Originally posted by Remora91Did you know a popular way that the Scots used to deal with their enemies was to invite them round for a feast, feed them silly, get them drunk and then kill them all.
"I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land." -Jon Stewart
They might still do it as far as I know...
A Brief History of an American Holiday
"Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labours. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king, Massasoit with some 90 men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted. And they went out and killed five deer which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our Governor and upon the Captain and others."
Edward Winslow to ____?_____ 11 Dec 1621
As quoted in William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647, notes by Samuel Eliot Morison, 1952.
See also the Proclamation of President Abraham Lincoln dated 3 October 1863, setting forth a holiday the last Thursday of November. Two years earlier he had given government employees a holiday, 28 November 1861.
Prior to Lincoln's proclamation, George Washington declared 26 November 1789 as "A Day of Publick Thanksgiving and Prayer" in a decree signed 3 October 1789.
Before Washington, the Charlestown, Massachusetts town Council on 20 June 1676 set aside 29 June of the same year as "a day of Solemn Thanksgiving and praise to God."
The modern American holiday reflects a continuity that goes back to Lincoln's proclamation, although the roots are deeper.
On the other hand, christiananswers.net offers:
"Following is the 1863 Lincoln Presidential Proclamation - celebrated shortly after Lincoln committed his life to Christ and celebrated while America was still in the midst of its Civil War. It was this proclamation which eventually led to the establishment of our national Thanksgiving holiday."
They are correct on a few points, but there is no credible evidence of President Lincoln making the sort of commitment to Christ that they allege here. Rather, their assertion is either wishful thinking or a dishonest effort to push sectarian ideas regarding the giving of thanks in America. There is nothing in the official US tradition of Thanksgiving that hinders Muslims from giving praise to Allah.
Originally posted by Vargif that were true.
Did you know a popular way that the Scots used to deal with their enemies was to invite them round for a feast, feed them silly, get them drunk and then kill them all.
They might still do it as far as I know...
there would not be a scot left on the planet.
Originally posted by Wulebgrerr.
[b]A Brief History of an American Holiday
"Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labours. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week. At which time, amongst o ...[text shortened]... reflects a continuity that goes back to Lincoln's proclamation, although the roots are deeper.[/b]
Edward Winslow .
BORN: 18 October 1595, Droitwich, Worcester.
Thats in England.
well before Americans were invented.
Originally posted by celticcountryYep. And he would have died an Englishman in America, if Oliver Cromwell had not convinced him to stay on one of his many trips back to England. He died at sea in service of the British navy on a mission to rcover English ships that had been seized by the Dutch in the West Indies.
err.
Edward Winslow .
BORN: 18 October 1595, Droitwich, Worcester.
Thats in England.
well before Americans were invented.
The letter was written to a friend in England. Its date is the best evidence we have that the first Thanksgiving ceremony in America may have been in late November.
Indded, even as late as 1776, the vast majority of folks that called themselves Americans understood the term as a category of Englishmen, rather than a distinct and separate identity. Of course, the subsequent decade changed the meaning fairly significantly.
Originally posted by celticcountry"After the defeat at Santo Domingo, Edward Winslow died of a fever on the voyage from Hispaniola to Jamaica and was buried at sea. 'He fell sick at sea betwixt Domingo and Jamaica and died the eighth day of May, which was about the sixty-first year of his life.' Mayflower Families Through Five Generations,V, General Society of Mayflower Descendants, 1991."
did he die from friendly fire?
http://www.mayflowerfamilies.com/enquirer/edward_winslow.htm
Originally posted by celticcountry
thanks for clearing it up.
he died in America and he died in jamaica and he died at sea.
A truly remarkable trinity of a man.
He died at sea near Jamaica, not far from the Americas. Others of his generation in America died as English in America
Did he found the Mormons also?
Nope Joseph Smith did this.
Now I understand who you worship at thanksgiving.
long may it prosper.
Most Americans give thanks to the god of their choice at Thanksgiving; a few attempt to impose their notion of god on the rest of us. The holiday centers on eating--turkey for most people--and family.