The Retired Renegade

The Pilgrims’ contribution to American freedom

One of the first private organizations to undertake “Americanizing” new immigrants was the Daughters of the American Revolution. As early as 1910, the group published a guide for new citizens. The 1913 revision included what they felt the immigrant “needs to know,” including history and civics.2 The Pilgrims’ contribution to American freedom was one of the many aspects of American history the DAR felt that immigrants should learn. While the DAR Manual for Citizenship didn’t specifically mention Thanksgiving, it set the stage for later efforts in education.

America was changing

By the late 1800s, America was changing, and the image of the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving became useful history. Starting in the 1880s, immigration increased dramatically. The new immigrants came from Eastern and Southern Europe, with different languages, religions and customs than the old-stock Yankees. Combined with other dramatic changes like growing industry and movement to cities, the large numbers of immigrants began to pose a threat to many Americans’ way of life. How could these newcomers be taught how to become good Americans? As in any time of crisis, people looked to the past for answers. By the early 20th century, the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving became a tool to teach immigrants and schoolchildren about America.

While the Thanksgiving Day celebration is a secular event, those with a religious mind have their own Thanksgiving traditions that they partake of in their churches. With the old European harvest festivals in mind, most churches are decorated with the traditional cornucopias, wheat sheaves, pumpkins, gourds and corn ears. There are particular scriptural texts and hymns that are emphasized at this time of the year to celebrate the harvest and their gratefulness to their God for providing for them.

Prior to the mid-1800s

Thanksgiving had nothing to do with the 1621 harvest celebration, Pilgrims or Native People. Thanksgiving started as a traditional New England holiday that celebrated family and community. It descended from Puritan days of fasting and festive rejoicing. The governor of each colony or state declared a day of thanksgiving each autumn, to give thanks for general blessings. As New Englanders moved west in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, they took their holiday with them. After the harvest, governors across the country proclaimed individual Thanksgivings, and families traveled back to their original homes for family reunions, church services and large meals.