The First Thanksgiving?

“The antidote to feel-good history is not feel-bad history but honest and inclusive history.”  James Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me.

From the time that my kids have been in school (not by my choice), they have come home with pictures of colored turkeys and paper pilgrims.  They have been told the same story I was told of the first thanksgiving, probably the same story that has been related to you so many times by so many different sources.  We all know the “official” tale so there is no need to retell it here.

Although George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3, 1789 as a way of celebrating the newly-ratified Constitution, Thanksgiving became an official national holiday in­­­­­­­­­­­­­­ 1863, when President Lincoln announced that the nation would celebrate the fourth Thursday of every November as the holiday of Thanksgiving [1].  However, Eastern Indians had been celebrating the harvest festival long before the Europeans arrived [9].

Like so many national holidays, it has become a myth, and tall tale to commemorate this country’s supposed creation of freedom and liberty and to cement it place as God’s new chosen people.  It’s a story that makes us feel good and noble, and creates characters we can identify with.   We have been taught that it is a tale of those seeking refuge from religious oppression.  We have been told that it’s a story of a common beginning far too complicated for school children to understand.  So it has been watered down, compressed, and changed to fit neatly into a child’s coloring book.

The real story is no longer told in education institutions, if it ever was to begin with.  After all, governments create the curriculum children study, and the “Thanksgiving” story certainly doesn’t fit into their neat little package. So what’s the big deal?  It’s just a story right? The more I study the more I begin to realize that we have strayed a great distance from the truth.   All children know today about our history, and the men and events that shaped the world that we live in, is basically mythology.  I have no doubt that we would be a better society if we spent more time studying the real lessons history has to teach us, and so I am compelled to write what I have learned.

So what is the real story?

There is some debate as to how the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth.  The story goes “violent winds blew them off course.”  Some historians believe that the Dutch (their rivals) bribed the captain of the Mayflower to sail north while others hold that they sailed to Cape Cod on purpose [7]. And contrary to popular belief, not everyone aboard the Mayflower was seeking relief from religious oppression.  Only about 35 of 102 people aboard were Pilgrims, the rest were seeking their fortune in the Virginia colony [7].  These other colonists were there for profit in the fur trade and other businesses.  They had, after all, “formed a partnership in a joint-stock company with a group of London merchants, including Thomas Weston, an ironmonger, and John Peirce, a cloth maker. The company, John Peirce and Associates, received in 1620 a grant from the Virginia Company for a particular plantation in Virginia territory [11].”

The Pilgrims had arrived in what is now Provincetown, Mass., on November 11, 1620, but it was late in December before they finally settled in Plymouth.  They were still living on the Mayflower, and spent that first winter building homes.  It was at this time the Mayflower compact was born to subdue a mutiny.  “To forestall this rebellion against servitude, the bulk of the colonists, and especially the Pilgrims, decided to establish a government immediately, even though on shipboard. No possible period without governmental rule was to be permitted to the colonists. The Pilgrim minority straightway formed themselves on shipboard into a ‘body politic’ in the Mayflower Compact, enabling them to perpetuate their rule over the other majority colonists. This, the first form of government in the New World established by colonists themselves, was by no means a gesture of independence from England; it was an emergency measure to maintain the Pilgrim control over the servants and other settlers [11].”

The history books have painted the Pilgrims as pious, hardworking and industrious; so it may surprise some that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious.  Plus,  “The Pilgrim Myth completely ignores the “day of thanksgiving” celebrated in December of 1619 in Virginia, and it also shifts the origins of Anglo-Saxon settlement from its true center in Virginia to the rather isolated and less prosperous (and less free) colony in the north [2],”  but more about that later.

Let’s debunk the Plymouth story first

For two years, from 1621-1623, the “Pilgrims had placed all their food and provisions in what they called the ‘common store’ which was set up on the socialist principle of ‘From each according to his ability, to each according to his need.’ [4]” William Bradford, the governor of the colony, would soon realize the hard way that communism doesn’t work.

