Did you grow up learning the Thanksgiving story as I did, with Pilgrims celebrating a good harvest along with their Indian friends? When I saw my first wild turkey, I was disappointed that it was ugly, nowhere near the spread-feathered bird of my childhood storybooks! (Click here to see what I mean.).
When I started research for this article, I encountered another surprise with incomplete grade-school information. The celebrations we think of from the early colonists don’t exactly match the storybook image, either. Also, our current Thanksgiving observances don’t match the original ones from the beginning of our nation’s founding. It may be time to review what we now mean by “Thanksgiving”, and move back to using the day to truly express humble gratitude to God for all the blessings He gives throughout the year.
Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights…
James 1:17
Thanksgiving Days…Early
The Pilgrim feast that first comes to mind is the Mayflower folks in Plymouth, MA in 1621. This was the event that inspired Sarah Josepha Hale to start in 1837 campaigning for Thanksgiving as a Federal holiday. The main description of that event comes in a letter written by Edward Winslow in December 1621 to a friend who was planning to join the colony. The most quoted part includes:
…our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest King Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain, and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.
A couple of things to note: One, although he credits “the goodness of God”, the day is not termed “Thanksgiving”, and that does not appear to be the purpose of the gathering. It was just a party. Two, the friendly relationship with the Indians was tenuous and did not last long. It was originally a treaty between the Wampanoag tribal leader Ousamequin (a.k.a. Massasoit) and the Plymouth governor William Bradford. Massasoit and his people helped the pilgrims in return for an alliance against another tribe, the Narragansett. The treaty held until after these leaders’ deaths, but then devolved into a bloody war by 1675.
Plymouth has a competitor for the title of “First Thanksgiving”: Virginia. A ship named the Margaret landed at what is now Berkeley Plantation near Richmond on December 4, 1619. The investors who financed the colony had directed that the day of arrival at their destination was to be “yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god“. There was no feast involved, and the relations with the local Powhatan tribe had turned violent by two years later, in 1622. The colony was abandoned for 300 years, so their day of thanksgiving had trouble making its way into the history books.
There are still other competitors: The Spanish at St. Augustine, FL in 1565, the French Huguenots also in Florida in 1564, even the Spanish in Texas in 1598.
Apparently, celebrating a good harvest or a successful journey was not uncommon. Neither was inviting new Indian friends to that celebration, or thanking God for those blessings. But even if the Plymouth pilgrims weren’t unique, or exactly like the storybooks, days of thanksgiving do have a long history.
But what is it that makes our national Thanksgiving holiday unique and special?
Thanksgiving Days…National
The first days set aside nationally for giving thanks were not celebrations with parties and feasting. They were solemn occasions for Americans to “meet together on that day in their respective places of worship” to express gratitude to God, request His continued mercy, confess sins, and dedicate the people to continued submission to Him.
This website has a transcript of all the national Thanksgiving-Day proclamations. I recommend you go to the link and check them out. They are fascinating to read. Here are some excerpts.
The first one, by the Continental Congress in 1777, set aside the day “That at one Time and with one Voice, the good People may express the grateful Feelings of their Hearts, and consecrate themselves to the Service of their Divine Benefactor”. Others by the Continental Congress included…
- 1778: “that all the people may, with united hearts, on that day, express a just sense of his unmerited favors”
- 1779: “a day of public and solemn thanksgiving to Almighty God for his mercies, and of prayer for the continuance of his favor and protection to these United States”
- 1780: “to celebrate the praises of our Divine Benefactor”
- 1781: “to celebrate the praises of our gracious Benefactor”
- 1782: “to testify their gratitude to God for his goodness”
- 1783: “to celebrate with one voice grateful hearts and united voices, the praises of their Supreme and all bountiful Benefactor”
- 1784: “to celebrate with grateful hearts, and joyful and united voices, the mercies and praises of their all-bountiful Creator, most holy, and most righteous!”
Then there are the proclamations by the founding fathers, our first presidents.
- George Washington in 1789: “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”
- John Adams in 1798: “a day of solemn humiliation, fasting, and prayer…offer their devout addresses to the Father of Mercies”
- James Madison in 1814: “offer…their humble adoration to the Great Sovereign of the Universe”
In 1863, during the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln was the first president to call for a regularly-scheduled annual “day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens” on the last Thursday of November. Since the “last” Thursday may be either the 4th or the 5th one depending on the calendar, Congress passed a resolution in 1941 setting it permanently on the 4th Thursday.
Thanksgiving Days…Now
Notice the difference in attitude between the celebration-thanksgiving days vs. these official American Thanksgiving proclamations. The former did indeed express gratitude to God for bountiful harvests and successful voyages. But the latter, those that really set the tone for our current holiday, were completely focussed on that gratitude, with no feasting or celebration involved. In fact, John Adams called for a day of fasting, not feasting!
In contrast, nowadays we would be hard-pressed to know exactly Who is being thanked. We express gratitude for a second before we dig into the turkey and dressing, but it’s often vague and generic. Thanksgiving decorations and sentiments rarely mention God by name. When looking for an image for this article, I chose one that explicitly referenced Him. But I almost used this one, instead, as a more accurate representation of our culture.
For instance, the most recent Presidential proclamation I could find (Joe Biden in 2023; the 2024 proclamation has not been published at time of writing) says …
- “Let us be grateful for all the blessings of this Nation and its limitless possibilities.”
- “Americans will gather with their loved ones and families, celebrating the love they share and the traditions they built together.”
- “This Thanksgiving we are grateful for our Nation and the incredible soul of America. May we all remember that we are the United States of America — there is nothing beyond our capacity if we do it together.”
- “Give thanks for the friends, neighbors, family members, and strangers who have supported each other over the past year in a reflection of goodwill and unity.”
That sounds nice, but it doesn’t mention God at all, much less any form of humility, praise, or submission to Him. Expressing gratitude falls a bit short without saying to Whom those thanks are being addressed! To hear the literal words of this proclamation, or of most Thanksgiving conversations, we could be grateful to Santa Claus, or the Easter Bunny, or the Great Pumpkin; there’s no telling.
Have the “traditions they built together” become more important to us than the “Divine Benefactor”, the “Almighty God” and the “all-bountiful Creator”? Can we (myself included) honestly say that we love God more than we do pumpkin pie? Our actions on this holiday often indicate otherwise.
There is nothing wrong with feasting and celebrating with family. In fact, God commanded several such feasts when He gave His commandments to His new nation of Israel after rescuing them from slavery in Egypt. However, I suspect that much would change in our own nation if food, football, and parades moved down just a notch in our priorities, while prayer, thanksgiving and praise to “the Supreme and all bountiful Benefactor, the Great Sovereign of the Universe” moved up a couple of notches.
Thanksgiving…Every Day…Specifically to God!
Regardless of any proclamation or special day set aside, the Bible is full of exhortations to give thanks to God for the many blessings He gives us constantly. May we do so always, but especially on this Thanksgiving Day!
Oh give thanks to the LORD, call upon His name;
1 Chronicles 16:8-10, Psalm 105:1-3
Make known His deeds among the peoples.
Sing to Him, sing praises to Him;
Speak of all His wonders.
Glory in His holy name;
Let the heart of those who seek the LORD be glad.
Oh give thanks to the LORD, for He is good,
Psalm 107:1
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
Psalm 33:2-5
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
For the word of the LORD is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.
