THANKSGIVING

THANKSGIVING

In the United States, the fourth Thursday in November is called Thanksgiving Day; Americans give thanks for the blessings they have enjoyed during the year.  Thanksgiving is usually a family day, celebrated with big dinners and happy reunions.

The first American Thanksgiving was held in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1.621.  The people of Plymouth had come to America from England in 1.620 .  In their native land they had been called Puritans because they wished  to "purify" the Church of  England. Before 1600, some of them decided that they  could not reform the Church from within, so they broke and formed their own churches.  When English officials began to persecute them, they fled to Holand.

Several years passed. The Puritans living in Holland werethreatened by religious supression and war and were saddened to see their children growing up Dutch instead of English.  They wanted to keep their native language and traditions and to be free from religious persecution.  Once again, they thought of moving.  This time they considered America.  In an unsettled land they would finally be free to live as they chose; and the idea of bringing the word of Christ to remote parts of the world appealed to them immensely.  Some  English merchants agreed to finance their journey in return for a share of the profits produced by the new colony.  So, after traveling from Holland back to England, a small group of Puritans, together with some other passengers, set sail for the New World.

The puritans began to call themselves Pilgrims because of their wanderings in search of religious freedom.

It was September of 1.620 when their ship, called the Mayflower, left port with 102 men, women, and children on board.  This was the worst season of the year for an ocean crossing,  and the trip was very rough.  Yet, during the voyage, the travelers suffered only one death.  Since there was also a birth aboard ship, the Mayflower was still carrying 102 passengers when, after sixty-five days at sea.

she landed in Provincetown Harbor, inside the tip of Cape Cod, Massachusetts.  The party had planned to land further south, nearer to the only other English colony in  America, which was in Jamestown.  Virginia.  But errors in navigation and adverse winds brought the Mayflower to New England.

The Pilgrim leaders knew that they were in unsettled territory which had no governing body.  They also knew that, in order to survive, every society needs a means of establishing and enforcing proper rules of conduct.  Partly to protect themselves from rebels within their own ranks, forty-one men aboard the Mayflower held a meeting to choose their first governor and sign the historic Mayflower Compact, the first formal agreement for self-government in America.

For about a month longer, the Pilgrims lived aboard ship and sent out scouting parties to explore the coastline of Cape Cod Bay.  At Playmouth, the scouts found a harbor with excellent fishing, some cleared land, cornfields, little rippling brooks with pure, fresh water, and a high hill that could be fortified.  The site had once been an Indian  village, but a smallpox epidemic a few years earlier had killed the entire Indian population.  The scouts steered their small boat back to the Mayflower and reported their discovery.  A few days later, the Mayflower sailed across Cape Cod Bay and anchored in Plymount Harbor.  Coming ashore in their small boat, the Pilgrims landed (according to tradition) on a large rock later named Plymout  Rock.  This was the beginning of the second permanent English settlement in America.

The pilgrims were poorly trained and poorly equipped to cope with life in the wilderness.  During their first winter in the new land, they suffered tremendously.  Poor  Food,  hard work, infectious diseases, and bitterly cold weather killed about half of them.   By the end of this terrible first winter, only about fifty Plymounth colonists remained alive.

One spring morning in 1.621, an Indian walked into the little village of Playmouth and introduced himself in a friendly way.  Later, he brought the Indian chief.  Masasoit, who gave gifts to the Pilgrims and offered assistance.  The Indians of Massasoit´s tribe taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and grow food.  They taught the pilgrims to use fish for fertilizer in planting corn, pumpkins, and beans.  Because of this help from the Indians, the Pilgrins had a good harvest.

Governor William Bradford was following an ancient tradition when, in the fall of 1.621 he issued a proclamation establishing a day of thanksgiving to God. The Governor also decided to use this religous occasion to strengthen  the bond of friendship between  the Pilgrims and their Indian neighbors. So he invited  Chief Massasoit and his braves to share the Thanksgiving feast.

The Indians gladly accepted and sent five deer ahead.  The Indians gladly accepted and sent five deer ahead.  The Pilgrim men went hunting and returned with turkey and other wild game. The women of Plymouth prepared delicious dishes from corn, cranberries, squash, and pumpkins.

The first Thanksgiving dinner was cooked and served out-of-doors.  Although it was late autumn, huge fires kept the hosts and guests warm.  Massasoit and ninethy Indians joined the Pilgrims for the first Thanksgiving feast.  The  celebration lasted tree days!  On the first day, the Indians spent most of the time eating.  On the second and third  days, they wrestled, ran races, sang and danced with the young people in Plymouth Colony.  The holiday was a great success.

