Thanksgiving in America : The Story of Thanksgiving, Part 4 (Reposted from 23 November 2009)

After a harsh winter, the Pilgrims had their first formal contact with the indigenous when on March 16, 1621 an Native American walked boldly into the middle of Plymouth Colony and declared in English, "Welcome, Englishmen!" He also asked if they had any beer! His name was Samoset, a subordinate chief of the Abenaki tribe in Maine, and he was was visiting Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoags. Samoset had learned English from English fishermen that came to fish off the coast of Maine. From Samoset, the colonists learned about the plague that had wiped out the Indians where they had established Plymouth Colony. After spending the night in the settlement, he came back two days later with Tisquantum, better known today as Squanto.

He spoke even better English than Samoset due to more unfortunate circumstances. Squanto had previously been captured several times by Englishmen. The last time he was sold into slavery for £20 in Spain but fortunately for him, he was taken by some local friars in order to be instructed in the Christian faith. He escaped to London where he lived for several years and participated in an expedition of the North American sea coast. Finally in 1619 he returned to his homeland in Maine only to discover that his tribe had been killed off by plague. He then went to Wampanoags and finally settled with the Pilgrims. He and Samoset would be the liason between the Pilgrims and the Chief Massasoit of the Wampanoag nation. With their assistance, they established formal peace treaty between the two peoples.

 

For the Pilgrims, Tisquantum (or Squanto) was a Godsend. He helped them to recover from the harsh winter teaching them how to plant crops in the New World and where to best catch fish and eels. Around October of 1621 after a fruitful harvest thanks to the help of the Wampanoags, they held "The First Thanksgiving." The colonists didn't refer to this celebration as Thanksgiving because it was more of a harvest festival. For Puritans, thanksgiving was a day of prayer and worship, not revelry. The first real thankgiving was in 1623 with the arrival of new supplies and colonists from England. What Americans really celebrate today is rooted in the European harvest festival tradition.

 

Interesting links to learn more:

Wikipedia – Samoset

Wikipedia – Massasoit

Abenaki Indian tribe 

Wikipedia – Wampanoags

Wikipedia – Squanto

My Ancestor : My Great, Great Grandfather

I found this on the internet about my great, great grandfather. I thought it was interesting.

BOEN, Haldor Erickson, (1851 - 1912)

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”The House of Representatives of the Fifty Third Congress” (detail), The Graphic Chicago, 1893, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

 

 

 

 

 

Haldor Erickson Boen (January 2, 1851 – July 23, 1912) was an American congressman from Minnesota.

Haldor Erickson Boen was born in Sondre Aurdal, Valdres, a traditional district in Oppland county, Norway. Boen immigrated to the United States in 1868 and settled in Mower County, Minnesota. He attended the St. Cloud Normal School in 1869 and 1870. Boen relocated to Fergus Falls in Otter Tail County on January 1, 1871. In 1872 he was employed in the auditor’s office, computing the first taxes levied in Otter Tail County. He taught in the common schools of that county from 1874 to 1879. He acted as justice of the peace from 1875 – 1900. In 1880 he was elected county commissioner. He acted as register of deeds from 1888 – 1892.

Boen was elected as a Populist to the 53rd congress, representing the newly-created 7th congressional district, March 4, 1893 – March 3, 1895. He was unsuccessful in his reelection bid in 1894 to the 54th congress. Boen then became editor of the Fergus Falls Globe and resumed agricultural pursuits in Otter Tail County. He died in Aurdal Township in Otter Tail County and was interred in Aurdal Cemetery, near Fergus Falls, Minnesota. (Wikipedia)

BOEN, Haldor Erickson - Biographical Information

Thanksgiving in America : The Story of Thanksgiving, Part 3 (Reposted from 20 November 2009)

The Pilgrims had brought with them a shallop they had dismantled to fit onboard the Mayflower. It had also been damaged during the crossing and so its reparation and reassembling delayed exploration of the coast for two weeks. Finally exploration began under the leadership of Myles Standish, a soldier the Pilgrims met in Leiden and hired to assist them, and Christopher Jones, the Mayflower's master. They found an area of land deserted of all human life with vestiges of old buildings and recently cultivated fields. Artificial mounds which turned out to be Native American graves were discovered and in which they found baskets of maize which they took intending it for planting.

 

By this time in late November and early December, most of the passengers and crew were becoming seriously ill due to the cold and damp weather. Others were suffering from scurvy. Nonetheless, exploration continued. On December 16th of our modern calendar, they made their first contact with the native population. Their shallop landed in the territory of the Nauset people surprising the locals they saw on shore. After having passed the night ashore and hearing the cries of the Nauset during the night, they were met the next day by flying arrows from the natives. The Europeans shot back with their arms chasing them into the woods where the Nauset were not to be found. They would have no more contact with the native populations for several months.

