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Ubi bene ibi patria
" * *President George Washington issued two proclamations of Thanksgiving during his term in office, and six total were made between 1789 and 1815. Thanksgiving was not celebrated after 1815 until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln revived the practice.
* *Lincoln's proclamation urged Americans to "fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."
* *Every president since Lincoln has issued a national proclamation of Thanksgiving during each year of his term.
* *Thanksgiving was originally celebrated on the last Thursday in November. It was moved to the penultimate Thursday in November in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in order to lengthen the holiday shopping season, benefit retailers, and boost the economy.
* *23 states went along with Roosevelt, but 22 states kept Thanksgiving on the last day of the month. Texas took off both Thursdays. Congress decided the matter for good in 1941, setting the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November, which is usually the last Thursday of the month but sometimes, as this year, is the second-to-last.
* *The American Thanksgiving myth of the dinner between the Pilgrims and the Wôpanâak in 1621 has little basis in historical fact. Wôpanâak, including Tisquantum (better known as Squanto), did evidently help teach the Pilgrims how to farm the land more effectively, likely saving many lives. And there was a post-harvest celebratory feast by the colonists.
* *However, the day was not considered a day of Thanksgiving by the colony. Ousamequin, the Sachem of the Wôpanâak confederacy better known by his title of Massasoit, was evidently invited, but he evidently brought 90 of his fellow Wôpanâak along to the event who may not have been invited.
* *The 1621 harvest celebration may have included turkey, but certainly did not include corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, or pumpkin pie. Records indicate that "fowl" was consumed, but historians think it was more likely goose or duck. The celebrants might have eaten lobster, mussels, or grapes. The only foods that certainly were consumed during the three-day festival were venison and beer.
* *One thing is certain: colonial records do indicate a Thanksgiving celebration in 1637, when Connecticut Colony celebrated the ethnic cleansing of the Pequot at the conclusion of the Pequot War. All but a few of the Pequot were killed or sold into slavery in Bermuda. The remaining survivors fled the area.
* *Prior to European colonization, there were an estimated 15 million Native Americans living in the area that would become the United States. In 2000, there were 2,786,652.
* *The Thanksgiving mythology was largely created by Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of the Godey's Lady's Book, in the mid-nineteenth century. Hale first popularized turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie as Thanksgiving fare, and was instrumental in persuading Lincoln to revive the Thanksgiving holiday.
* *An estimated 272 million turkeys were produced in America in 2007. Minnesota leads the nation with an expected production of 46 million turkeys for slaughter. North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri, and California follow, with those six states producing about two-thirds of America's turkey.
* *Wisconsin leads the nation in cranberry production, with an estimated 2007 harvest of 390 million pounds.
* *One billion pounds of pumpkins were harvested in 2006.
* *According to the census bureau, there are 28 municipalities in America named Plymouth. The most populous? Plymouth, Minn., with a population of 70,012, 486 times the number of people who gathered for a harvest celebration in Plymouth, Mass. in 1621."
Minnesota Monitor
* *Lincoln's proclamation urged Americans to "fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union."
* *Every president since Lincoln has issued a national proclamation of Thanksgiving during each year of his term.
* *Thanksgiving was originally celebrated on the last Thursday in November. It was moved to the penultimate Thursday in November in 1939 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, in order to lengthen the holiday shopping season, benefit retailers, and boost the economy.
* *23 states went along with Roosevelt, but 22 states kept Thanksgiving on the last day of the month. Texas took off both Thursdays. Congress decided the matter for good in 1941, setting the holiday on the fourth Thursday of November, which is usually the last Thursday of the month but sometimes, as this year, is the second-to-last.
* *The American Thanksgiving myth of the dinner between the Pilgrims and the Wôpanâak in 1621 has little basis in historical fact. Wôpanâak, including Tisquantum (better known as Squanto), did evidently help teach the Pilgrims how to farm the land more effectively, likely saving many lives. And there was a post-harvest celebratory feast by the colonists.
* *However, the day was not considered a day of Thanksgiving by the colony. Ousamequin, the Sachem of the Wôpanâak confederacy better known by his title of Massasoit, was evidently invited, but he evidently brought 90 of his fellow Wôpanâak along to the event who may not have been invited.
* *The 1621 harvest celebration may have included turkey, but certainly did not include corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, or pumpkin pie. Records indicate that "fowl" was consumed, but historians think it was more likely goose or duck. The celebrants might have eaten lobster, mussels, or grapes. The only foods that certainly were consumed during the three-day festival were venison and beer.
* *One thing is certain: colonial records do indicate a Thanksgiving celebration in 1637, when Connecticut Colony celebrated the ethnic cleansing of the Pequot at the conclusion of the Pequot War. All but a few of the Pequot were killed or sold into slavery in Bermuda. The remaining survivors fled the area.
* *Prior to European colonization, there were an estimated 15 million Native Americans living in the area that would become the United States. In 2000, there were 2,786,652.
* *The Thanksgiving mythology was largely created by Sarah Josepha Hale, the editor of the Godey's Lady's Book, in the mid-nineteenth century. Hale first popularized turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie as Thanksgiving fare, and was instrumental in persuading Lincoln to revive the Thanksgiving holiday.
* *An estimated 272 million turkeys were produced in America in 2007. Minnesota leads the nation with an expected production of 46 million turkeys for slaughter. North Carolina, Arkansas, Virginia, Missouri, and California follow, with those six states producing about two-thirds of America's turkey.
* *Wisconsin leads the nation in cranberry production, with an estimated 2007 harvest of 390 million pounds.
* *One billion pounds of pumpkins were harvested in 2006.
* *According to the census bureau, there are 28 municipalities in America named Plymouth. The most populous? Plymouth, Minn., with a population of 70,012, 486 times the number of people who gathered for a harvest celebration in Plymouth, Mass. in 1621."
Minnesota Monitor