Bradford, “reported that the colonists went hungry for years, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with ‘corruption,’ and with ‘confusion and discontent.’ The crops were small because ‘much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable.’[3]

“For the young men that were able and fit for labor and service did repine that they should spend their time and strength to work for other men’s wives and children, without recompense. The strong, or men of parts, had no more division of food, clothes, etc. then he that was weak and not able to do a quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men to be ranked and equalized in labor, and food, clothes, etc. with the meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignant and disrespect unto them. And for men’s wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing their meat, washing their clothes, etc. they deemed it a kind of slavery…”- William Bradford

1623 was different.  Bradford writes, “[The colonists] began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in misery. “  In short, then needed to come up with a better way of doing business if they were to survive.  The principle of private property, although not a new concept, was established and each family was assigned a parcel of land.

“this had a very good success; for it made all hands very industrious, so as much more corn was planted then otherwise would have been by any means the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble, and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field, and took their little-ones with them to set corn, which before would a ledge weakness, and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great tyranny and oppression.” –William Bradford

Pilgrim and Indian relations

The myth prevails that the pilgrims and Indians were on friendly terms and contrary to popular belief, this wasn’t the first time that the Indians had met Europeans, and these meetings, at times, could be tumultuous.   Although initial meetings between the Pilgrims and the Indians were positive, it is important to note the attitude the Pilgrims had toward the Indians, so that one has the understanding of how they viewed their existence, and how subsequent interactions were not always on the best terms. In 1617, before the arrival of the Pilgrims, a pandemic has swept across the Southern portion of New England [7].  Historians are not sure if it was bubonic, hepatitis, smallpox, chicken pox, or influenza, but whichever it was, by the time the Pilgrims landed, it had wiped out 90-96 percent of the inhabitants of coastal New England [7].  It is theorized that this plague prompted the warm reception received by the Pilgrims.  Their village was so decimated, the Wampanoag leader was eager to ally with the Pilgrims because he feared the Narragansetts to the West [7].   The Europeans, found it easy to infer that God was on their side as they watched the “savages” die.  The Indians felt their gods had abandoned them.  Bradford describes how the Dutch traveled to an Indian village in Connecticut to trade “but their enterprise failed, for it pleased God to afflict those Indians with such a deadly sickness, that out of 1,000  over 950 of them died, and many of them lay rotting above ground for want of burial….[7].”

The European view of property clashed with the Indians as well.  The land that the Pilgrims came to was not previously uninhabited, but territory that belonged to several tribes of Indians [10].  In fact, the site the Pilgrims had chosen had once been the village belonging to Squanto, which had been destroyed by the plague [7].   John Winthrop, governor of the Massachetts Bay Colony, declared the land a  “vacuum”, saying the Indians had not subdued and therefore only had a natural right not a civil right (a natural right did not have legal standing in English courts) [10].  These semantics conveniently created a moral “loophole” for the colonist to justify their actions.

By the second day, the Pilgrims began to receive “assistance” from the Indians.  A colonist’s journal describes entering houses and taking “things.”  To their credit, the journalist did say that when they “meet with the Indians, we will pay them for what we took [7].” However, that did not stop them from stealing.  Again the journalist writes, “We marched to the place we called Cornhill, where we had found the corn before.  At another place we had seen before, we dug and found some more corn, two or three baskets full, and a bag of beans.  In all we had about ten bushels, which will be enough for seed.  It was with God’s help that we have done it, without meeting some Indians who might trouble us [7].” Those that came to Plymouth did eventually pay for the land, and in some instances the Indians invited them in as protection from other tribes or other European powers [7], but relations had been stressed.

Squanto did aide the Pilgrims, but only after returning from England, via Newfoundland and found his home decimated and him being the only survivor[7]. Perhaps he felt he had no other choice.  Bradford called him, “a special instrument sent of God for their good beyond their expectation.  He directed them how to set their corn, where to take fish, and to procure other commodities, as was also their pilot to bring them to unknown places for their profit [7].”

According to, Ramona Peters, the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe’s Tribal Historic Preservation Officer, “People did eat together [but not in what is portrayed as “the first Thanksgiving”]. It was our homeland and our territory and we walked all through their villages all the time. The differences in how they behaved, how they ate, how they prepared things was a lot for both cultures to work with each other. But in those days, it was sort of like today when you go out on a boat in the open sea and you see another boat and everyone is waving and very friendly—it’s because they’re vulnerable and need to rely on each other if something happens. In those days, the English really needed to rely on us and, yes, they were polite as best they could be, but they regarded us as savages nonetheless [12].”