 

Finally on December 21th the first landing party arrived in the area which would become the settlement of Plymouth. They cleared the remains of the village Patuxet which had belonged to the Wampanoag people and whose residents were wiped out by a plague three years earlier. Construction began immediately and the first common house of the Pilgrims was completed on January 19th.

 

Since the end of November many of the colonist had been sick and suffering with a horrible cough. Others were suffering from scurvey. Between the first landing and March of the following year, only 47 colonists out of 102 survived. Half of Mayflower's crew also died. John Carver, the governor died and William Bradford took over in his place. Mr. Bradford was the prime architect of the Mayflower Compact and his journal would later be published as Of Plymouth Plantation, the single authority on the history of the Pilgrims starting in 1608 until 1647.

 

Interesting links to learn to more :

Mayflower History – Myles Standish

Mayflower History – William Bradford

Wikipedia – Christopher Jones

Nauset History

List of Mayflower passengers who died in the winter of 1620–1621

Google books – Of Plymouth Plantation by William Bradford

Wikipedia – Mayflower Compact

 

Thanksgiving In America : The Story of Thanksgiving, Part 2 (Repost from 17 November 2009)

After many difficult negotiations and preparations, two ships were procured. The Speedwell was to carry the first group of passengers from the Netherlands to England and then on to America while the larger Mayflower was to carry the supplies and would be used for exploration. The Speedwell left the Netherlands and joined the Mayflower in Southampton. In August of 1620, the two ships set sail but the Speedwell reported that it was taking on water and had to return to port in Dartmouth. The leaks were fixed and they set sail again when once again the Speedwell reported that she was leaking water forcing them to return to port in Plymouth. It was decided that they couldn't continue with the Speedwell. Out of the 121 passengers, 102 were chosen to sail on the Mayflower where they had to also consolidate all their supplies. It was later learned that the crew of the Speedwell deliberately caused the leaks on their ship in order to get out of their one-year contracts.

 

Finally in September of 1620, the Mayflower set sail for the New World. At first, the sailing was smooth but they encountered rough seas. The crossing was very difficult for the passengers. The ship had to be repaired using some of the Pilgrims' construction supplies. During the passage, one passenger and one crew member died, however one baby was born.

 

Around November 20 of 1620, land was sighted at Cape Cod and due to the shallow waters they finally anchored the next day in present-day Provincetown Harbor. Before going ashore, the Pilgrims drafted and signed the first governing document with democratic principles in America, The Mayflower Compact. This constitution would govern the colony for the next 70 years.

Learn more of the Pilgrim Story HERE  and at HERE

Thanksgiving in America : The Story of Thanksgiving, Part 1 (Repost from 13 November 2009)

 On Thursday, November 26 this month, American families all across the United States will get together around the table to enjoy the traditional Thanksgiving dinner and give thanks for the year's blessings. Even though its roots can be traced back to the European harvest festivals, this American holiday has deep religious roots from the Puritan tradition. However, Thanksgiving is not based on any one denomination allowing Americans of all faiths to celebrate. This is the first post in a series that will tell the Thanksgiving story.

Most stories of this day begin with the great feast celebrated by the Pilgrims with their Native American neighbors after a harsh winter. The Story of Thanksgiving goes back even farther to England at the beginning of the 17th century where a group of Puritans called Separatists, wanted to break from the Church of England denying its central authority. James I believed them to be a threat to his authority and the Separatists were fined, jailed and even executed for their religious beliefs. The Separatists had to worship in secret and in fear of persecution since all churches other than that of the state were illegal. They sought to leave England but to do so required permission from the king since leaving England without this permission resulted in imprisonment. Somewhere around 1607 or 1608, permission was granted allowing a group to leave for Holland where there was religious tolerance.

 

The congregation settled in the Dutch industrial town of Leiden where some were able to find work to support their families working in the various trades or in the university. Others had difficulty due to cultural and language barriers. By 1617 the Separatists decided that they needed to leave Holland for a couple of reasons. First their children were starting to adopt Dutch customs and habits they believed to be ungodly. Thirdly, the political situation risked becoming unstable and they feared how a Spanish Holland would treat them. Last of all, they believed that missionary work compelled them to spread the Gospel. A debate arose on where they should go, finally they decided that the territory north of the Virginia Colony which would be called New England was the best place for them to go.

Learn more about the Puritans HERE

Learn more about the Pilgrims in Leiden HERE

11 November–Veterans Day in the United States

Taken from : http://www1.va.gov/opa/vetsday/    

History of Veterans Day

World War I – known at the time as “The Great War” - officially ended when the Treaty of Versailles was signed on June 28, 1919, in the Palace of Versailles outside the town of Versailles, France. However, fighting ceased seven months earlier when an armistice, or temporary cessation of hostilities, between the Allied nations and Germany went into effect on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. For that reason, November 11, 1918, is generally regarded as the end of “the war to end all wars.”

Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities.  This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect

In November 1919, President Wilson proclaimed November 11 as the first commemoration of Armistice Day with the following words: "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations…"

The original concept for the celebration was for a day observed with parades and public meetings and a brief suspension of business beginning at 11:00 a.m.

The United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I when it passed a concurrent resolution on June 4, 1926, with these words:

Whereas the 11th of November 1918, marked the cessation of the most destructive, sanguinary, and far reaching war in human annals and the resumption by the people of the United States of peaceful relations with other nations, which we hope may never again be severed, and

Whereas it is fitting that the recurring anniversary of this date should be commemorated with thanksgiving and prayer and exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding between nations; and

Whereas the legislatures of twenty-seven of our States have already declared November 11 to be a legal holiday: Therefore be it Resolved by the Senate (the House of Representatives concurring), that the President of the United States is requested to issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples.

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday—a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as "Armistice Day." Armistice Day was primarily a day set aside to honor veterans of World War I, but in 1954, after World War II had required the greatest mobilization of soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen in the Nation’s history; after American forces had fought aggression in Korea, the 83rd Congress, at the urging of the veterans service organizations, amended the Act of 1938 by striking out the word "Armistice" and inserting in its place the word "Veterans." With the approval of this legislation (Public Law 380) on June 1, 1954, November 11th became a day to honor American veterans of all wars.

Later that same year, on October 8th, President Dwight D. Eisenhower issued the first "Veterans Day Proclamation" which stated: "In order to insure proper and widespread observance of this anniversary, all veterans, all veterans' organizations, and the entire citizenry will wish to join hands in the common purpose. Toward this end, I am designating the Administrator of Veterans' Affairs as Chairman of a Veterans Day National Committee, which shall include such other persons as the Chairman may select, and which will coordinate at the national level necessary planning for the observance. I am also requesting the heads of all departments and agencies of the Executive branch of the Government to assist the National Committee in every way possible."

President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. From left: Alvin J. King, Wayne Richards, Arthur J. Connell, John T. Nation, Edward Rees, Richard L. Trombla, Howard W. Watts

On that same day, President Eisenhower sent a letter to the Honorable Harvey V. Higley, Administrator of Veterans' Affairs (VA), designating him as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee.

In 1958, the White House advised VA's General Counsel that the 1954 designation of the VA Administrator as Chairman of the Veterans Day National Committee applied to all subsequent VA Administrators. Since March 1989 when VA was elevated to a cabinet level department, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has served as the committee's chairman.

The Uniform Holiday Bill (Public Law 90-363 (82 Stat. 250)) was signed on June 28, 1968, and was intended to ensure three-day weekends for Federal employees by celebrating four national holidays on Mondays: Washington's Birthday, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Columbus Day. It was thought that these extended weekends would encourage travel, recreational and cultural activities and stimulate greater industrial and commercial production. Many states did not agree with this decision and continued to celebrate the holidays on their original dates.

The first Veterans Day under the new law was observed with much confusion on October 25, 1971. It was quite apparent that the commemoration of this day was a matter of historic and patriotic significance to a great number of our citizens, and so on September 20th, 1975, President Gerald R. Ford signed Public Law 94-97 (89 Stat. 479), which returned the annual observance of Veterans Day to its original date of November 11, beginning in 1978. This action supported the desires of the overwhelming majority of state legislatures, all major veterans service organizations and the American people.

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

President Obama’s Veterans Day 2010 Proclamation.

American Cuisine : U.S. Senate Bean Soup

Bean soup is on the menu in the Senate's restaurant every day. There are several stories about the origin of that mandate, but none has been corroborated. 

According to one story, the Senate’s bean soup tradition began early in the 20th-century at the request of Senator Fred Dubois of Idaho.  Another story attributes the request to Senator Knute Nelson of Minnesota, who expressed his fondness for the soup in 1903.

The recipe attributed to Dubois includes mashed potatoes and makes a 5-gallon batch.  The recipe served in the Senate today does not include mashed potatoes, but does include a braised onion.  Both Senate recipes are below.

The Famous Senate Restaurant Bean Soup Recipe

2 pounds dried navy beans

four quarts hot water

1 1/2 pounds smoked ham hocks

1 onion, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

salt and pepper to taste

Wash the navy beans and run hot water through them until they are slightly whitened. Place beans into pot with hot water. Add ham hocks and simmer approximately three hours in a covered pot, stirring occasionally. Remove ham hocks and set aside to cool. Dice meat and return to soup. Lightly brown the onion in butter. Add to soup. Before serving, bring to a boil and season with salt and pepper. Serves 8.

Bean Soup Recipe (for five gallons)

3 pounds dried navy beans

2 pounds of ham and a ham bone

1 quart mashed potatoes

5 onions, chopped

2 stalks of celery, chopped

four cloves garlic, chopped

half a bunch of parsley, chopped

Clean the beans, then cook them dry.  Add ham, bone and water and bring to a boil.  Add potatoes and mix thoroughly.  Add chopped vegetables and bring to a boil.  Simmer for one hour before serving.

