pilgrims out for nothing. They made a deal that they would help the Pilgrims cultivate the land, and the Pilgrims would use their firearms and manpower to help the Wampanoag Indians defeat a rival tribe. Later Native Americans went from fighting each other to allying with the English to fight the French in the French and Indian War as well as the American Revolution.
Different Native American tribes responded differently to various groups of European settlers. Based on what I know about this era of history, it seems that Native Americans were more likely to have better relations with religious refugees like the Pilgrims than the economic opportunists like the men who colonized Jamestown.
And not all Europeans were prejudiced or racist against Native Americans. The Catholic Church in Europe fought for the rights of native peoples in South America, rather unsuccessfully. Christopher Columbus admired the tribe he encountered, but some have misconstrued his diary entries to claim that Columbus was a racist. What’s more, no one knew about germ theory, so it’s clear that as tragic and devastating as the spread of illnesses like small pox were in the New World, it wasn’t intentional.
History is complicated because the sum of human relationships and interactions are complicated, and understanding both requires nuance. When we look back at our past, it’s important that we learn from mistakes and celebrate triumphs. Our triumphs do not excuse man-made tragedies, so I am in no way saying that we should turn a blind eye to atrocities like the Trail of Tears.
Likewise, we should not dismiss amazing historical events like Thanksgiving because that would mean that we are just as blind. Don’t let ideological demagogues ruin the historical meaning of Thanksgiving with their revisionist history. Thanksgiving and the events surrounding it is a triumph of the human spirit for both the Pilgrims and Native Americans alike.
2. Europeans did not import the sins of civilization.
I don’t know about you, but I am so sick of fraudulent historians (who wouldn’t know a historical fact if it smacked them in the face) telling us how dead white guys are the source of all the world’s problems. Of course, some dead white guys did some horrible things, just like every other group.
For instance, slavery was a universal institution dating back to the ancient world. In fact, the word “slave” is derived from “Slav,” a northern European (a.k.a., white) people group who were among the first to be enslaved. Every race on every habitable continent has enslaved other races and its own race throughout world history. For instance, the underground tunnels in Seattle and Portland were actually used to sell white men into slavery on a Chinese market during the 19th century.
And let’s not forget that the New World was full of “old world problems” before the first European set foot on its shores. Native American tribes fought each other, enslaved each other, killed other tribes for their land, sacrificed each other by the thousands to gods, and some were even cannibals.
Yes, there are plenty of sins committed by white men in American history. Slavery and the treatment of Native Americans are among the gravest of these sins. Lest we forget that these sins were the original sins of civilization that has afflicted every people group, and America has gone to great lengths (and continues to do so) to rid itself of these transgressions. And Great Britain and America were among the first countries to outlaw slavery and seek to eradicate slavery around the world.
For more, check these out:
3. Life’s pretty good for Americans today, so let’s be grateful for that.
Sure, we have problems. And I’m not saying life is always easy. Sometimes it can get pretty bad. But thinking about the history of Thanksgiving makes me think about how fortunate we are to have what we’ve got. Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, no one has lost half of their community like the Pilgrims did after they came to the New World. We have supply chain problems, but we aren’t one or two bad harvests away from starvation. And some American cities are plagued with skyrocketing crime rates, but we aren’t in all out warfare with surrounding tribes and clans.
We still need to work on the problems we have and overcome the challenges we face as individuals and a nation. That doesn’t mean we should ignore how much we’ve been blessed. Be sure to look both ways so you don’t get blindsided by the bad or gloss over the good. Contemporary singer and philosopher Sheryl Crow said it best when she said, “It’s not having what you want, it’s wanting what you’ve got.”
I hope you all enjoy Thanksgiving with the ones you love. And as a parting thought, here is an excerpt from President George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation from 1789.
“…Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favor, able interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enabled to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted; for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us…”
Happy Thanksgiving!
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