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Tag: Pilgrim (Plymouth Colony)

Holiday Celebrations — Thanksgiving: The Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner

Nov 24
Holidays

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    

    
Commentary:

JerryPhoto_thumb2_thumb_thumbToday is the day, Thanksgiving Day, when we look forward to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade, Football games, and, of course the big Turkey Dinner. Most people will feast on roast turkey, all the side dishes, and holiday pies. We will spend hours (or days) getting ready to cook this feast. In some cases, both turkey and ham will be served, but it is generally a day for “pigging out” to the regret of our diets. We will load up on carbs, tryptophan, and good times with family and friends.

I fondly remember the large Thanksgiving gatherings at my grandmother’s house as I was growing up. There was my grandmother, our family and my uncles and their families, of course. In the early years that I can remember, there would also be my grandmother’s relative from Los Angeles, Eagle Rock, and other places around the greater LA area. (The picture below is not my family, but represents the concept.)

Friends at Dinner_3151

But let us not forget the origin of this celebration — the Pilgrims in the Plymouth Colony. Yes, we have idealized that first Thanksgiving. And, Yes, they probably did not gather with the local Indians as their guests. And, Yes, the eating fare was probably not what is commonly assumed. Those were tough times. Only a portion of the original 102 Pilgrims that boarded the Mayflower in Plymouth, England, survived the voyage and that first year on shore. Things were tough. They had survived only through the largess of the Indians; they were joined by the Indians, probably by accident. But it makes an inspiring story and should let us view the tough times that we are facing in the present economic downturn with courage.

But, let’s get started exploring the Thanksgiving Dinner with an eye to those first settlers in New England… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 3179 Words ]
    

    

Quotations Related to Thanksgiving:

    

“Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action.”
— W.J. Cameron

“Thanksgiving was never meant to be shut up in a single day.”
— Robert Caspar Lintner

“An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.”
— Irv Kupcinet

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Holiday Celebrations — Thanksgiving: The First Thanksgiving in New World

Nov 23
Holidays

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    

    
Commentary:

JerryPhoto_thumb2_thumb_thumbAlthough the Mayflower arrived at Cape Cod in November of 1620, the Pilgrims did not go ashore until after the passing of the winter storms. The did go ashore, onto a sandy beach, not on Plymouth Rock as traditional legend tells it, and set about building a town. Housing was allocated to families with single men being “adopted” by families to minimize the number of houses that needed to be built. When the settlers tried to plant the crops that they had brought from the old country, they quickly died due to the weather and soil.

first-thanksgiving-pilgrims-plymouth-meal

The local Native American tribe, the Wampanoag Confederacy, helped them with native maize and other crops that would grow in the Plymouth climate. They managed to grow sufficient foods to supplement the hunting of wild game in the forests so that the fall harvest would sustain them through the next winter. To celebrate, the Pilgrims held a feast and the local Indians joined into the festivities WITHOUT INVITATION.

Thus, the first Thanksgiving took place. It was a time to praise their God for the bountiful harvest. Unfortunately, they did not give credit to the Indians who has helped them survive. The colony grew and eventually was brought under the Massachusetts Bay Company in the 18th century. And the rest, as they say, is history.

So, let’s get started on our exploration of this successful survival of the first year in this brave, new world of America… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 4574 Words ]
    

    

Quotations Related to Pilgrims:

    

“Marriage was considered a civil, rather than religious ceremony.”
— Plymouth Colony rules

“[W]e had much damaged our trade, for there where we had [the] most skins the Indians are run away from their habitations…”
— William Bradford

“…of these one hundred persons who came over in this first ship together, the greatest half died in the general mortality, and most of them in two or three months’ time.”
— William Bradford

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Holiday Celebrations — Thanksgiving: The Plymouth Compact

Nov 21
Holidays

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    

    
Commentary:

JerryPhoto_thumb2_thumb_thumbThe Pilgrims left England in possession of a grant to settle land within the Virginia Colony, specifically in the region of the mouth of the Hudson River. However, due to storms as they crossed the Atlantic, the Mayflower was blown off course and landfall was at Cape Cod, in the present Massachusetts region of New England. Therefore, the charter they carried from the crown would not provide them a lawful order for their new settlement. Therefore, the Pilgrims would be forced to face the possibility of each man behaving in accordance with his own desires — Anarchy.

Therefore, William Bradford undertook the writing of a agreement, a compact, by which the new colony would be governed when they landed. The Mayflower Compact was the result. It took the Lockean approach to the Social Contract that later on would form the basis of the Declaration of Independence. The document did allow for a government by which the majority ruled over any minority.

Landing-Bacon

This Mayflower Compact would govern the new colony once they landed at the Cape Cod area that is now known as Plymouth Rock. However, since the Mayflower set anchor in the middle of November, the wise decision was made not to go ashore until the following spring. For the winter, the ship was moved around the point to anchor in the protected Provincetown Harbor. There they would be protected from the winter Atlantic storms.

But enough of this background information. Let’s get on with our exploration of the Mayflower Compact… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 3345 Words ]
    

    

Quotations Related to Mayflower Compact:

    

“…they met and consulted of laws and orderrs, both for their civil and military government as the necessity of their condition require.”
— William Bradford

“[The Pilgrims pledged to] enact, constitute and frame such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts, Constitutions and Offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meet and convenient for the general good of the Colony.”
— Pilgrims and others on the Mayflower

“…they met and consulted of laws and orderrs, both for their civil and military government as the necessity of their condition require.”
— William Bradford

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Holiday Celebrations — Thanksgiving: The Pilgrims’ Crossing the Atlantic

Nov 20
Holidays

Edited by Gerald Boerner

    

    
Commentary:

JerryPhoto_thumb2_thumb_thumbThis is the second in our series on the Pilgrim Father’s voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to find new freedom to practice their religion in the New World. The group started out on two ships, the Stillwell and the Mayflower, but the Stillwell proved to be not seaworthy. Therefore, the 102 members of the party moved onto the single ship, the Mayflower, for the crossing. The Mayflower departed from Plymouth, England, on September 16, 1620, and arrived at Cape Cod on November 20, 1620.

Although the original landing site was to be in the region of the Hudson River after being blown off course during the Atlantic voyage. The Hudson River area, in the region of the present city of New York, was part of the North Virginia land grant. But after the crossing, and due to the prevailing trade winds, these brave souls did not try to relocate to the Hudson River area.

1909_long_pt_postcard

Due to the late date of arrival, in the middle of November in New England, no attempt was made to land and start their colony during the harsh New England winter. The Mayflower became their home for several more months. They suffered in the crowded space, but it was better than to try to build a livable area on shore. We will look at the establishment of the Plymouth Colony in the spring of 1621. The first Thanksgiving Feast did not take place until the fall of 1621.

So, let’s get directly into our exploration of the Mayflower’s voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1620… GLB

These Introductory Comments are copyrighted:
Copyright©2011 — Gerald Boerner — All Rights Reserved

[ 2949 Words ]
    

    

Quotations Related to Mayflower:

    

“My ancestors didn’t come over on the Mayflower, but they were there to meet the boat.”
Will Rogers

“It is more important to know where your children are tonight than where your ancestors were when the Mayflower sailed.”
Unknown Author

“I am glad my ancestors arrived on the Mayflower, but I am gladder that there are nine generations between us.”
William Lyon Phelps (American educator, journalist and professor)

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