The First Thanksgiving

The relationship between the Puritians and the Wampannags was accepting at times, but the Puritians would treat them harshly at other times depending on the circumstances. At first both the Puritans and Wampannags tried to get along well because they were in need of allies. The Wampannags helped the Pilgrims grow crops for until the next season as the Pilgrims were at first unsuccesful on their own However, these unlikely allies soon seperated, as the Indians’ resentment of the English had been building. The Indians became dependent on English goods, food, and weapons, and bargaining power diminished as the fur trade dried up, tribal lands were sold, and Metacom and other leaders were forced by the colonists to recognize English sovereignty.

In We Shall Remain after the Mayflower is a story of hope, courage, and survival. It happened most likely in the late summer of 1621 in North America. The pilgrims were completely alone in the New World, and would not have survived if it wasn’t for the Indians. Because of this it always made the Indians welcome into their “home.” The Wampanoag’s (Indians) lived in fear, while the Pilgrims felt alone. The Wampanoag’s brought five fresh killed deer, and they decided to have a feast. The Thanksgiving celebration at the Plymouth symbolized where there relationship stood, and the Pilgrims knew they were going to be able to survive because of the Wampanoag’s. The Wampanoag’s were to be known as the “people of the light.” Indian people shared this continent, it was

The relationship between the English and the Native Americans in 1600 to 1700 is one of the most fluctuating and the most profound relationships in American history. On the one side of the picture, the harmony between Wampanoag and Puritans even inspires them to celebrate “first Thanksgiving”; while, by contrast, the conflicts between the Pequots and the English urge them to antagonize each other, and even wage a war. In addition, the mystery of why the European settlers, including English, become the dominant power in American world, instead of the indigenous people, or Indians, can be solved from the examination of the relationship. In a variety of ways, the relationship drastically alters how people think about and relate to the aborigines. Politically, the relationship changes to establish the supremacy of the English; the English intends to obtain the land and rules over it. Socially, the relationship changes to present the majority of the English settlers; the dominating population is mostly the English settlers. Economically, the relationship changes to obtain the benefit of the English settlers; they gain profit from the massive resource in America. Therefore, the relationship does, in fact, change to foreshadow the discordance of the two groups of people.

In 1620, the Pilgrim leaders, who came to America on the ship the Mayflower, wrote the Mayflower Compact. The original document was lost, however a copy of it that was written in William Bradford’s journal, was found. (“Pilgrim Hall Museum…”) The Pilgrims were originally going to land in Virginia, but their ship got off course due to a storm. Instead, the Pilgrims and crewmembers of the ship landed in Cape Cod. They later became known as the Plymouth Colony. (Foner, 66) The Pilgrim leaders wrote the Mayflower Compact when they landed in Cape Cod. The men aboard the Mayflower ship signed the Mayflower Compact, which was named for the ship. (“Pilgrim Hall Museum…”)

The arrival of the ‘foreigners’, as referred to by the Native Americans, turned a new stone in Native American diplomacy. No longer did they have to only deal with neighboring tribes, as they were forced to endeavor into politics with strangers who were looking to take their land. The first relationship between the pilgrims and the Native Americans began with the Wampanoag tribe. The relations between the two groups paved the view that the pilgrims had towards the Indians. The decently friendly relationship that stood between the two groups was short lived as the pilgrims felt that the indians were getting in the way of their expansion; and shortly after the friendship ceased to exist (Bell, 37).

When the first European colonists arrived in 1620 on land in the New World, a disaster was forming. Arriving in what is known today as Massachusetts on The Mayflower, the settlers didn’t have enough experience surviving cold, harsh winters causing almost half of the settlers to die that had arrived on The Mayflower. This had changed in 1621 with the help of the Native people. The American Indians had started teaching the English people how to do many things including harvesting and growing crops. This help from the Native’s had led to the first Thanksgiving between the two groups. These two societies, however, didn’t remain friends. The English settlers had kicked off the American Indians of their own land and tried to make them convert to Christianity. The English settlers had also brought diseases from Europe causing many Indians to get very sick and even some die.

These convincing leaders expressed themselves through speeches as well as a document written in 1764. When the Puritans arrive in Jamestown they find that the is already occupied by Native Americans. Instead of treating the native Americans with kindness, they fight over the land and trade diseases with each other. When the Pilgrims arrived in Plymouth the reaction they got from the Native Americans was a little different. In Plymouth, they decide to make friends with the Native Americans and show them how to make fire as seen in the in-class video.

