Thanksgiving

May we all be grateful and be thankful for the bounteous blessings we all are able to enjoy each day!

THE THANKSGIVING STORY

The Pilgrims who sailed to this country aboard the Mayflower were originally members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). They had earlier fled their home in England and sailed to Holland (The Netherlands) to escape religious persecution. There they enjoyed more religious tolerance, but they eventually became disenchanted with the Dutch way of life, thinking it ungodly. Seeking a better life, the Separatists negotiated with a London stock company to finance a pilgrimage to America.

Most of those making the trip aboard the Mayflower were non-Separatists, but were hired to protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Separatists.

The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. Their first winter was devastating. At the beginning of the following fall, they had Lost 46 of the original 102 who sailed on the Mayflower. But the harvest of 1621 was a bountiful one. And the remaining colonists decided to celebrate with a feast--including 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first year. The feast was more of a traditional English harvest festival than a true "thanksgiving" observance. It lasted 3 days.

Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and geese. It is not certain that wild turkey was part of their feast. However, it is certain that they had venison. The term "turkey" was used by the Pilgrims to mean any sort of wild fowl.

Another modern staple at almost every Thanksgiving table is pumpkin pie. But it is unlikely that the first feast included that treat. The supply of flour had been long diminished, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. However, they did eat boiled pumpkin, and they produced a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There was not domestic cattle for dairy products, and the newly-discovered potato was still considered by many Europeans to be poisonous. But the feast did include fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison and plums.

This "thanksgiving" feast was not repeated the following year. But in 1623, during a severe drought, the pilgrims gathered in a prayer service, praying for rain. When a long, steady rain followed the very next day, Governor Bradford proclaimed another day of Thanksgiving, again inviting their Indian friends. It wasn't until June of 1676 that another Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed.

On June 20, 1676, the governing council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting to determine how best to express thanks for the good fortune that had seen their community securely established. By unanimous vote they instructed Edward Rawson, clerk, to proclaim June 29 as a day of thanksgiving.

October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. But it was a one-time affair. George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving in 1789, although some were opposed to it. There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the hardships of a few Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.

It was Sara Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book.

Finally, after a 40-year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November
as a national day of Thanksgiving.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God.
In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.
Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom.
No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People.
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.
And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.

Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date two years later.

And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, as the fourth Thursday in November.

Updated - Liberal media lies and distortions

Update: The Salt Lake Tribune decided after 4 weeks to publish my editorial. I've added a link to it.

I'm tired of the liberal media controlling what is said on TV and published in newspapers. More often than not, they spin the story to make Republicans look bad and Democrats look good. In conversing with a few reporters from The Salt Lake Tribune, I am even more convinced that they don't recognize their bias in their own thinking, let alone their reporting. (more on my conversations with Holly Mullen in another post)

I'm posting a piece I submitted to The Tribune for publication, because I am fairly confident that since it goes against the stated and inferred positions of the editorial board at Utah's Independent Voice newspaper, it will never see the light of day.

Here is my editorial:

Since the election, there have been many opinions and editorials published detailing how Utah was left behind because those who voted chose to stay with many Republicans and did not convert to the Democratic way of life. The Salt Lake Tribune tries to denigrate those who chose to stay true to their convictions and principles with this rejoinder, "“Utah voters stuck with those that brung 'em."

Where are the compelling and coherent arguments to '‘throw the bums out'’ just because they are Republicans? Those who acquiesce to the position of The Tribune and the national media have failed in their attempts to show one plausible reason for a needed change of party affiliation. What else do the Democrats have to say besides bring the troops home? It surely isn'’t speaking the truth regarding stem cell research in their political ads this year.

Republicans and Democrats alike have character flaws. However, Democrats look the other way and actually rally the troops when any of their own casts a long shadow over their morals. (See Mel Reynolds, Barney Frank, Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton as examples). Republicans throw their disgraceful occupants of Congress out on their backsides and seek for improved candidates to replace them. Having been a delegate this year, I saw firsthand the many character flaws that exist in my party and the much needed cleansing that needs to take place from within. That still doesn'’t mean I'’m going to change party affiliation just because people think there is an imbalance in this nation and state.

The economy is rolling right along, setting all-time highs on the NYSE. Unemployment is at an all-time low. New jobs are being created every day. Middle income families did get a tax break under President Bush. Gas prices are lowering each day; except in Utah!

Now with '‘the mandate'’, as those in the liberal press like to label it, we will have the opportunity to see what the Democrats will actually bring to the table besides their spiteful remarks and unwillingness to move off their mast which belongs to the likes of Michael Moore, Mr. Olbermann, Mr. Matthews and Ms. Streisand. Democrats will also need to disassociate themselves with fundamentally bankrupt organizations such as the ACLU, NARAL and NOW.

My guess is we will have our taxes raised to pay for all of the socialist programs that the Democrats favor; which I am still unable to find any reference to in the Constitution. We will have endless inquiries into President Bush and his administration just because the Democrats do not like the man who was elected as President. We will have continued and relentless attacks on the unborn children through the mysterious right of an abortion and we will have the endless homosexual agenda crammed down our throats. What really is the definition of safe, legal and rare? Is it over 1 million abortions a year since 1973?

Lastly, we will have unintelligible persecutions against those who believe this great and magnanimous nation we call The United States of America was established by the hand of the Almighty.

The call for change from The Tribune and others, just for the sake of change, is nothing more than drivel and an unimpressive complaint. The core of the liberal Democratic principles and values are not congruent with my principles. If the Democrats want to make inroads in Utah and other conservative places, then they will need to do a better job of convincing me that their positions are more in line with mine regarding the purpose of government and the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.