I just finished reading Lies My Teacher Told Me which I'd heard a lot about in the last few years. I was surprised to see that it was actually published thirteen years ago.
I learned that the first Thanksgiving was actually in 1863; Lincoln proclaimed the third Thursday in November to be Thanksgiving because they were in the middle of the Civil War, and he sensed that the Union could use an upswell in patriotism. Just the kind of thing that an origin story celebration could do.
Huh.
I learned other stuff, too.
2 comments:
I don't remember if Loewen specifically says this or not...but Lincoln was just the first one to declare it a national holiday. It was someplace that was practiced in spots throughout the country, and especially in New England, but it never had a consistent date except during the fall at some point.
Also, for a better portrayal of what the "real" first Thanksgiving was like, check this out: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/weshallremain/
My history teacher read parts of the book to us in history (duh) in the 10th and 11th grades...that would be 2001-2002 and 2002-2003. So the book was still about 5-6 years old at the time. I've been wanting to buy it for the longest time, but I've been hitting up my public libraries (go NYPL!) and so I'll hunt for it there...
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