Why Thanksgiving?

Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?  It is a holiday observed all over the United States.  It is a day in which we celebrate gratitude in general.  We celebrate gratitude to God for all of his blessings in our lives, and we take as our model, the example of the gratitude displayed by the Pilgrims of 1620 who arrived at this continent on the ship, “Mayflower”.

Who were those men, women, and children, and why did they leave their homes and cross the Atlantic Ocean to start new lives in the Americas?

The story begins with the Protestant reformers such as John Huss, Martin Luther, and John Calvin.  The reformation of the Roman Catholic Church began in Europe, Germany, Holland, and other countries during the later half of the 16^th century.  The ideas of the reformers caught the attention of many and they spread rapidly to England.  In the first part of the 17^th century certain Englishmen took it upon themselves to separate from the Royal Church, or the Church of England as founded by Henry the 8^th.  During the reign of King James a preacher named John Browne had much success in persuading people to join with him in a new sect.  They called themselves “Brownists”.  His followers preached and published pamphlets against the Church of the Realm; the Church of England.  It is interesting to remember that this was the same time as the publication of the most famous edition of the Bible in English, the King James Version, first published in 1611.

In 1607 the Brownists, in reaction to persecution from the king, decided they had to leave their native land and seek asylum in Holland where there was more freedom of thought.  They escaped primarily to Amsterdam but after a few years they had to flee once again to escape the searches of the King.  This time they relocated in Leyden, not far from Amsterdam.  In Leyden they again printed pamphlets against the King of England and his church.  The spiritual leader of these Leyden families, and he who managed the printing operations, was a man named William Brewster.  This William Brewster is my 11^th great grandfather and the ire of King James began to focus on him.  The king’s police went to Holland in search of William but he had again fled and was living in hiding from the king.  About this time the Leyden families decided they had to leave Europe all together if they were to live their religion in peace.  The youth of the Brownist families were reaching the age when they began to be strongly influenced by the liberal culture of the day, and this worried the parents.  They wanted to get away.  After much debate they chose to migrate to America where they hoped to find complete religious freedom.

A group of families called “Puritans” had already sailed to America in 1607 and had founded a place in the New World called Jamestown in honor of the king.  The Brownists did not want to join these Jamestown families because they had still different religious ideas.  They hoped to start their own colony separate from all others.  Today we call these Brownist families from Leyden the “Pilgrims”.

The voyage to the North American continent had been made many times before 1620.  Columbus, Francis Drake, Magellan, and other commercial groups had made the trip and there were plenty of sea captains available who knew how to navigate the Atlantic Ocean.  The Pilgrims did not have much money between them but they were able to convince investors that, in exchange for help with funding the great expedition, they would send back valuable products from the New World during their first years.

The Pilgrims purchased one ship and the services of another complete with crews and captains.  The first ship was named the “Speedwell” and the other, the “Mayflower”.  There were many problems with the Speedwell.  The travelers had to return three times to various ports in England to make repairs.  In the end they had to abandon the Speedwell along with a part of their original group while the remainder continued on with the one hired ship, the Mayflower.

On the 6^th of September 1620 the Mayflower sailed from the port city of Plymouth, England, with 102 passengers and two dogs on board.  The passengers consisted of two groups; those who were seeking religious liberty, called the “Saints”, and those who were primarily seeking economic gain, called “Strangers”.  In all there were 41 Saints and 61 Strangers among the passengers.  From the start they did not get on well.  They had very different purposes and different religious backgrounds.  But the common goal of reaching the new world helped them work through disagreements along the way. 

Leaving so late in the year they knew they were going to arrive in the middle of winter.  (Reminds you of the experience of the Willie Handcart Company, and the outcomes were not too different.)  Upon their arrival they would have to quickly build shelters, find food and fresh water, and prepare for a long, cold winter.  They reached land on the 9^th or 10^th of November, 1620, dropping anchor in what is today called Cape Cod Bay off the coast of Massachusetts.  Close to where they landed they encountered a large rock in the water along the shore that actually hindered their landing party.  The Pilgrims called the place of their landing, Plymouth, and the rock became known as “Plymouth Rock”. 

Their first tasks were to find fresh water and food since all that they had brought with them on the Mayflower had been consumed.  They found a fresh stream and a wood where they could cut logs for construction and firewood for heat.  Food was more of a problem.  In the winter they did not find wild deer.  Searching everywhere they came across some curious sand mounds.  They began to dig into these.  To everyone’s surprise they found edible corn buried in the mounds.  The corn actually belonged to the natives of the area, American Indians.  The Indians had hidden the corn to save it for planting in the next spring.  But the Pilgrims were dying of hunger and in their dangerous circumstances they took the corn and ate it, giving thanks to God for his “gift” to them.  When the Indians discovered that someone had been stealing their corn, tensions immediately arose between the Pilgrims and the Indians. 

There were many survival problems for the Pilgrims during the months following their landing at Plymouth.  The Mayflower and her crew were not able to return to England until the 5^th of April, 1621.  During this first winter half of the company perished from illnesses resulting from cold, scant food, and inadequate shelter.   It was difficult to cut wood and build houses with so much snow and cold temperatures.  At least 50 of the original 102 original passengers died that winter.  Elder William Brewster was one who survived and, together with one of the “Strangers”, Miles Standish, dug graves for many of the dead.

In the spring the survivors planted corn and other crops and found animals in the woods for food.  In October of 1621 the Pilgrims, to celebrate a good harvest and improved relations with the Indians declared a day of Thanksgiving.  They enjoyed a good feast of corn, deer meat, roast duck, clams and other sea foods, bread and other vegetables, with plums and berries for dessert, all washed down with many gallons of white and red wines made from wild grapes.

The Pilgrims invited the Indian chief, “Massasoit” and his people to participate in their feast.  He came with a contingent of 90 hungry braves.  Fortunately they brought with them a number of freshly killed deer. 

The party was considered a great success and was repeated for many years afterwards by the people of New England.  It did not become a national holiday until the great civil war.  President Abraham Lincoln declared it a day of giving thanks for the many blessings of God to this country.  Since that time the entire country has honored the day by recounting the stories of the Pilgrims and preparing a feast which generally includes turkey (although there is no mention of turkey in the record left by the Pilgrims) and other foods of the autumn harvest.

For many it is the favorite holiday of the year because it receives more reverence and less commercialism than most other holidays.  It has become an occasion for families to get together, share recipes, cook together, and generally be reunited.  We do not purchase gifts.  We get together as families, we eat together, play games together, work in our yards, watch football, and rest.

Consider the words of Amulek in the Book of Mormon:

“That ye contend no more against the Holy Ghost, but that ye receive it, and take upon you the name of Christ; that ye humble yourselves even to the dust, and worship God, in whatsoever place ye may be in, in spirit and in truth; and that ye live in thanksgiving daily, for the many mercies and blessings which he doth bestow upon you.” (Alma 34:38)

And the words of the Savior, Jesus Christ:

“But ye are commanded in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally; and that which the Spirit testifies unto you even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer and thanksgiving, that ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of devils.” (D&C 46:7)

May we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving, that our children and grandchildren and their children after them, will remember our brave forefathers, and also God’s purposes in setting up this great country for the restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.