Taken from http://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_item/bean_soup.htm

Featured Podcast : Celebrating Independence Day With Parades, Fireworks and Water Balloon Fights (from VOA Special English)

http://www1.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/american-life/people/Independence-Day-97620419.html

Or download MP3 (Right-click or option-click and save link)

DOUG JOHNSON: Welcome to American Mosaic in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I’m Doug Johnson.

Today we tell about Independence Day in the United States. This Fourth of July will mark America’s two hundred and thirty-fourth birthday.

We also answer a listener question about a famous American general.

And we hear a poem about the American flag by country singer Johnny Cash.

(MUSIC)

Independence Day

DOUG JOHNSON: The Fourth of July marks the anniversary of America’s Declaration of Independence from Britain. During the summer of seventeen seventy-six, American colonists were deeply divided. Almost one in three was loyal to Britain. Yet most were increasingly angry about what they considered unfair treatment by the British government. By June, fighting had already taken place between colonial forces and Britain. The idea of independence was spreading.

Delegates from the thirteen colonies gathered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Continental Congress decided that a document declaring separation from Britain should be declared. Thomas Jefferson led a committee chosen to write it.

**(TO READ MORE, CLICK ON THE LINK ABOVE)**

Thanksgiving in America : Featured Podcast – What Thanksgiving Day Means to People in the US (VOA News – Special English)

http://www.voanews.com/specialenglish/2009-11-22-voa2.cfm

Sharing some favorite memories, mixed with cold reality about the effects of the economic downturn.

Download MP3 HERE

Transcript of radio broadcast: 22 November 2009

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Faith Lapidus. This Thursday is a day for families and friends to share a special holiday meal and think about what they are thankful for. This week on our program, we ask some people to share their favorite memories of Thanksgiving Day.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Special English reporters June Simms and Dana Demange talked to people about the holiday. 

JIM OLDHAM: "My name is Jim Oldham and I'm from Nashville, Tennessee. I remember my father drove a bus and my mother was a waitress, and so we often didn't get to have Thanksgiving together. And I remember when I was about twelve, her work and his work permitted us all to do that. And we had brothers and sisters, and the traditional turkey and all the trimmings. We always had pumpkin pie, and if we were really lucky, a little bit of whipped cream on top. And it was just a wonderful day."

ANN GEIGER: "I'm Ann Geiger from Tucson, Arizona. Thanksgiving is special for our family because like so many families our adult children live around the country. And we usually get at least part of them together for Thanksgiving."

REPORTER: "And what is one of your fondest Thanksgiving Day memories?"

ANN GEIGER: "Oh, I think a recent Thanksgiving when my son and I had a turkey cook-off. He brined his turkey and I didn't brine mine. And we decided which one was the best."

REPORTER: "Who won?"

ANN GEIGER: "He did."

VOICE ONE:

Brining is a way to prepare meat in a salt solution, whether for a competitive "cook-off" or just any meal. Traditionally the meat served on Thanksgiving is turkey. The bird is usually served with side dishes including a mixture known either as stuffing or dressing.

Many families also bring out their finest table settings -- the "good china" -- for Thanksgiving.

JOEL UPTON: "My name is Joel Upton. I'm from Livingston, Tennessee. Thanksgiving at my family was always a time when brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, we all got together. And someone would bring different dishes. Someone would bring the sweet potatoes. Someone would bring the meat. Someone would bring the dressing. And we would all sort of combine the efforts to have a family Thanksgiving dinner and bring out the good china for that particular event.

And Thanksgiving also, in my early days when I was a child, the kids would all get to play, maybe we hadn't seen each other for a while. The men would always watch a football game on TV. And Thanksgiving was just a really, really special time. And, of course, we had in mind the Pilgrims and what it was all about too. But it was a family time."

VOICE ONE:

The Pilgrims first arrived in America in sixteen twenty. They were separatists from the Church of England and other settlers. The ship that brought the first group was the Mayflower.

An exploring party landed at Plymouth, in what became the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The state is named after an American Indian tribe -- a recognition of the groups that came long before the Pilgrims.

The first Pilgrims established a village. Those who survived the first difficult years held harvest festivals and religious celebrations of thanksgiving. These events formed the basis of the holiday that Americans now celebrate.

But there are no official "rules" for a Thanksgiving meal. Some people like to find ways to do things a little differently.

BUTCH HUNSINGER: "Butch Hunsinger from Williamsport, Pennsylvania."

REPORTER: "The bird. What are you going to do differently this year?"

BUTCH HUNSINGER: "Try to shoot it myself, instead of go to the store to buy it. Go to the family cabin, and hunt on the family land and try to call in a turkey and fire away."

REPORTER: "And who's the better shot in the family?"

