Happy Thanksgiving!
Happy Thanksgiving!
Our modern celebration of Thanksgiving has its roots in extreme hardship. The Pilgrims who arrived on these shores in December of 1620 struggled mightily, as the Plimoth Plantation describes:
Many of the colonists fell ill. They were probably suffering from scurvy and pneumonia caused by a lack of shelter in the cold, wet weather. Although the Pilgrims were not starving, their sea diet was very high in salt, which weakened their bodies on the long journey and during that first winter. As many as two or three people died each day during their first two months on land. Only 52 people survived the first year in Plymouth. When Mayflower left Plymouth on April 5, 1621, she sailed back to England with only half of her crew.
Nevertheless, in the fall of 1621, a year after their arrival, they sat down for a feast and a three-day celebration of Thanksgiving. They had befriended and made a treaty of mutual protection with the Pokanoket Wampanoag leader, Ousamequin, also known as Massasoit to the Pilgrims. He and 90 of his men joined the celebration.
In the 1800s, this famous celebration became the basis for the story of the First Thanksgiving.
As the Pilgrims did, we should pause to reflect on all that is good and on the Source of this goodness. And as President Washington reminded Americans in his 1789 first Thanksgiving Proclamation, we must also pray for good, constitutional government:
…beseech him to pardon our national and other transgressions—to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually—to render our national government a blessing to all the people, by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed…
I am particularly thankful for all of you who donate to support our just cause and for your many messages of encouragement to me and my hard-working Judicial Watch colleagues who, in “private stations,” work for a “wise, just, and constitutional” government. We will continue to fight for the truth and transparency, shed light into the darkness and be a small beacon of hope for you and of other patriots of our great nation.
On behalf of all of us at Judicial Watch, I wish you and yours a most blessed Thanksgiving!
Until next week,
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