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T H A N K S G I V I N G ! ! !

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Shortgrass

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I am always hurt a little when someone refers to this holiday as "Turkey Day" as though we are to celebrate Turkey dinners.

When the pilgrams landed in 1620 at Plymoth Rock, they stepped from a harrowing ride on the treacherous seas into another harrowing experience on a strange land. The cabins on the Mayflower had been too small, and they wedged themself into equally crowded forest cabins.The Plymoth settlers faced severe winters, disease and hunger. Three months after landing, half of them had died and most of the others were sick. William Bradford governed the Plymoth Colony, and had his literary gift not inspired him to write his "History of the Plymoth Plantation," we would know little of the Pilgrams experiences. He writes of how the pilgrams learned to rest on God's providence time and time again, "at night not many times knowing wher to have a bitt of anything ye next day, An so as one well observed had need to pray that God would give them their dayly brade above all ye people in ye world. Yet they bore these wants with great patience for ye most part of 2 years."

Bradford describes a three month drought in which the corn withered and the ground cracked. The settlers set aside "a solemne day of humilation to seek ye Lord by humble and fervent prayer in this great distrese." The Lord answered. "For all ye morning and the greatest part of the day, it was clear weather & very hotte, and not a cloud or any sign of raine to be seen, yet toward evening it begane to raine, with shuch sweete and gentel showers as gave them cause of rejoyceing & blessing God which made ye indeans astonishied to behold."

Seasonable showers followed which caused a liberal harvest "For which mercie (in time conveniente) they also sett aparte a day of thanksgiving."

This is a day that is set apart to give thanks to God, and it is not a day set apart to gorge ourselves in gluttony. I thank God for many blessings, but make no mistake about it, this is about who I am thankful to, and not what I am thankful for, and I have much to be thankful for. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.
 
Thanks Shortgrass,I too do not like when it is called Turkey Day that to me is most disrespectful...
 
In my little editorial, I neglected to wish everyone a good Thanksgiving day, and may God's richest blessings be yours. I do appreciate the crowd on Ranchers.
 
Happy Thanksgiving to all of you on Ranchers.net! I am thankful that there are a good number of common rural folk out there (represented quite well here on this site) that still understand and hold true the values that are inherent to the country way of life. All of this founded in God's word.

HP
 
I was hoping to call it "Beef Day" and have the Prime Rib thats in the freezer--but got outvoted as the kids wanted to cook a couple of turkeys (as we're going to have about 20 folks at the house today)....Thats what makes Thanksgiving so special for us- is the ability to get the whole crew together..

Little nippy this morning- about 10 degrees- but sun is shining and it looks like it will be a nice day...Son and his buddy harvested a couple more does out of the field this morning at daybreak so if times get tough I can live on venison..

Thanks for the reminder of the meaning of the day- Shortgrass-- and I hope you and everyone have a Happy Thanksgiving Day....
 
The best of Thanksgivings to you and yours Shortgrass. You are truly a blessing to those of us on Ranchers and part of what I am thankful for is the "Good Sunday Morning"
 
What a great example you are Shortgrass! You have trials and tribulations in your life and you always keep your chin up and your heart humble. Thank you for a timely and uplifting message of Thanksgiving and a deeper message by your actions and deeds. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!
 
The Great Thanksgiving Hoax

Richard J. Maybury

Each year at this time school children all over America are taught the official Thanksgiving story, and newspapers, radio, TV, and magazines devote vast amounts of time and space to it. It is all very colorful and fascinating.

It is also very deceiving. This official story is nothing like what really happened. It is a fairy tale, a whitewashed and sanitized collection of half-truths which divert attention away from Thanksgiving's real meaning.

The official story has the pilgrims boarding the Mayflower, coming to America and establishing the Plymouth colony in the winter of 1620-21. This first winter is hard, and half the colonists die. But the survivors are hard working and tenacious, and they learn new farming techniques from the Indians. The harvest of 1621 is bountiful. The Pilgrims hold a celebration, and give thanks to God. They are grateful for the wonderful new abundant land He has given them.

