American History: The Origin of Thanksgiving —— Lucky Turkey and Unfortunate Indian

American History: The Origin of Thanksgiving —— Lucky Turkey and Unfortunate Indian

Trump pardons turkey ceremony

Thanksgiving is an ancient festival created by the American people, and it is also a festival for Americans to get together. The fourth Thursday of June 165438+ 10 was designated as "Thanksgiving Day" in the United States. Thanksgiving holiday usually lasts from Thursday to Sunday. In the eyes of Americans, Thanksgiving is second only to Christmas. Traditionally, the president of the United States will hold a ceremony to pardon turkeys and a pair of turkeys on the day before Thanksgiving. However, there is a cruel history behind happy festivals, which is of course for Native Americans.

Mayflower

The origin of Thanksgiving can be traced back to the beginning of American history. /kloc-At the beginning of the 7th century, the English Puritans were persecuted, and a group of English Puritans could not bear religious persecution. 1In September, 620, they boarded the sailboat Mayflower and sailed for the "New World" America that Columbus had just discovered. 16 February 26th, arrived in Plymouth Port, USA today. In the winter at the turn of 1620 and 162 1, only 50 Puritans survived in 102 because of the lack of fresh fruits and vegetables, scurvy, hunger and cold. Of course, this voyage is famous in history because of the signing of the Mayflower Convention, which is the first political contract document in American history and is called the American birth certificate.

The First Thanksgiving (162 1) was written by Jean Léon Gér?me Ferris.

It's cold winter now, and they come to a strange place, lacking clothes and food, and the harsh environment threatens their lives. At this critical moment, the local Wampanoag Indians generously took out the corn and potatoes stored for the winter and gave them the wild ducks and turkeys they hunted. Indians also taught them to grow corn and pumpkins and raise turkeys. With the help of Indians, these new immigrants began to adapt to life in this land. With the help of Indians, the immigrants finally got a bumper harvest. According to religious traditions and customs, immigrants set the harvest day as Thanksgiving Day, and invited indigenous people to celebrate this festival to thank their gifts. This is the origin of the original Thanksgiving.

At first, there was no fixed date for Thanksgiving Day, which was decided temporarily by American states. 1789, President Washington officially stipulated165438+1October 26th as the Thanksgiving Day celebrated throughout the country. However, for a long time, each state has set a holiday date according to its own situation. It was not until 1863 after the independence of the United States that President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday. 194 1 year, in order to extend the Christmas shopping season and stimulate the economy, President Roosevelt signed a congressional resolution declaring the fourth Thursday of 1 1 year as Thanksgiving Day.

In the first hundred years, the relationship between European immigrants and Indians was generally peaceful. Europeans don't have enough numbers and strength to plunder Indians, and Indians never take the initiative to attack this group of outsiders. However, with the continuous increase of immigrants, the strength contrast between the two sides is becoming more and more disparity, and peace no longer exists.

During the North American War of Independence, most Indian tribes sided with Britain. 1778 In July, the Indian-dominated repressive forces brutally slaughtered nearly 400 whites who supported independence. This is the famous "Wyoming Massacre" in American history. The last land war in the North American War of Independence actually happened between the Continental Army and Indian tribes. 1782165438+1October, General Clark defeated the brave Indian Shawnee tribe and drove it to the west.

After the founding of the United States, Britain, France and Spain realized that this was the first time in human history to defeat colonialism, which was bound to affect colonialism. So the three colonial countries United to try to stop the wave of colonial independence, but it was the Indians who fought, not the colonists. These three countries provided weapons and money to Indian tribes to allow Indians to attack the new United States from the west.

1779, George Washington instructed General john sullivan to attack the Iroquois. He said that if "garbage" (Indians) were placed near all settlements, the whole country would not only be ravaged, but also be completely destroyed. In the process of destroying Indians, Washington also instructed his generals: "No peace proposal will be accepted until all Indian settlements are effectively destroyed."

1783, when Washington compared Indians with wolves, this anti-Indian sentiment was undoubtedly exposed: "They are all carnivorous beasts, but they are different in shape." Washington's extinction policy was implemented after its army defeated the Indians again. The soldiers peeled off the bodies of the Iroquois. "From the hip down, you can make high or leg-long boots." The Indians who survived the attack called the founding father of the United States "the town destroyer." Within five years, there are only two of Nathan Card's about thirty cities left.

179 1 year, the Indian attack led to the "St. Clare fiasco" of the US military, with 637 people killed and 263 injured. 1794 In August, the Indians were defeated in the "logging war" and were forced to sign the Guinevere Peace Treaty the following year, ceding a large area of land from New York State to the Mississippi River to the United States.