The first Thanksgiving in Jamestown, Virginia?

Many early colonial groups would set up a socialist type state, and Jamestown was no exception (Plymouth did not learn the lessons of Jamestown).  “Established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called “The Starving Time,” the population fell from five-hundred to sixty [5].”

In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch [to free enterprise] there was “plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure.” He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, “we reaped not so much corn from the labors of thirty men as three men have done for themselves now [6].”

On November 28, 1619, Captain Woodlief, a survivor of the “starving time,” and now armed with the knowledge of how the free markets worked, entered Cheapskate Bay upon the Margaret. The mission of those aboard Margaret was to settle 8,000 acres of land along the James River that had been granted to them by the London-based Berkeley Company. They were allowed to build farms, storehouses, homes, and a community on company land. In exchange, they were contracted as employees, working the land and handing over crops and profits to the company [7].  Also, “having learned from the tragic experience of the settlement of Jamestown, Woodlief determined that this was not to be an adventure for cavaliers and dandies, as was the case at Jamestown.  They did not possess the skills and determination needed to start and survive in a new settlement.  The men Woodlief chose for the voyage would be men of crafts.  They would be journeymen, joyners, carpenters, smiths, fowlers and turners, men more comfortable with doing the work, rather than having it done for them [8].”

Captain Woodlief was furthered ordered, by the Berkeley Company, that the day they set foot on the land would be a “be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God [6].”  There was no fanfare, or huge meal, just a prayer of thanksgiving, as were most thanksgivings in the early years.  The plantation was later abandoned after an Indian attack killed 347 people [10], and the Virginia’s first thanksgiving was lost to history until 1958 when the Jamieson Family, owners of Berkeley, invited members of the Woodlief family to the plantation to observe the annual event.   That was the beginning of the Virginia Thanksgiving Festival.  It continues and in 1960 the festival was incorporated and in 1961 became a non-profit organization [8].

The story of Plymouth has transformed from history to somewhat of a dogmatic religion.  The official story marginalizes the Native peoples.  It turns the tables and gives the impression the Indians existence depended solely on the Europeans and that the Pilgrims were industrious, hard-working, pure-hearted individuals.  Look closely at the wording in school text books and the paper your children bring home, “They [Pilgrims] served pumpkin, turkey, corn, and squash.  The Indians had never seen such a feast!”  This gives children the notion, that we started the first thanksgiving, that we were the more advanced people, that we were their saviors.   This shapes the understanding of our world view today.  We are told we are the saviors of the world and they could not function without the United States.

History, real history, proves otherwise.   It omits grave robbing, theft, and enslavement.   It omits the clash of cultures and creates an image of an uncivilized society, which had to be dealt with in a “civilized way,” in order for progress to occur.  The official story paints a picture of feel good history that doesn’t allow for growth as a people, largely disregards truth, and could even be considered to be propaganda.

If this story intrigues you, don’t take my word for it.  Research it for yourself.  There is a lot more to it than I could every write here.

1. http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/lincoln-proclaims-official-thanksgiving-holiday
2. https://www.lewrockwell.com/2007/11/ryan-mcmaken/thanksgiving-no-thanks/
3. https://mises.org/library/great-thanksgiving-hoax-1
4. https://mises.org/library/thanksgiving-celebration-free-enterprise
5. https://www.lewrockwell.com/2011/11/richard-j-maybury/the-great-thanksgiving-hoax/
6. http://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/home/voyage.htm
7. Loewen, James. Lies My Teacher Told Me
8. http://virginiathanksgivingfestival.com/history/
9. http://www.powwows.com/2011/11/17/the-native-american-harvest-gathering/
10. Zinn, Howard. The People’s History of the United States.
11. http://archive.lewrockwell.com/rothbard/rothbard130.html
12. http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com/2012/11/23/what-really-happened-first-thanksgiving-wampanoag-side-tale-and-whats-done-today-145807