The Day of the Turkey or the Day of the Giving of Thanks

a celebration

399 years ago, a group of Puritans left England on a pilgrimage.   At that time, England was a theocracy, run by the equivalent of mullahs and ayatullahs; there was no religious freedom, and one could be thrown in prison or fined or worse for not attending the church that was established by the government or for expressing any illegal religious views.   These Puritans wanted to be able to practice their own religion, and they planned to colonize a place that had been given the name New England.

Their settlement in Massachusetts in 1620 was not the first English colony in America, but their institutions, beliefs, and practices came to have, in the country’s early history, among the strongest and most enduring effects on American ideology, philosophy, culture, and traditions.

Americans are brought up on stories of the hardships, deprivations, and deaths in their first years and of the aid that the indigenous people gave so that any of them could survive.   These Puritans are credited with promoting the ideas of the Yankee work ethic, of self-reliance, individual responsibility, and benefitting from the fruits of one’s own labor—all of which have become intrinsic parts of the American character.

Their colony did prosper, and they soon set up a theocracy, run by the equivalent of mullahs and ayatullahs, based on their own religious beliefs; it was a tyranny as despotic and murderous as the one they had left behind in England.   When people from other English colonies came, such as Quakers, they were publicly tortured and killed for expressing their illegal religious views.   When females among them began to build up any economic power, the practice was begun of trumping up charges of witchcraft against these women, many of whom were executed.

Tyrannically brutal abuses such as these throughout the land also became part of the American character.   Genocide of the indigenous peoples has been common, with widespread slaughter and the nearly complete destruction of their cultures.   And 400 years ago, a year before the Puritans landed at Plymouth Rock, African captives arrived in Virginia—the first recorded transport of slaves to the English colonies (although African slaves had been brought to other parts of the country for decades).

The word “puritan” certainly did get a bad reputation, and perhaps due to shame or guilt or self-humiliation or just bad press, they changed the name of their church.   (In time, the character of that church changed as well, and for many decades, it has been among the most tolerant, progressive, inclusive, and forward-thinking Christian denominations in the country.)

In those earliest days, the Puritan pilgrims, bringing the English traditions of a day of thanksgiving that dated from the Protestant Reformation, began the tradition of this harvest festival, of the giving of thanks for survival and eventually for thriving with plenty.

The holiday has long been called Turkey Day too, with a great number of people putting the emphasis on simply celebrating the pleasure of leisure with friends and family: of sports, relaxation, and abundant consumption—to those relaxing with good company, have fun and enjoy!   Lots of others recognize it as a time to revel in the good things that they have provided for themselves—to those taking pride in their achievements, good for you and congratulations!   And many follow the tradition of giving thanks: to providence, to Mother Earth, to God Almighty, to the cosmos, or to other entities, causes, or principles, for the plentiful bounty—to those with the gratitude attitude, we pass on these thoughts from author and journalist Melody Beattie:

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.
It turns what we have into enough, and more.
It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.
It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.
Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today, and creates a vision for tomorrow.

home   cover   contents   archives   indices   masthead

Copyright 2019 The Cool Publication Company.