Happy Thanksgiving!

I had ancestors at the first Thanksgiving. You probably did, too. Let’s qualify that as the first Anglo Thanksgiving, since the first feast of thanks for help from the natives to avoid starvation in what is now the United States was actually held in El Paso two decades earlier. Nevertheless, Plymouth’s Thanksgiving in 1621 was a grand step toward cooperation between peoples of widely diverse cultures and values. Edward Winslow’s tireless reconciliation efforts, as well as Massasoit’s generosity, brought decades of peace to New England. Sadly, the sons of these two great men, Josiah Winslow and King Phillip, were largely responsible for the first (and arguably bloodiest) war fought after the Anglos arrived in the land they would later fully occupy. The forces that brought on that war were complex, and included internal tensions, quest for land (by both settlers and tribes), and intertribal rivalries. The result was devastating for both sides, and the damage to peaceful relations was seemingly beyond repair. Still, our early history teaches us that peace and cooperation is possible – and that war brought about by greed is a cancer that brings far more harm than any possible perceived benefit.

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DJ

Mon, Dec 02, 2013 / 7:20 am Reply

I had ancestors at the first Thanksgiving. You probably did, too. Let’s qualify that as the first Anglo Thanksgiving, since the first feast of thanks for help from the natives to avoid starvation in what is now the United States was actually held in El Paso two decades earlier. Nevertheless, Plymouth’s Thanksgiving in 1621 was a grand step toward cooperation between peoples of widely diverse cultures and values. Edward Winslow’s tireless reconciliation efforts, as well as Massasoit’s generosity, brought decades of peace to New England. Sadly, the sons of these two great men, Josiah Winslow and King Phillip, were largely responsible for the first (and arguably bloodiest) war fought after the Anglos arrived in the land they would later fully occupy. The forces that brought on that war were complex, and included internal tensions, quest for land (by both settlers and tribes), and intertribal rivalries. The result was devastating for both sides, and the damage to peaceful relations was seemingly beyond repair. Still, our early history teaches us that peace and cooperation is possible – and that war brought about by greed is a cancer that brings far more harm than any possible perceived benefit.

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