BUTCH: "Oh my son, by far."

REPORTER: "What about your worst Thanksgiving memory?"

BUTCH: "Worst…[Laughter] The worst was also the funnest, 'cause I got up early Thanksgiving day and we went to the Burwick Marathon, but it's a nine-mile road race. Just a crusher." [Laughter]

HUGUETTE MBELLA: "Hi, my name is Huguette Mbella. And I was born in Cameroon and grew up in France. And I live now in the United States in Washington, D.C. The whole concept of Thanksgiving was a little bit bizarre. In France, the main celebration is Christmas, not Thanksgiving."

REPORTER: "Can you think of one of your most fond Thanksgiving memories?"

HUGUETTE MBELLA: "I would say my first one. It was in New York. Suddenly the turkey comes on the table, and I was amazed by the size. It was huge! The first thing that came to my mind was actually that's a lot of food!"

ELIZABETH BRINKMAN: "My name is Elizabeth Brinkman and I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. It was always a day that my mother did all the cooking. And we had turkey and I got to chop the vegetables for the dressing. And we got out the good china."

GORDON GEIGER: "Gordon Geiger from Tucson, Arizona. We used to get together at my parents' house and all of my relatives would come over and we'd have a big dinner. And after dinner we would watch football games on the television.

I think it's probably really the most important holiday in the United States because it is a day that is not tied to a particular religion. It is not tied as much to commercial activities. It's more a reflection of the fact that we've had a good life and we appreciate it."

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This Thanksgiving, Americans can be thankful that the Great Recession may be over. But the job market faces a long recovery.  Unemployment is now above ten percent. And if the underemployed are added, the rate is seventeen and a half percent. The underemployed are people no longer searching for work or only able to find part time jobs.

Last week, the United States Department of Agriculture released its "household food security" report for two thousand eight. The study found that families in seventeen million households had difficulty getting enough food at times during the year. That was almost fifteen percent -- up from eleven percent in two thousand seven. It was the highest level since the current surveys began in nineteen ninety-five.

The Agriculture Department says poverty is the main cause of food insecurity and hunger in the United States.

President Obama, in a statement, called the report unsettling. Especially troubling, he said, is that there were more than five hundred thousand families in which a child experienced hunger multiple times during the year.

He said the first task is to renew job growth, but added that his administration is taking other steps to prevent hunger. These include an increase in aid for people in the government's nutrition assistance program, commonly known as food stamps.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The Continental Congress wrote the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in seventeen seventy-seven, during the Revolutionary War. George Washington issued the first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in seventeen eighty-nine. Here is part of what he wrote.

READER:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both houses of Congress have by their joint committee requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Now therefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the twenty-sixth day of November next to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that great and glorious being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be ...

VOICE ONE:

Sarah Josepha Hale was a magazine editor and writer who campaigned for a Thanksgiving holiday. That way, there would be "two great American national festivals," she said, the other being Independence Day on the Fourth of July.

In September of eighteen sixty-three, Sarah Josepha Hale appealed to President Abraham Lincoln. Lincoln had made proclamations in the spring of eighteen sixty-two and sixty-three. But these gave thanks for victories in battle during the Civil War.

Then came another proclamation on October third, eighteen sixty-three. It gave more general thanks for the blessings of the year. This is part of what it said:

READER:

In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. ...

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.

VOICE ONE:

Lincoln's proclamation began a tradition. Presidents have issued Thanksgiving proclamations every year since eighteen sixty-three. All can be found on the Web site of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth.

In nineteen forty-one, Franklin Roosevelt was president. Roosevelt approved a resolution by Congress. It established, by law, the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

(MUSIC)

Our program was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus.  Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

Culture Spot : On This Day . . . 19 November – Happy Birthday James A. Garfield, 20th President of the United States

On this day in 1831, James Abram Garfield was born in Moreland Hills, Ohio. He would become the 20th President of the United States and would have the second shortest presidency in the history of the country with only 199 days in office.

James A. Garfield was a major general in the US Army during the Civil War and later became a member of the US House of Representatives. In fact, Garfield is the only sitting member of the House to have been elected President of the United States.

Garfield’s life was changed at the Republican National Convention of 1880. Just before, in January of that year, Garfield had been elected by the Ohio legislature to become US Senator for the state of Ohio starting in March of 1881. Senator-elect Garfield went to the convention supporting Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman for the Republican nomination. In all, there were 14 nominations for the party’s nomination (this predates the modern primary system). The top three candidates  were former President Ulysses S. Grant, James G. Blaine and John Sherman. Grant, who was president from 1869 to 1877 was seeking a third term in office.

