Friends,
I hope this finds you well. Today weâll be pausing for a special edition of our newsletter, and tomorrow weâll be taking a break in observance of American Thanksgiving. (Weâll be back Friday with the next and final installment of our crash course series!)
In true TPP fashion, I wanted to take us down the rabbit hole that is American Thanksgiving and understand why it is celebrated, what historical events inspired it, and the power of myth and philosophical persuasion to unite a people.
Letâs dig in!
Background Events
You really canât understand this holiday without looking to two important factors: protestant fundamentalism and agrarian-dependent lifestyles.
The story begins with a group of protestant fundamentalist from Europe who fled oppression in their home countries for the relative safety of the Americas. It seems that intolerance was was their greatest moral crisisâa trait which not only caused them to flee Europe but nearly cost them their lives in North America.
Their organizing documentâthe Mayflower Compactâexplains their purpose as,
for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian faith.
In a film about these people, Director Ric Burns recounts,
They made peace with some of the [people] they encountered, but they slaughtered others. They were devout, but they weren't exactly proponents of religious freedom: People who didn't accept their strict beliefs were expelled from their community.
Due to this strict and exclusive worldview, their first few seasons were tough and isolated, and they were woefully unprepared to survive in a new climate without the support of modern, European-designed cities.
There was a massive outbreak of disease which rocked both the Europeans and any Native Peoples with whom they interacted. They struggled to grow food and overcome the pandemic, and any successful harvest was reason for celebration.
As such, these survivorsâboth European and Native Americanâengaged in thanksgivings which was a traditional response to a successful harvest in any circumstance, let alone one as dire in which they found themselves.
Modern Adaptation
This general storyline served as easy fodder for future American presidents in need of unifying mythology.
Washington, Lincoln, Grant, and Franklin Roosevelt each leveraged a different version of this storyâa mythologized versionâto unite the country in times of disunion and distress.
It was essentially a tool to be deployed at the discretion of national leaders in times of suffering. Finally, in 1942 it was given a singular day (the last Thursday in November) and was protected as a national holiday.
I find it interesting that the modern incantation of this holiday is younger than the Second World War.
The story of American Thanksgiving demonstrates the power of myth, illuminates the danger of intolerance and lack of compassion, and challenges the relationship between history as fact and history as nostalgia.
In no uncertain terms, it was nostalgic versions of this story have helped Americans through civil war, economic depression, and internal upheaval.
I hope you enjoyed this short history, and I look forward to being with you again on Friday.
If you are celebrating tomorrow I wish you a restful day filled with gratitude, inclusive community, and tolerant compassion.
Matt
Resources
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
https://www.npr.org/2015/11/26/457246585/reconsidering-the-pilgrims-piety-and-americas-founding-principles