By David Lerman
When President Bush travels to Virginia on Monday to speak at Berkeley Plantation, he’ll have a chance to settle an age-old rivalry: Which state really had the first Thanksgiving: Virginia or Massachusetts?
Ask most Americans and the answer will probably be Massachusetts. They think of Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower, the Pilgrims and Indians.
There was, after all, that well-known harvest celebration uniting the English colonists at Plymouth with the Wampanoag People in 1621.
But Virginians point to Berkeley Plantation in Charles City County southeast of Richmond, where Capt. John Woodlief—a survivor of the Jamestown colony—and his crew of 37 men arrived on Dec. 4, 1619.
Upon reaching Berkeley, the colonists were said to have fallen to their knees and declared that the day of their ship’s arrival "shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of thanksgiving to almighty God."
Armed with that history, Berkeley proudly describes itself today as the site of the "first official Thanksgiving in America."
Each fall, the historic plantation along the James River plays host to a Thanksgiving festival and has long been accustomed to greeting presidents.
Berkeley is the birthplace of William Henry Harrison, the nation’s 9th president and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. He died in office only a month into his term after catching a cold that developed into pneumonia.
Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president, visited Berkeley during the Civil War, when the plantation served as a base camp for Union troops.
It was Lincoln who declared the fourth Thursday of November to be a national Thanksgiving holiday.
Now comes Bush, the 43rd president, who will offer his own Thanksgiving thoughts at a mid-day speech on the plantation grounds.
But don’t expect Bush to resolve the question of which state can lay claim to the holiday’s origins, the White House advises.
"The visit and the remarks will be an opportunity to address what we, as a nation, can be thankful for," said White House spokesman Blair Jones. "It will not serve as an endorsement of one historical site over the other.''
Thankfully, presidential intervention may not be required.
Plimoth Plantation, the recreated 1627 English village in Plymouth, stops short of claiming it hosted the first Thanksgiving.
The plantation, on its Web site, is careful to say the 1621 harvest ``has become known as” the first Thanksgiving.
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Comments
"Berkeley is the birthplace of William Henry Harrison, the nation’s 9th president and a signer of the Declaration of Independence."
Since he was born in 1773, William Henry Harrison was probably sitting on his dad's lap, scrawling his name with his crayons, when Benjamin Harrison signed on behalf of Virginia.
Regardless, until Virginia comes up with the equivalent of our greatest Thanksgiving hero, Squanto, the honor will remain with The Pilgrims and Massachusetts.
Posted by: Smirky McFlightsuit | November 17, 2007 8:49 AM
Wherever it was, it was only a short time until the Puritans were slaughtering aboriginals.
The traditional sentimental American notion of “the Pilgrim Fathers,” gentlemen in tall black hats and big white collars doing Christian things, is just that, sentimental, and untrue.
The Pilgrims were not an abused people seeking freedom in the new world. They were abusers.
They were a harsh, unpleasant people who had worked hard to make themselves hated and unwelcome in many parts of Europe.
Many Americans will not know that the Puritans' practices included things such as breaking into the worship services of others and making it impossible to continue with noise and rudeness.
The Puritan groups were also responsible, after the English Reformation, for running through the magnificent old cathedrals and smashing statues, burning paintings and manuscripts, and destroying the resting places of dead martyrs and saints. They did incalculable historical and artistic damage in the name of God.
If you go back and read the words of some of their early leaders such as John Knox, you will be stunned by the brutality, savagery, and prejudice. It is not an exaggeration to say that their words have a strong resemblance to those of Nazis in some instances.
They were a repressive people and instituted harsh laws in the parts of New England they settled. Many years after the “Pilgrim Fathers,” young Benjamin Franklin left his native city in large part because of the lingering harsh Puritan atmosphere. Franklin was a pretty free-thinking and innovative-minded young man.
Those who know their history can easily believe that some of America’s terrible policies today derive from the bad gene pool with which these people endowed the land.
Posted by: John Chuckman, Toronto, Canada | November 17, 2007 9:47 AM
THANKS TO DR.ABRAHAM LINCOLN WE CELEBRATE THANKGIVING. HE FELT THAT ONE DAY SHOULD BE SET ASIDE TO GIVE THANKS FOR OUR BLESSINGS,SO IN 1863 HE MADE THANKSGIVING AN OFFICIAL HOLIDAY!!!!!!!
Posted by: Alphonse Dattolo | November 17, 2007 6:00 PM
Lincoln declared the LAST Thursday of Nov. to be Thanksgiving. Franklin Roosevelt made it the 4th Thursday.
Posted by: Wayne McEntire | November 17, 2007 9:25 PM
John Chuckman of Toranto. America is not perfact but some of America's Terrible policies liberated China,Europe and the entire Pacific during WW II and Europe in WW 1 We had slavery but the decendants of Slaves in america enjoy a much immearsurabley higher standard of living than their decendants that we left in Africa. We gave more to charity than any country in the world. It is said that we are not liked but when someone jumps on any Democracy in the world, the first country they call on is America--and we come. You are just another America hater Chuck. And as insignificant as Canada has always been in world affairs, I guess I can understand--so I will give you a pass on your bitterness. Fortunatly, you do not speak for most decent Canadians that appreciate their neighbor to the South.
Posted by: Bernard Siddall | November 18, 2007 9:08 AM
I've always wondered if the descendants of the Algonquian speaking peoples, Iroquois, Choctaw and Cherokee celebrate our Thanksgiving. One man's cause for Thanksgiving was another's demise.
Posted by: Rick/Sneads Ferry, NC | November 18, 2007 11:39 AM
Bernard Siddall cannot refute the history John Chuckman of "Toranto" (sic)presents, so he attacks his country instead. Sound familiar? When we can't bully another nation to go along with any misadventure we might propose, we simply vilify them. At any rate, I'm not taking Mr. Chuckman as gospel. I will try to confirm his point of view. I've often heard that The Pilgrims were, in fact, a sort of 16th century European Taliban. By the way, Mr. Siddell, get a dictionary and a grammar book so you can avoid butchering our native tongue while defending our honor.
Posted by: Randy Baer | November 19, 2007 10:55 AM
To Randy. Why do you attribute the status of "history" to our friend from Toronto's diatribe? The plain language of hatred, spoken by our "neighbor" to the north, was neither relevant to the discussion nor historically accurate. Puritans were certainly not champions of tolerance but what grew from the melding of these and so many other groups was the founding of the free-est, most tolerant and powerful nation the world has known.
His comment about our current "terrible policies" and bad gene pool don't strike you as non-historical? Please, stop giving people who spew hatred (as he so arrogantly accuses the Puritans of), a pass.
To Chuckman, I understand your desire to join the conversation but try and keep to the topic at hand. Being irrelevant is a very difficult concept to swallow and one that Canadians have not been handling very well.
Posted by: Kevin Howerton | November 19, 2007 1:55 PM
Rick,
This is what this Choctaw thinks about Thanksgiving as well as the majority of my native brother and sisters.
http://www.wnd.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=58718
Posted by: Jen/Yvette | November 19, 2007 3:52 PM