Thanksgiving
Devon Proudfoot
Thinking back to elementary school, students often remember an oversimplified version of certain historical events. The most popular story comes about late in the fall, as children get ready to go home and celebrate Thanksgiving with their families. As kids make hand turkeys and talk about what they are thankful for, teachers tell them the story of the first Thanksgiving.This story usually consists of the Pilgrims, dressed in their stereotypical black outfits with their hats, being peaceful with their neighboring Native American friends. The scene displays all these people eating their turkey and vegetables that these two factions worked so hard together to create. This is the scene presented in Jean Leon Gerome Ferris’ The First Thanksgiving 1621, displaying a happy, albeit historically inaccurate telling of the colonial period.
Looking at Jean Leon Gerome Ferris’ painting specifically does not show a correct view of this time period in general. Ferris often took on the task of painting famous scenes from our nations past, typically centuries after they happened, although he was not known for his historical accuracy. The painting displays the Native American tribe, the Wampanoag, and the Pilgrims, but the clothing and mannerisms would not have been accurate for the people it was depicting, such as the Indians feathered bonnets.
The idea of the first Thanksgiving implies that this modern celebration has been taken straight from this time period. The Pilgrims and the Wampanoag did get together and feast, but not during the same time of year. These celebrations did not typically occur during November like they do today, but rather they followed large harvests, as a celebration of sorts. These banquets occurred at various times over the years following the arrival of the Pilgrims during these harvests.
These “Thanksgiving” celebrations occurred throughout the colonies during the seventeenth century, but were not nationally recognized until 1777. Samuel Adams and the continental congress drafted this holiday in order to thank God for the fortune that the colonies had received. The colonists continued to celebrate this new holiday throughout the 1700 and 1800’s but not like the way it is thought of today. The celebrations mainly focused on praying, similarly to the way that Samuel Adams had in mind. This celebration also featured fasting rather than the grand spread of food that Americans celebrate with today.
The way that the first Thanksgiving is portrayed by history teachers today implies that our own holiday has been a tradition for the past four centuries. Additionally, the portrayal of the Native Americans and the Pilgrims has not always been backed up with the best of historical evidence. While children learn the basics of this event through images such as Ferris’, they do not present the story how it originally happened back in the 17th century.
The Cave 