Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgiving


America gives thanks today for all our blessings, bounty and freedoms! Lets Celebrate! We are The Americans- the first people ever to have a national holiday to give thanks!

According to History.com:

George Washington was the first president to declare Thanksgiving as an American Holiday! During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer.

Elder William Brewster, also mentioned at History.com and in the history books, was my ancestor who came over on The Mayflower. (born 1567, England—died April 1644, Plymouth, Mass.) leader of the Plymouth Colony in New England He accompanied the first group of Pilgrims on the Mayflower in 1620. William Brewster, the only university-trained member of the Plymouth community, was the real leader of the church. As its senior elder he dominated the formulation of its doctrines, worship, and practices. He was not a magistrate, but by virtue of his close association with the governor, William Bradford, he played a major role in civil as well as religious affairs. Needless to say, Thanksgiving has always held a special place in my heart and the heart of my family! In everything, give thanks!

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