The official story then has the Pilgrims living more or less happily ever after, each year repeating the first Thanksgiving. Other early colonies also have hard times at first, but they soon prosper and adopt the annual tradition of giving thanks for this prosperous new land called America.

The problem with this official story is that the harvest of 1621 was not bountiful, nor were the colonists hardworking or tenacious. 1621 was a famine year and many of the colonists were lazy thieves.

In his 'History of Plymouth Plantation,' the governor of the colony, William Bradford, reported that the colonists went hungry for years, because they refused to work in the fields. They preferred instead to steal food. He says the colony was riddled with "corruption," and with "confusion and discontent." The crops were small because "much was stolen both by night and day, before it became scarce eatable."

In the harvest feasts of 1621 and 1622, "all had their hungry bellies filled," but only briefly. The prevailing condition during those years was not the abundance the official story claims, it was famine and death. The first "Thanksgiving" was not so much a celebration as it was the last meal of condemned men.

But in subsequent years something changes. The harvest of 1623 was different. Suddenly, "instead of famine now God gave them plenty," Bradford wrote, "and the face of things was changed, to the rejoicing of the hearts of many, for which they blessed God." Thereafter, he wrote, "any general want or famine hath not been amongst them since to this day." In fact, in 1624, so much food was produced that the colonists were able to begin exporting corn.

What happened?

After the poor harvest of 1622, writes Bradford, "they began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a better crop." They began to question their form of economic organization.

This had required that "all profits & benefits that are got by trade, working, fishing, or any other means" were to be placed in the common stock of the colony, and that, "all such persons as are of this colony, are to have their meat, drink, apparel, and all provisions out of the common stock." A person was to put into the common stock all he could, and take out only what he needed.

This "from each according to his ability, to each according to his need" was an early form of socialism, and it is why the Pilgrims were starving. Bradford writes that "young men that are most able and fit for labor and service" complained about being forced to "spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and children." Also, "the strong, or man of parts, had no more in division of victuals and clothes, than he that was weak." So the young and strong refused to work and the total amount of food produced was never adequate.

To rectify this situation, in 1623 Bradford abolished socialism. He gave each household a parcel of land and told them they could keep what they produced, or trade it away as they saw fit. In other words, he replaced socialism with a free market, and that was the end of famines.

Many early groups of colonists set up socialist states, all with the same terrible results. At Jamestown, established in 1607, out of every shipload of settlers that arrived, less than half would survive their first twelve months in America. Most of the work was being done by only one-fifth of the men, the other four-fifths choosing to be parasites. In the winter of 1609-10, called "The Starving Time," the population fell from five-hundred to sixty.

Then the Jamestown colony was converted to a free market, and the results were every bit as dramatic as those at Plymouth. In 1614, Colony Secretary Ralph Hamor wrote that after the switch there was "plenty of food, which every man by his own industry may easily and doth procure." He said that when the socialist system had prevailed, "we reaped not so much corn from the labors of thirty men as three men have done for themselves now."

Before these free markets were established, the colonists had nothing for which to be thankful. They were in the same situation as Ethiopians are today, and for the same reasons. But after free markets were established, the resulting abundance was so dramatic that the annual Thanksgiving celebrations became common throughout the colonies, and in 1863, Thanksgiving became a national holiday.

Thus the real reason for Thanksgiving, deleted from the official story, is: Socialism does not work; the one and only source of abundance is free markets, and we thank God we live in a country where we can have them.
* * * * *

This article originally appeared in The Free Market, November 1985.
 
Shortgrass, thanks for the post, and for all you do here each week reminding us of the blessings we all enjoy. Thanksgiving should be an every day event, not just one day a year as a national holiday.

OT, I like the BEEF day idea! I did in fact enjoy BEEF today, not turkey! :lol: :D

Jody, I just read your post at the other site before coming here. :wink: Sadly the true origins of Thanksgiving have been skewed by the commercial interests as other holiday that mean something also have been.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!
 

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