After 35 ballots, none of the candidates obtained the required number of votes to capture the party’s nomination.  Sherman and Blaine along with their delegates decided to look elsewhere and threw their support to a ‘dark horse,’ James A. Garfield. In political terms, a dark horse is someone who is little known and rises to prominence, much like current President Barack Obama. On the 36 ballot, Garfield, who didn’t even go the Republican Convention seeking the nomination, was elected with 93 more votes than Grant. Finally, the convention chose Chester A. Arthur as Garfield’s vice presidential running mate ending the longest Republican Convention in history. Ironically, Sherman, whom Garfield went to the convention to support, was chosen to be the senator for Ohio in the place of Garfield.

In the general election of 1880, the Republican Garfield-Arthur ticket won 214 votes in the Electoral College against the Democratic Hancock-English ticket’s 155 votes. In the popular vote, Garfield and Arthur received only 1,898 more votes. The smallest popular vote majority in the history of US presidential elections. President Garfield and Vice President Arthur were sworn into office on March 4, 1881.

On July 2, 1881 Garfield was on his way to deliver a speech and was shot twice while walking through a train station in Washington D.C. by Charles J. Guiteau who was disgruntled for not being able to obtain a federal post. One bullet only grazed the President’s arm and the other was believed to have lodged itself in the spine. Garfield survived but was bedridden in the White House as he became increasingly ill from infection. The doctors were unable to locate the bullet and Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, devised a metal detector to locate the bullet. Unfortunately the metal-framed bed in which the President lay caused the detector to not function correctly. Such beds were so rare, they had no idea that it was the cause of the metal detector’s deviation.

President Garfield’s infection worsened which weakened his heart. He had constant fevers and severe pains. On September 9, he was moved to the New Jersey shore hoping that the fresh air would help aid the President in his recovery. Unfortunately, on September 19, President Garfield suffered either a massive heart attack or an aneurysm due to blood poisoning and pneumonia from infection. Garfield became the second American president to have been assassinated after President Lincoln. On the same day, Vice President Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st President of the United States.

Other interesting facts about the 20th President of the United States (taken from Wikipedia) :

• Garfield was a minister and an elder for the Church of Christ (Christian Church), making him the first—and to date, only—member of the clergy to serve as President. He is also claimed as a member of the Disciples of Christ, as the different branches did not split until the 20th century. Garfield preached his first sermon in Poestenkill, New York.
• Garfield is the only person in U.S. history to be a Representative, Senator-elect, and President-elect at the same time. To date, he is the only Representative to be directly elected President of the United States.
• In 1876, Garfield discovered a novel proof of the Pythagorean Theorem using a trapezoid while serving as a member of the House of Representatives.
• Garfield was the first ambidextrous president. It was said that one could ask him a question in English and he could simultaneously write the answer in Latin with one hand, and Ancient Greek with the other.
• Garfield was a descendant of Mayflower passenger John Billington through his son Francis, another Mayflower passenger. John Billington was convicted of murder at Plymouth Mass. 1630.

Read more about President James A. Garfield at:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Garfield

http://jamesagarfield.com/

http://www.answers.com/topic/james-garfield

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/presidents/jamesgarfield/

Video of the Moment : John Adams, Making Of (HBO)

As a follow-up to yesterday’s post commemorating the birthday of America’s 2nd First Lady, Abigail Adams, I am posting a 20 minute video on the making of the 2008 HBO television mini-series John Adams. I cannot praise enough this historically accurate television series.

Culture Spot : On This Day . . . 11 November – Happy Birthday Abigail Adams, 1st Second Lady & 2nd First Lady of the United States

On this day in 1744, Abigail Adams (née Smith) was born in town of Weymouth in the colony of Massachusetts. Of all the First Ladies of the United States, she is the one I most admire. She is most remembered thanks to her letters with her husband, John Adams, the first Vice President  and the second President of the United States. She was the mother of the sixth President of the United States, John Quincy Adams. She was the first Second Lady of the United States. When her husband John Adams succeeded George Washington as President of the United States, Abigail became the second First Lady and the first to live in the White House.

The letters written between Abigail and John Adams well document their marriage relationship and exposes one of the greatest love stories in American history! The letters shed light on their emotional attachment and their mutual intellectual respect.

Abigail’s father, was a minister in the Congregational Church who preached the importance of reason and morality. Her mother was from the Quincy family, a very influential political family in the Massachusetts Colony. Although she did not receive a formal education due to frail health, her mother taught her and her sisters to read and write. She was also well versed in English and French literature. Thanks to her open-mindedness and idea’s on women’s rights and government, Abigail would become one of the most erudite First Ladies in American history. She would also be one of the most influential and politically active First Ladies. Her political opponents referred to her as “Mrs. President.”

She was also the first First Lady to live in the White House. In 1800, near the end of his term, the President and the First Lady moved into the President’s House, as it was known at the time, while it was still under construction by slave labor, a practice that both she and her husband abhorred!

