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Have you got your turkey ready? Thanksgiving Day is, after all, today (October 17). Or at least, that might have become the date for it in the Palmetto State. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Any school kid (well any school kid born before 2000) can tell you the Pilgrims held their famous Thanksgiving bash in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621. They were immensely grateful for having survived that first hellacious New England winter – as well they should have been (climate change purveyors take note: it’s still pretty dang cold up there 400 years later).
Thrilled to still be among the living, they put on the dog with a three-day blowout. Everyone loved it so much that they repeated it two years later. And then yet again. Over time, folks threw in whipped cream on pumpkin pie, football, and giant balloons to make it one of America’s signature holidays.
But contrary to common belief, the Pilgrims’ famous feast wasn’t the first Thanksgiving observance in the New World. Not by a country mile.
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We know famous Spanish explorers – who beat the Brits here by a century – frequently paused from their conquista-doring to spend the day giving thanks. We also know there was a Thanksgiving of sorts celebrated in 1564 on modern-day Parris Island, S.C. by French Huguenots (and given France’s love affair with fine cuisine, how fascinating it would be to know what they dined on that day).
The first permanent English settlement in North America was at Jamestown, Virginia, where our Britannic cousins set foot on this continent on May 14, 1607. Their trip across the pond had been so harrowing they didn’t wait a year to show their gratitude. They held a Thanksgiving service just days after their arrival (beating the Pilgrims, who were still back in Merry Ole England, by a good thirteen years).
As you can see, the concept of setting aside the daily routine to give thanks to our Higher Power goes back to the very earliest of times – and was observed on various dates besides November.
So, it wasn’t out of the ordinary when South Carolina held its first documented Thanksgiving observance on October 17, 1706. And indeed, those colonists had every reason to be grateful.
Late that summer, a combined force made up of Spanish and French soldiers headed north from St. Augustine, Florida. The major players in Western Europe at the time – the English, French and Spanish – viewed North America as one big land grab free for the taking. They established colonies that sent goods and raw materials back to the Mother Country, thus enriching the royal coffers. And each was eager to rub out its rivals. So it was that the Franco-Spanish strike force set out with the prosperous and thriving 43-year-old South Carolina Colony as its objective.
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The attack seemed like a good idea, but stiff resistance from the plucky colonial militia turned back the invaders and sent them scurrying to South Florida in defeat. Six weeks later, a day of Thanksgiving was called to celebrate the victory.
We don’t know a lot of details about how those early Carolinians celebrated. But it must have included a strong spiritual dimension. English missionary Francis LeJau, who arrived in Charleston the next day, bore witness to the festivities.
“Upon my first Landing, I saw the Inhabitants rejoicing,” he wrote. “They had kept the day before holy for a Thanksgiving to Almighty God for being safely delivered from an Invasion from the French and Spaniards.”
Whether the spiritual aspect was combined with liquid spirits to enhance the occasion is purely a matter of conjecture. What’s more, given both the scanty early records that survived – plus all the hurricanes and military incidents over the years – it’s quite likely days of Thanksgiving were observed here well before 1706.
But that October 17 event is the earliest date we can pinpoint with historical accuracy.
Officially, the late November date for Thanksgiving wasn’t sorted out until after the 1930s – and involved a bit of political scandal. Remember ‘Franksgiving?’ Few living South Carolinians do, but there’s a reason this holiday is held on the fourth Thursday in November as opposed to the last Thursday that month.
For those who really get into our modern traditions, it’s a shame we don’t celebrate Thanksgiving a month earlier. Why wait longer for a good thing? That’s the approach Canada took when it chose the second Monday of October for its national day of thanks.
But regardless of the date on which we celebrate, we can all be truly grateful for this: Canadian football didn’t catch on down here.
Now, please pass the whipped cream…
BANNER VIA: GETTY IMAGES
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR …
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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