That time is finally here, where you can stuff your face with delicious food and not feel guilty about it.
You get to see family members that you haven’t seen in a while or spend it with friends who have become family. Thanksgiving, I believe is an important holiday. I think now a day’s especially, we forget why we are really celebrating it. It’s not just about the AMAZING food or just another family get together, it’s a holiday to stop, think and remember to be thankful - thankful for everyone in your life, for the food that is on the table, for your health and most importantly thankful that you are all together. Be thankful for all the hardships that you had to endure this past year and that your still here with family and friends. I know we all learned about the becoming of Thanksgiving back in elementary school, but do we really remember waaaaaaaaaaaay back then? I didn’t. Something to think about this Thanksgiving is why we have it. Why we are surrounded by the people that has helped us through our tough times and never gave up. When I look at my family that’s what see. They are the Wampanoag Indians and I am the Plymouth colonist, if not without their help I wouldn’t have survived. See, the Plymouth colonists set out in search of a new world on a ship called the Mayflower. In 1608 a group of English Protestants, “Separatists”, who also called themselves Saints, did not want to pledge allegiance to the Church of England because they thought it was corrupt and idolatrous. So they moved to a town called Leyden in Holland. Holland was not much better, at all. They did not except migrants, so the Saints were forced to take the menial, low-paying jobs. Holland also had a very carefree, cosmopolitan atmosphere, which added to the bad in living there because they would seduce the Saints children. Bottom line, they knew they had to get out of there and quick. They decided that they wanted a “New World” without government or any worldly distractions so they set back out to London, because what does everyone need to travel… money. So they got money and the King of England gave them permission to set sail. Originally there were two ships to set sail for the “New World” one was the Mayflower and the second was the Speedwell. The Speedwell did not get far due to it leaking so soon. The Saints had some Strangers tag along as well, so 102 passengers all squeezed onto the Mayflower and set sail into some bad stormy weather. Now they had coordination’s for where they could go, 38 and 41 degrees north latitude which is somewhere between the Chesapeake Bay and the mouth of the Hudson River. They landed at 42 degrees north latitude, which is what we know now as Cope Cod. When they arrived, all they found was an abandoned Indian Village. 41 Saints and a few Strangers drafted a document called, The Mayflower Compact, which basically entailed that there were to be “civil Body Politick” governed by elected officials and “just and equal laws”, also swearing allegiance to the English king. The Colonist first winter in New England was brutal. Half of the people died from malnutrition, disease and exposure to the harsh weather conditions. Luckily they met a Pawtuxet native named Somoset, who spoke English. He helped the colonist form an alliance with the Wampanoag Indians. They taught them how to hunt local animals, gather shellfish and grow corn, beans and squash. Without the Wampanoag Indians they would have never been able to stay alive and thus we would’ve never been here either. At the end of the next summer, the Plymouth colonist and the Wampanoag Indians decided to have a 3 day feast celebrating a successful harvest. These were people who were from two completely different walks of life and came together for the greater good, to survive. The Wampanoag Indians could have just killed off the colonists, but they didn’t. That should mean something especially in today’s world. Be truly thankful this Thanksgiving and never forget what you have and who you have. Happy Thanksgiving!
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AuthorI am a long time writer who has strong opinions on certain things. You do not have to agree with the things I say but just read it and tell me what you think. Or don't say anything at all... I really don't care either way! :) Archives
November 2017
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