President Adams lost his bid for re-election in 1800 to then Vice President Thomas Jefferson. Upon Jefferson’s inauguration, the Adams retired back to their home in Quincy, Massachusetts. During her time back in Quincy she closely followed the political career of her son, John Quincy Adams, and renewed correspondence with Thomas Jefferson, their one-time close friend and later political enemy. Thanks to this renewed correspondence, Abigail rekindled the close friendship that the Adams had with Thomas Jefferson.

On October 28, 1818, Abigail Adams died rom typhoid fever and unfortunately never had the pleasure of seeing her son, John Quincy Adams, elected the 6th President of the United States. She was just shy of her 74th birthday. Her last words to her husband were, "Do not grieve, my friend, my dearest friend. I am ready to go. And John, it will not be long."

To learn more about this great American First Lady, go to:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abigail_Adams

http://www.whitehouse.gov/about/first-ladies/abigailadams

http://www.familytales.org/results.php?tla=aba

http://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog/ADAMYD.html

http://www.firstladies.org/biographies/firstladies.aspx?biography=2

Watch excerpts from the 2008 HBO miniseries “John Adams” with scenes depicting Abigail Adams played by Laura Linney and John Adams played by Paul Giamatti:

The 2008 HBO series was based on the Pulitzer Prize winning biography John Adams by David McCullough. I read this book and I highly recommend it and the miniseries!!

You can buy the book and the series in DVD or Blu ray at Amazon !

I also very highly recommend the documentary American Experience: John and Abigail Adams (2005)

Culture Spot : On This Day . . . 6 November - Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederate States of America

On this day in 1861, Jefferson Davis was elected President of the Confederate States of America. Here’s an extract taken from Wikipedia:

Jefferson Finis Davis (June 3, 1808 – December 6, 1889) was an American politician who served as President of the Confederate States of America for its entire history, 1861 to 1865, during the American Civil War.

A West Point graduate, Davis fought in the Mexican-American War as a colonel of a volunteer regiment, and was the United States Secretary of War under Franklin Pierce. Both before and after his time in the Pierce Administration, he served as a U.S. Senator from Mississippi. As a senator he argued against secession but believed each state was sovereign and had an unquestionable right to secede from the Union.

Davis resigned from the Senate in January 1861, after receiving word that Mississippi had seceded from the Union. The following month, he was provisionally appointed President of the Confederate States of America. He was elected to a six-year term that November. During his presidency, Davis was not able to find a strategy to defeat the more industrially developed Union.

After Davis was captured May 10, 1865, he was charged with treason, though not tried, and stripped of his eligibility to run for public office. This limitation was posthumously removed by order of Congress and President Jimmy Carter in 1978, 89 years after his death. While not disgraced, he was displaced in Southern affection after the war by its leading general, Robert E. Lee.

Culture Spot : School Days in America’s Past – Not Just the Little Red Schoolhouse

Throughout American history, school buildings came in a as wide a variety of styles as there were minds and materials to create them.

Short on resources but long on resourcefulness, parents in Scotts Bluff, Nebraska, constructed their first school from bales of straw. For two years in the late 1800’s, pupils recited lessons inside this grassy shelter while cattle on the outside nibbled it to oblivion. Temporary structures such as this were replaced or improved upon when the community prospered. The evolution of many a Kansas school was typical: they often began as simple dugouts, were replaced by sod shacks, and then by frame or stone structures.

Deciding where to build the school often sparked a lively debate. It needed to be within walking distance for most of the children, yet far enough from farms so that pranksters would not trample crops or harass animals. It should be built on land not suitable for cultivation and, if possible, be located near a road. Simple log or frame schools that lacked fixed foundations were sometimes set on skids and shifted about the countryside in response to changes in the population.

The schools were built from whatever materials were plentiful. Wood and stone were common in the East, sod was used on the prairies, and adobe in the Southwest. The prevalence of red brick schools in the Midwest has probably added to the myth of the “little red schoolhouse.” But, in fact, most schools were painted white. Octagonal schools – the brainchild of a phrenologist and amateur architect – were easy to heat and so were popular for a time in the Middle Atlantic states.

Traditionally, a one-room school was furnished with crude backless benches that were, over time, incised by idle whittlers with '”all sorts of images, some of which would make heathens blush.” There were no individual desks. Instead, a slanted shelf ran along three walls and served as a writing surface; a flat shelf below it held personal items. The windows were glazed with paper greased with lard for translucence and waterproofing. This fragile glazing was often broken, and in winter the openings were likely to be stuffed with hats to help keep out the cold.

Amenities were added as budgets permitted. Yards were fenced, more to keep wandering livestock out that to keep the children in. To ensure propriety, schools sometimes had separate entrances for boys and girls – an extravagant nicety in cases when the school itself was a single room. A more pressing matter was that of privies: some schools had none; others had only one. In the early 1990’s, school superintendents urged that there “be separate toilets for the sexes . . . far enough apart to avoid moral contagion.”

