Wednesday – November 24, 2010

Tomorrow!

On Monday, I intimated that North Korea would be making news this week. Yesterday, they launched an assault on South Korea. What makes these two countries different from ours?

South Korea, or the Republic of Korea, has a democratic government. North Korea, or Democratic People's Republic of Korea, ironically isn't a democratic state, it has a communist government.

When our country was founded, there was no doubt as to the type and choice of government would be best suited for a free people. There was no doubt that a country that was free would grow and prosper. There was no doubt that a country that had free elections would be a model for others to follow.

When the Pilgrims landed on Plymouth Rock they had settled onto something that was stable and that would attract others by the millions to settle there, as well.

Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, currently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God.[1]
The event that Americans commonly call the first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive their first brutal winter in New England.[2] The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.[3] The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.[4][5][6][7]

The modern Thanksgiving holiday traces its origins from a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the Plymouth settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. This was continued in later years, first as an impromptu religious observance, and later as a civil tradition.

George Washington was the first American president to issue a proclamation, as President. On October 3, 1789, he created the first Thanksgiving Day designated by the national government of the United States of America. Soon after, John Adams and later James Madison issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation. The dates differed and the time of year also was in question. However, one thing remained constant. There was a need and desire for the nation’s people to gives thanks to God and to enjoy a celebration with a feast.

In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln, prompted by a series of editorials written by Sarah Josepha Hale,[19] proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863: Depending on when you considered the first Thanksgiving, it has endured more than three centuries from the first Thanksgiving celebration to present day. Tomorrow we will give thanks for the 389th time as a people. This tradition is one that other countries like North Korea cannot boast about. This is one tradition that our President’s supported. This is a tradition that was started by free people and not by a dear leader like the one that rules North Korea.

When we discuss what makes us different from other countries this should be the first thing that we should consider. The earliest settlers knew that it was important to take time out for celebration and to give thanks. I think the early settlers would be pleased that this holiday is so important for our national dialog, as well a model for the world to follow.

I am taking a few days off to give thanks, enjoy my family and consider just how lucky we are to have a place like America to call home, especially during the holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gregory C. Dildilian
Founder and Executive Director
Pinecone Conservatives

A footnote: I hope that we are all around next year to celebrate the 390th time that we give thanks as a nation and as a people.