Kevyn

The Pilgrims' feast is considered the first official Thanksgiving
Unfortunately, the "real" Thanksgiving has much bloodier origins than the Pilgrims' first big feast.

In 1637, English settlers (a group of Puritans, not Pilgrims) raided the village of the Pequot tribe. They burned 700 men, women, and children alive. John Winthrop, governor of the Puritans' Massachusetts Bay Colony, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to celebrate the return of the colonists who had carried out the massacre.

Then, in 1789, George Washington proclaimed a "day of Thanksgiving" to express gratitude for American independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution.

In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday to heal a nation ravaged by the Civil War.

Ever since, most Americans have associated Thanksgiving with a day of family, food, and gratitude.

However, for Americans who view the Pequot massacre as the origin of Thanksgiving, the national holiday is seen as a sham. Since 1970, Thanksgiving protesters have gathered at Cole's Hill, which overlooks Plymouth Rock, to honor a "National Day of Mourning" for the indigenous people who were massacred by the Puritans and other European colonists.

Dr. Evil Loc: In Your Face

Always got a negative spin don't you, how do live with yourself?

Kevyn

The truth is just the truth and it will set you free.

archie bunker Loc: Texas

You have documentation of all of this, I assume?

Loki Loc: Georgia

Now, archie, let's be nice. Must you always think so ill of your fellow man?

Mellooooooooowwwwwww

Weewillynobeerspilly Loc: North central Texas

Really?

archie bunker Loc: Texas

Pass the bong Willy. Would ya?😂😂

PaulPisces Loc: San Francisco

It's the new Loki, Willy!!!

(or, maybe he is getting Linda to write his posts until he can segue back into the Loki we all know and love)

PaulPisces Loc: San Francisco

Hey - Kevyn is just telling the whole story. You can take from it what you will.
The first settlers massacred Native Americans almost from the start, and that's a fact.

We can still be grateful for all we have, and I am.

But like a lot of mythology, the true genesis of Thanksgiving is one we have pretty much forgotten, and instead made into a memory that makes white people look good. It makes sense that we would like that story better!

Boo_Boo Loc: Jellystone

This part of our history is interesting, what started as a trade war (French and English) gave rise to the many battles or skirmishes between native Americans and the English. What led to the burning of the Pequot village, mentioned in the start of this thread was precipitated from the very bloody murder of a trader named John Stone and his entire crew on the Connecticut River the summer of 1634. This then led to another tribe, the Manisses, to attack and kill John Oldham the following year. And that began the Pequot War. However, this had nothing to do with the tradition of Thanksgiving, which began in 1621. The holiday we call Thanksgiving was celebrated with the Wampanoag Indians in Virginia, a considerable distance from Connecticut and years earlier.

slatten49 Loc: Lake Whitney, Texas

An unnamed/unknown source confirms the floating rumor that Loki attend sensitivity training during his brief suspension. Word is out...source(s) unknown, that he is now a "kinder & gentler" knuckle-dragging savage. Those sources (reportedly) also claim that the rumor was started by BadBobby. He claims the information came from an undisclosed source. I'ma guessing AuntiE was the culprit.

But, then, that's just what I heard.

karpenter Loc: Headin' Fer Da Hills !!

1621 Comes Before 1637
Kev Doesn't Have That Many Fingers And Toes

rebob14

You’re conflating Pilgrims and Puritans, two distinct groups who emigrated for very different reasons. Also, your dating of events is about fifteen years off. The Pilgrims came before the Puritans and were betrayed by the Dutch and the English before even setting sail. Their patent allowed them to form a “community of conscience “ free from the Church of England. The Puritans express intent was to form a theocracy, effectively instituting authoritarianism. The “first thanksgiving “ was a celebration by both natives and colonists............the natives had been decimated by disease brought earlier by French trappers and slavers. They came to rely of the firearms of the Pilgrims for protection from the neighboring tribes who would have conquered them otherwise. The Pilgrims would have starved without the guidance of the Squanto and his people. Read the Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick.

rebob14

He IS wrong!! Read The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick

rebob14

NOT a fact! Read The Mayflower by Nathaniel Philbrick