Portrait of tecumseh

In the Anglo-American War of1812-1815, most Indian tribes still sided with Britain. It was in this war that tecumseh, the most outstanding military leader in the history of North American Indians, shone brilliantly. 18 12 led the army to cooperate with the British army to conquer Detroit and captured 2500 American troops. 18 13, he led his troops to fight against the British army, repelled the American counterattacks against Detroit many times, and annihilated a brigade of the American army. The British army handed over 900 American prisoners of war to the Indians, who slaughtered them all and cruelly "scalped" some prisoners of war. 18 15 years, the us military launched a counterattack after completing the adaptation. Tecumseh withdrew from Detroit with British troops, was pursued by American troops in Moravia town, and was finally defeated and killed.

What Indians have done in several wars has reversed Americans' impression of Indians and vindicated Americans' revenge. Since then, the policy towards Indians has been reversed, from "assimilation" to "expulsion", in order to drive Indians away from their homeland.

Schematic diagram of the road to the west

1830, the American Congress passed the Indian Migration Act, which was approved by President andrew jackson. Since then, Congress has allocated funds for federal negotiations with tribes to move them to the west. Tribes in the south are facing double pressure from the state government and the federal government. Most tribes were unable to resist, so they had to cede their land, get some symbolic reparations, and then set off for the west.

Traces of tears

With the westward movement, a large number of Indians were slaughtered, and the survivors were forcibly driven to a more desolate "reservation". The forced migration of Indians is also known as the "road of blood and tears" of Indians. Indians, as one of several human species, are basically extinct as a whole. It is estimated that when Columbus arrived in the New World, Indians exceeded100000. By 1900, the population of the United States was about 76 million, but there were only 200,000 Indians left. Eliot Mollison, a professor at Harvard University, wrote when describing American history: "It was Columbus who initiated this cruel policy, and later generations inherited his practice, resulting in genocide."

Distribution map of American Indian reservation

It was not until 1924 that the American Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act, declaring that anyone born in the United States is an American citizen. 1934, according to President Roosevelt's "New Deal", the United States passed the Indian Reorganization Act, which allowed Indians to set up their own government, no longer distributed the land on reserved land, stopped the policy of forcing Indians to give up traditional culture and religion, and improved the situation of Indians.

Turkey is the traditional main course of Thanksgiving, because the original colonists ate turkey. According to the National Turkey Federation, about 88% of Americans eat turkeys on Thanksgiving Day.

According to custom, the president of the United States pardons a turkey at the White House the day before Thanksgiving every year to prevent it from becoming a Thanksgiving dinner. The president only needs to pardon one turkey, and the second turkey is a spare in case the first one fails to perform his duties. Of course, the pardoned turkey has also become the luckiest turkey among more than 20 billion chickens in the world.

The first turkey pardon in recorded history was initiated by President Lincoln because his son Todd asked him not to eat the turkey given to the president, but it didn't become a tradition until more modern times.

The event of giving turkeys as gifts to the President of the United States can be traced back to the 1970s, when Horace Voss, a poultry merchant in Rhode Island, gave some well-fed turkeys to the White House every Thanksgiving. The first family doesn't always entertain guests, but this move made the poultry merchant and his farm famous and became the direct supply organization of the White House. It was not until 19 13 that the merchant died that this era came to an end.

From 65438 to 0920, President Coolidge did not encourage people to send turkeys to the White House because of the sharp increase in the number of turkeys. According to the report of The New York Times at that time, although Coolidge finally restored his tradition, people gave not only turkeys, but also ducks, geese, rabbits, deer and a raccoon. Later, this raccoon was kept by Coolidge as a family pet.

1948 12, President Truman pardoned two turkeys, but at the same time said that they would appear at the Christmas dinner. Obviously, this means that there is no plan to get a real pardon for these two turkeys. In the later period of President Nixon, Patricia Nixon accepted the turkey on behalf of the President and sent the pardoned turkey to the children's farm in Oxon Mountain on 1973. The turkey pardoned by President Carter on 1978 was also sent to a small zoo on a farm.

Although the debate about who was the first president to pardon turkeys has never stopped, many experts still believe that the tradition of formally pardoning turkeys began under President Bush. The White House Historical Society said that the etiquette of pardoning turkeys was fixed at 1989. At the pardon ceremony at that time, then President George H.W. Bush said, "I assure you that this turkey will not be anyone's dish-it has been pardoned by the President and will spend the rest of its life in a nearby children's farm."

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