Many of the traditions of the modern American Thanksgiving come from that first Thanksgiving celebration more than 350 years ago.  The modern Thanksgivig turkey is much like the ones that were hunted in the forests around Plymouth.  Squash and corn, which were also harvested by the early Pilgrims, appear on the Thanksgiving table.  Pumpkin pie and Indiam pudding ( a custard made from corn)  are traditional Thanksgiving desserts.

The-first Thanksgiving lasted three days.  Today, for many  Americans, it is a four-day holiday. Schools are closed on Thanksgiving Day and the day after.  Many adults have both Thursday and Friday off from work.  Relatives from other cities, students who have been away at school, and many other Americans travel long distances to spend the holiday at home.

Going home for Thanksgiving is a national custom, but every Thanksgiving is a national custom, but every Thanksgiving about 10.000 Americans take a sentimental journey  into early American history by visiting Plymouth, a modern city that reveres its past.   In Plymouth Harbor, sightseers tour Mayflower II, a recently constructed ship similar to the original Mayflower.  They see (but are not allowed to touch) the famous Plymouth Rock .  Then they spend a few hours walking through a faithful  reproduction of the original Pilgrim village as it looked in 1627.  They enter the homes of famous colonists like Miles Standish and John Alden, and talk to the "residents" dressed in Pilgrim garb.  The primitive living conditions reveal how very little the Pilgrims possessed in the way of material comforts.  Modern Americans take great pride in these courageous forefathers who had so little by today´s standards, but who were deeply thanful to God for giving them the things they valued most -a good harvest and the freedom to live and worship as they  pleased.  The half-million tourists who come to Plymouth every year find here a uniquely moving and inspiring experience.

A    FAMOUS   PILGRIM   STORY.

In 1.858,  Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, a famous American poet, wrote a long poem about the Pilgrims of  Plymouth  Colony .  It is called   " The Courtship of  Miles Standish."

Captain Miles Standish came to America with the Pilgrims, but he was not a Puritan and never  joined the Pilgrim church.  He was a trained soldier.  It was his job to teach  the men to fight enemies.  The Captain was very brave in battle.  Many times he saved the Pilgrims from being killed by hostile Indians.

Although he was  a courageous warrior, Standish was timid with women. After his wife died, he was lonely and wanted to marry a lovely Puritan girl named Priscilla Mullens.  But he was too shy to ask her, Instead, he begged his best friend, John Alden, to ask her for him.

Never were two friends so different.  Standish was a short, stocky, middle-aged man.  His red beard was already streaked with gray; his complexion was dark and rough.  John Alden  was a young man, fair-skinned, blond and very handsome.  Whereas Standish was a man of action,  Alden was a scholar.  In only one way were these two men alike; they both loved the same girl!.

Poor John! He also loved Priscila.  But he wanted to be a loyal friend.  Hiding his own feelings, he went to priscilla and asked her to marry Miles Standish.  He told her what a kind man the Captain was.  He talked eloquently about Standish´s bravery in battle and fine family background.

When John finished talking,  Priscilla gave a surprising answer.  Her replay is now very famous, She said, " Why don´t you speak for yourself, John?"

John was too loyal to his friend to take Priscilla´s advice.  Instead, he returned to his friend and told him exactly what Priscilla had said.  The Captain became very angry and shouted, "You have bretayed me!"   A short time later, he left for an Indian campaign without saying good-bye to John.

While  the Captain was gone, John and Priscilla saw each other often and grew to love each other more and more.  However, John would not ask to marry her because he did not want to be an unfaithful friend.  Only after a message arrived saying that Standish had been killed in battle did John propose  marriage to  Priscilla.

As the wedding ceremony ended, the guests were surprised and terrified to see a familiar  figure standing in the doorway - a figure they thought was a gost.  It was Captain Miles Standish! He was dressed in armor, but he had not come to fight.  He had come to apologize to his friend and beg forgiveness for his anger.  At the end  of the story,  John, Priscilla and Miles are united as friends.

THE  U.S.A.  CUSTOMS AND INSTITUTIONS

Claudia Tatiana Palacio Vasco

Administradora de Empresas

Especialista en Mercadeo Internacional

TP. 07362  de  Ministerio de Desarrollo Económico.

Con Licencia Office para compilar.