Essay On First Thanksgiving

Words: 721
Pages: 3

Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated by many people throughout the United States. We have turned it into a time where we gather with family, share what we are thankful for, and partake in a grand meal. In the article entitled “Deconstructing the Myths of the ‘First Thanksgiving’”, authors Judy Dow and Beverly Saplin critique and correct the false ideas that have been planted into our mind about the holiday and how it came about. There are many misconceptions that are held by individuals today, and this article written by Dow and Saplin change the way that the holiday is viewed by incorporating the real facts about colonization and the colonists’ encounter with the natives.
Plants have always been a very beneficial part of life on Earth. Plants
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The colonists also stole corn from the graves, and used it to aid in the survival, although there is no record of the corn being returned to its rightful owners.
Quite frankly, I believed in many of the common Thanksgiving myths. One myth that I have definitely believed over the years is that America celebrated its “First Thanksgiving” when colonists from Europe came to the New World. Because this is what I was taught, this is what I believed. However, I should have used my own common sense to know that the feast held in 1621 was not the “First Thanksgiving.” I also always believed, up until this moment, that Pilgrims existed—I thought that this was a politically correct term. Again, I believed this because it is what I was taught at an early age. In kindergarten, I made turkey-leg shaped pilgrims that my grandmother still has taped to her bedroom door; every time I visit, I am reminded of the holiday and the pilgrims that I thought existed. In elementary school, I learned that the “pilgrims,” or European colonists, left their continent in part for searching for freedom of religion. I believed that they wanted to practice their own religious beliefs, and not in the way that