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| English: "The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The Puritans and Pilgrims, (the former wished to stay within the English fold, the latter were Separatists), arrived in North America in 1620.
The painting By Jennie A. Brownscombe, (above), done in 1914 is called The First
Thanksgiving.
It shows healthy, clean settlers a year after the landing gathered
in a lovely meadow in front of a cosy cabin.
The table is heavily laden with the fruits of their labours while a
docile group of native warriors sits like happy, grateful children in the
background.
Right.
The truth
is that the Puritans and Pilgrims blundered about for years, always on the edge of
starvation.
They managed to unfriend
many of the aboriginal people whose land they were expropriating and they argued
incessantly with each other and with their English overlords over theology and
money.
And if
you've ever thought that you might have enjoyed being a part of that fun little
group please remember that they are the same people who left us the legacy of
the Salem witch trials.
But hey,
I'm not here to spoil your Thanksgiving week-end!
If you are
Canadian, eat, drink, be merry for the harvest is gathered.
And be thankful
that beef was recalled this week, not turkey.
11 comments:
I never knew the difference between puritans and pilgrims before -- thanks! And have a great Thanksgiving, Francie.
LOl...very true, and yes, I'm so thankful to be able to roast my turkey this weekend! Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!
Thanks for clearing up the difference between these two groups for me as well, Francie.
Amazing what we are led to believe about our history and how it all unfolded.
Happy Thanksgiving to you as well from we in Nova Scotia.
The first Thanksgiving celebration by Euro-peoples in North America was not in New England but in Newfoundland, 42 years before the Pilgrims.
Can't call it Canadian, though, as Newfoundland didn't join Canada until 1949.
Details at http://tinyurl.com/6z9z9b
Happy Thanksgiving, Francie.
Thanks Doug! I didn't know this:
"The first Thanksgiving celebration by Euro-peoples in North America was not in New England but in Newfoundland by Martin Frobisher, 42 years before the Pilgrims.
Frobisher's Thanksgiving was not for harvest but homecoming. He had safely returned from a search for the Northwest Passage, avoiding the later fate of Henry Hudson and Sir John Franklin."
You really have to read more to know the true history of anything connected to American history. All of the schoolbooks are sanitized and now, are politically correct.
Found you from Martha's great blog, she gave you her "Funkalicious Award" for this month!
Hahaha...I love this post, Francie! It once again reminds me how we like to glorify history and change the facts a little. I always say that I wouldn't mind visiting the past, but that I would never want to go back and live there. We are always moving forward (hopefully) with each generation, so if I had a choice, I'd skip forward at least 1,000 years, probably much more, to see if we've evolved into better humand beings that are kinder to one another. In the meantime, we are where we are. Happy Thanksgiving, Francie, from one of your blog fans!
That is interesting, Kay, but Americans don't have to shoulder the responsibility for the whitewashing of the Pilgrims. They are a part of Canadian histry too because there was no Canada or US in those days. We are as guilty as anyone else.
Thanks, Martha. 1,000 years in the future, eh? I wonder where humankind will be then? Hard to believe even 1 million or 10 million years from now will arrive eventually.
Jeesh, I just need to get through the day sometimes!
I am a bit puzzled by your response to my comment. I meant no offense to either America or Canada.
wow, I never new the difference before... I am always so busy thinking about the turkey!
I can't imagine it was fun times for those people.
How did this tradition get started again? :P
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