A businessman said, "People are ingrates. It took me 61 years to find it out. I have 175 employees, men and women. At Thanksgiving, I sent them 175 choice turkeys. Only four thanked me. Two thanked me by notes and two said, ‘Thank you’ when they chanced to meet me in the hall. Because of their thanklessness, I’ve decided never to go out of my way to be nice again."

Someone has said, "If you want to find gratitude, look for it in the dictionary."

This is part 3 of a number of facts associated with THANKSGIVING. This is an all American holiday. Although the US and Canada celebrate the day on different dates, the purpose is the same.

The First Thanksgiving:

The United States of America has entered the post-Christian period. Christians must take a defensive posture. Pushing "political correctness" to the exclusion of historical correctness has disenfranchised our youth from our true Christian heritage. The teaching of un-history and mass media's pursuit of their own agendas have denied many people a source of true history. History should not be rewritten to force an agenda or to avoid offense of a particular group or idea. History is history and should not be manipulated to strip America and the West of its traditions and accomplishments.

Our nation, as opposed to others which evolved over a long time, was deliberately created in a specific way. People sat down and prayerfully designed what it should be. It is a unique heritage, rich in ideas and traditions. Thanksgiving is a holiday that reflects our national religious character. Contrary to current popular belief, Thanksgiving in North America did not grow out of ancient pagan harvest customs. Thanksgiving grew out of a desire to set aside a day to thank the Lord for His many blessings.


What about the first Thanksgiving?:

For many historians the first Thanksgiving in what is now the United States occurred on April 3, 1513. This took place when Juan Ponce De Leon landed in Florida during the Easter season of 1513. He and the crew gave thanks as they stepped into the water to wade ashore. Others claim the first Thanksgiving was on May 23, 1541. At this time Francisco Vásquez de Coronado camped along the Palo Duro in Texas Panhandle, had service of Thanksgiving. Carolinas.

Perhaps the first Thanksgiving in the New World was as early as 1564. A small colony of French Huguenots came to the New World for religious freedom. They established a settlement near present-day Jacksonville, Florida. They had constructed their earthen and log huts and dug a well at Fort Caroline. They also took time to give thanks to God. On June 30, 1564, their leader, Rene de Laudonniere, recorded that "We sang a psalm of Thanksgiving unto God, beseeching Him that it would please Him to continue His accustomed goodness towards us." Unfortunately they were slaughtered the next year by Spanish soldiers of Menendez de Aviles, so they really didn't get a chance to start a tradition. This event is often noted in Florida history books as the first Thanksgiving in the New World.

This does not seem to be the expected "traditional" Thanksgiving. There were no Indians, no food, and the colony didn't last long. On September 8, 1565 Don Pedro Menendez landed at what is now Mission Nombre de Dios and immediately held a Mass of Thanksgiving. Afterwards Menendez asked the local Seloy Indians to dinner. The menu was different, of course. Cocido, a stew of salt pork, garbanzo beans and garlic, served as the main course, accompanied by hard sea biscuits and red wine. Although the colonists struggled for many years, the community survived to become the first permanent European settlement in the United States. Perhaps this is closer to one's idea of the "first Thanksgiving." Dr. Michael Gannon, Assoc. Dean Univ. of Florida’s College of Liberal Arts and Sciences said. "This was the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent settlement in the land."