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The Truth About The First Thanksgiving By James Loewen

592 Words3 Pages

Did you know your history teachers have lied to you about the first Thanksgiving? In James W. Loewen’s article, “The Truth about The First Thanksgiving,” he discussed all the important information left out of history books. When asking his students when the United States had first settled, he was surprised at the number of students said 1620. All of this confusion, comes from the word “settled” and many other misunderstood events in history. Here are some of the points he made in his article. One event that he pointed out was the fact that the Europeans were never able to actually "settle". They did attempt to settle in China, India, Indonesia, and most of Africa. When trying to settle in those places, they discovered there was already too …show more content…

This event was in all textbooks, but every book describes it differently. Some say the Pilgrim's destination was Virginia, then one man says they wanted to be as far away as they could from Virginia. The textbooks who say their destination was Virginia states that their reasoning was because there was already a British settlement there. In the textbooks there are many different reasons as to why the Pilgrims ended up in Massachusetts. The first reason was that a brutal storm blew their ship of its designated route. The second reason was what they called "error of navigation", that landed them to far north. The man who states that they were not headed for Virginia, George Willison, says they were debating on whether they wanted to go to Guiana or Massachusetts to avoided the Anglican control in Virginia. They knew enough about Massachusetts to think it would be the best place for them to go. They knew about the fishing they offered in Cape Cod, and also the not so appealing plague. Another point that Willison had made was that out of the 102 settlers on the Mayflower, only about thirty-five of them were actually Pilgrims. With all this being said, it is clear that people just really do not know what really went on in history. All historians view the Pilgrims as the people who took the first step toward creating a government, when no one else

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In the early 1600s, Jamestown and Plymouth were the first permanent English and Puritan settlement that were established in the New World. The Virginia Company had sent four boys and 100 men to the New World on 3 ships to spread Christianity to the Natives and seek treasures for England. After 5 months of traveling, these 3 ships entered Chesapeake Bay. The colonists had established Jamestown which was named after their king in England. Another colony named Plymouth, was established a little over a decade later by the Pilgrims.

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First of all, Englishmen migrations to Massachusetts and to Virginia were supported by the two different companies, Massachusetts Bay Company and London Company, except the migration of those people on the Mayflower to Plymouth in 1607 that was supported by London Company. Since England would like to explore the New World to find out more ways to become wealthier and plundered treasures as Spain and Portugal, the King granted permission of establishing a colony on the coast of North America of 100 miles square between the 31th parallel and the 41th parallel to London Company in 1606. (hist of vir3) London Company then firstly sent out 120 members to Virginia in December 1606. (hist of vir53)

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In writing A Voyage Long and Strange, Tony Horwitz’s goal is clear, to educate others on early America and debunk ignorant myths. Horwitz’s reason for wanting to achieve this goal is because of his own ignorance that he sees while at Plymouth Rock. “Expensively educated at a private school and university- a history major, no less!-I’d matriculated to middle age with a third grader’s grasp of early America.” Horwitz is disappointed in his own lack of knowledge of his home country, especially with his background history and decides not only to research America’s true beginnings, but to also follow the path of those who originally yearned to discover America.

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Voyage of the Mayflower paragraph. According to the textbook, “King Henry VIII of England broke the country’s ties with the Catholic Church and established the Church of England, an official state church under his control”. In the Early 1600s, a religious group called the Separatists called for a break with the Catholic Church. The Pilgrims were separatists. King James attacked them because they rejected England's church.

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Essay #2 – Topic Three Both Virginia and Massachusetts had pros and cons, but if I were to choose where I would live, I would choose Virginia, because of the lenient life style and acceptance of different views. English settlers came from their homes for different reasons and each with different goals to pursue. Both had very distinct economies and social structures that relied heavily on labor. Although unlike Massachusetts, Virginia had more interesting encounters with natives.

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Being the first two well-known places in which the English would set out to colonize in 1607 and 1620, Jamestown, Virginia and Plymouth, Massachusetts hold very separate set of beliefs, standards, and outlooks on life then and the future to come. While paving the way for things such as slavery, taxes, ownership of land, inclusion of women, tobacco and government assemblies, John Smith and the people of Jamestown became a classical foundation for new life and economic growth for the new world that is, the United States. On the other hand, William Bradford and his people began to realize the intentions of the Church of England were unholy and had strayed away from God’s teachings from the Bible. With this in mind, the Pilgrims set on a voyage to the new world to seek religious freedom. As we know it, the Pilgrims sought for peace and a new way of living that was fair, just and free from religious corruptions.

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The "First Thanksgiving," written by Sharon Olds, uses commas constantly throughout the poem. The poem is about a girl and the language written toward her is intimate. At first I thought the commas create dramatic pauses to create sensual vibes of the poem. However, going back to the title, "First Thanksgiving," I realized I was entirely wrong.

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Squanto, also known as Tisquantum, a Native American of the Paxuet tribe. Squanto acted as an interpreter and guide to the pilgrim settlers during their first winter in the new world. Torn from his world and into another. Squanto became an English speaking native, Squanto became very fluent in English speaking when he returned from across the ocean “New England”. Other tribes surrounding the area helped the light skin people (Pilgrims) to grow their own food and survive the cold winters.

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Among the most influential documents, the Mayflower Compact is what set up America by colonization. With the help of the Native Americans for food and survival hacks. The Compact was drafted on the eleventh of November, by 41 of 104 Pilgrims on board a ship called The Mayflower. These 41 pilgrims were called Puritans. The pilgrims landed in what is now called Cape Cod.

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When I was younger I was under the impression that Christopher Columbus was a great man and that he discovered America. We celebrate Columbus day because we honor him for “discovering America”. From this new information that I have learned today, Christopher Columbus is not the man iv have been taught about.

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The people of America (colonists) were tired of being controlled by England. They wanted to be free and independent. They believed that they were able to control themselves and be their own country. They wanted England to let go of their control and to view them as independent and their own country.

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According to Loewen, few textbooks explained how Columbus was involved in the slavery and the exploitation of Indians. Another error that we have learned in schools about Columbus is that he was the first person to “discover” America. However, this is an error because people from other continents had already reached America before 1492. In fact, we forget

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Southerners by and large make theirs from cornbread, while in different parts of the nation white bread is the base. One or a few of the next might be included: shellfish, apples, chestnuts, raisins, celery and additionally different vegetables, wiener or the turkey's giblets. Thomas Jefferson thought the idea of Thanksgiving was "the most absurd thought I've ever heard." Each President since Lincoln announced Thanksgiving Day. Yet, in 1939, 1940, and 1941 Franklin D. Roosevelt announced Thanksgiving the third Thursday in November to extend the Christmas shopping season.

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