1) The Protestant Reformation Produces Puritanism a) 1517 - Friar Martin Luther nailed protest on Catholic door of Wittenberg’s cathedral i) he said that the Bible is the only truth of God’s words ii) he started the Protestant Reformation b) Reformation bloomed in Geneva by John Geneva i) He elaborated on Luther’s ideas that affected the future men and women in New England and American settlers c) 1536 - Calvin wrote basic doctrine in Latin tome, named Institutes of the Christian Religion i) He said that God is all mighty, and humans are sinful ii) your fate is chosen by him and you cannot do anything to change it d)

At the start of the film After the Mayflower: We Shall Remain, the English and the Native Americans celebrated the first Thanksgiving together in 1621. Both groups of people seemed trusting of each other and showed personal respect. At this time the Wampanoag Indians had the power and chose to use it to form a treaty with the weak English Pilgrims. The two groups shared everything and traded their assets with each other. As the film continued there was an obvious change in power to the English with more and more Puritan immigrants from Europe arriving. By the end of the movie the English decided to use their power to control all lands instead of keeping the treaty with the native people. The English “thanksgiving” at

The interactions between Europeans and Native Americans have not always been positive. There are numerous difference that interactions between the two groups. Europeans were known as a group that during the 16th and 17th century, made a great deal of change with their religious views. They were once without religion, but were known to turn to sects like Christianity and Puritanism. The Native Americans were a group known to be without religion. These people did not believe it one God and a book to follow. They believed in various higher beings that oversaw things like hunting, crops and sacrifices. These spirits didn’t represent a sense of hope or something to look forward as did being a Christian. William Bradford and Mary White Rowlandson were two religious people who came from England to the new world in order to seek new opportunities in their religious pilgrimage. Upon their arrival to Massachusetts, they lived in settlements were next to Native establishments. Both women told stories of the horrors that the Natives put upon them.

The age of the new beginnings takes place during a time of discovery and colonization. At this time 102 European colonist set up a colony in New England, Massachusetts in 1620. There they will have many fascinating encounters with, a friend and a potential foe, a Native American tribe called the Wampanoag. They were believed to have a trustful relationship with one another but where did their friendship go so wrong? Their friendship came to an end since the Europeans took advantage of the Wampanoag, they had rules to their friendship, and they established an unfair legal system.

When I imagine “The First Thanksgiving”, I think of peace and harmony. Then my History complex comes in, I remember all of the rape, cannibalism, and disease spreading that happened in the years before “The First Thanksgiving” ruin my picture perfect scene. The Pilgrims did not have a farming aspect when they came to The New Colony but with the help of the Native Americans they learned how to survive. When I was younger we always were taught that this time, in history, everyone got along and they were happy. The Pilgrims came to have religious freedom and not to be treated as second class citizens. This is a notable act but they had various pathogens that they were immuned to but the Natives were not. Historians say that the pathogens that

The truth behind the tradition is surprising. Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go together, but the truth is, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. However the Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast, which people often refer to as "The First Thanksgiving". This feast was never repeated, though, so it can't be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by the colonists or "Pilgrims" a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a model that we think of for our own

The Indian-White relationship had long been breaking down, due to a developing question between the pioneers and the Indians. One of the reasons of this doubt was that the pilgrims were exploiting the positive attitude of the Indians. The King Phillip's war was a contention between the Native Americans and the pilgrims. This contention was the aftereffect of numerous abuses toward the Indians executed by the homesteader. The King Phillip's war was an advocated war. Numerous elements added to the flare-up of this war, for instance numerous Indians felt that they did great to the pioneers and that the settlers were the first doing incorrectly. Another variable was that Englishmen were exploiting the Indians when arranging land; the pioneers were

The concept of American national identity has been one of the founding structures that unifies the group of people that that call and consider themselves to be American. Since the “founders” of this nation settled in New England their patriotism has been celebrated. The legendary story of how the Puritan Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock seeking religious freedom is often taught to young children as a way to help them learn one of the key narratives in the formation of the nation. The story is even more glorified when linked to the greatly loved holiday of Thanksgiving, where the peaceful Pilgrims eat a peaceful meal with the friendly Indians. However, it is never told of how the friendly Indians were betrayed, used, degraded, and in many cases, defeated by the peaceful Pilgrims. During the 19th century, a time of Indian removal and other forms of structural oppression, William Apess addressed how that portion of history was neglected to be told and therefore took matters into his own hands to give the proper historical moment to Native Americans. The hidden and untold story of violence of the Pilgrims continues to this day.