Standardization of buildings and facilities increased dramatically in the 20th century. Playgrounds were built and flagpoles sprang up. Additional rooms and second, or even third, stories were added. What one scholar observed about the one-room schoolhouse was no less true for theses later structures; from here a pupil’s world widened “outward from the common room . . . in an adventure of growing and learning.”

Taken from Reader’s Digest Discovering America’s Past – Customs, Legends, History & Lore of Our Great Nation.

Culture Spot : On This Day – 17 September

There are two important events in American history that took place on this day.

On this day in 1787, the US Constitution was signed and adopted by the Constitutional Convention in Philadelphia after a long, hot summer of intense negotiations among the various state representatives. On March 4, 1789 the government under the new Constitution began operations. September 17 is an American federal observance known as Constitution Day. The holiday was created in 2004 and mandated that all publically funded educational institutions provide educational programming on the history of the US Constitution.

The Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union (America’s first constitution) which had been drafted in 1777 and finally ratified in 1781 was the governing document since Independence but unfortunately, it was a very inefficient document. Under this document, Congress (there was only a legislative body and no president!) was powerless to enforce its decisions and was denied the power of taxation leaving the government and military short of funds. It also left Congress in a weakened position when it came to foreign policy and had no means to regulate commerce. Also, due to its inability to tax, Congress could not pay the debts it owed to countries like France and the Netherlands for their assistance in our struggle for independence from Britain.

In 1786, state representatives convened in Philadelphia to discuss changes to the Articles. However after much discussion and debate, it became clear that an entirely new constitution was need creating a federal system of government. Many states were completely against this idea fearing the loss of state sovereignty. After much debate, a document unlike any other governing document in the world had been born. A document guaranteeing a balance of power between state sovereignty and a central federal government. The wisdom of those delegates has left an enduring document and today the US Constitution is the shortest and oldest written constitution in the world, a document very much cherished by Americans.

In school, children memorize the preamble to the US Constitution which is the following:

“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, ensure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America.”

Here’s a funny video from the American sitcom, The Andy Griffith Show, where Deputy Barney Fife tries to recite the Preamble to the Constitution from memory! 

For those of you brave enough to read a good history book on how the US Constitution came into being, I very highly recommend the book The Summer of 1787: The Men Who Invented the Constitution by David O. Stewart (ISBN 978-0743286930)

This has become one of my favorite books in my library!!

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Also on this day in 1814, Francis Scott Key finished his poem “The Defence of Fort McHenry” which would become the words for the United States national anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner.”

The poem was written towards the end of the War of 1812 against the British. Key, along with American Colonel John Stuart Skinner, were guests aboard a British ship to discuss a prisoner exchange. However, the British were about to attack Baltimore and could not let Key and Skinner leave the ship before the attack since they knew the strength and position of the British ships. They could do nothing but helplessly witness the bombardment of Fort McHenry. In the morning, Key went out on deck to see if the fort had successfully resisted the attack. Through the smoke he saw that the American flag still waved over the fort! The Americans held!

This vision inspired Key to write a poem and he intended for the words to fit to the rhythm of John Stafford Smith’s song “To Anacreaon In Heaven,” a song from a gentlemen’s club! The melody with Key’s poem added became known as “The Star-Spangled Banner” and was widely popular throughout the United States. However, the song did not become the official anthem of the US until 1931 with a Congressional resolution signed by President Hoover. Before 1931, the United States never had an official anthem!

The flag that inspired Key can still be seen in the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C.

“The Defence of Fort McHenry” (The Star-Spangled Banner)

by Francis Scott Key

O! say can you see by the dawn's early light
What so proudly we hailed at the twilight's last gleaming?
Whose broad stripes and bright stars through the perilous fight,
O'er the ramparts we watched were so gallantly streaming?
And the rockets' red glare, the bombs bursting in air,
Gave proof through the night that our flag was still there.
O! say does that star-spangled banner yet wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave?

On the shore, dimly seen through the mists of the deep,
Where the foe's haughty host in dread silence reposes,
What is that which the breeze, o'er the towering steep,
As it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?
Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,
In full glory reflected now shines in the stream:
'Tis the star-spangled banner! Oh long may it wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

And where is that band who so vauntingly swore
That the havoc of war and the battle's confusion,
A home and a country should leave us no more!
Their blood has washed out their foul footsteps' pollution.
No refuge could save the hireling and slave
From the terror of flight, or the gloom of the grave:
And the star-spangled banner in triumph doth wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave.

O! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war's desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav'n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: 'In God is our trust.'
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O'er the land of the free and the home of the brave!

Culture Spot : School Days In America’s Past - At the Dame School

From the earliest colonial days into the 19th century, any respectable woman who needed a bit of an income could earn it by opening a dame school. Essentially day-care centers located in a woman’s own home, dame schools could be found in most large towns.

Corralled into the dame’s kitchen or parlor, young children received the rudiments of education. Classes were apt to be haphazard and teachers stern disciplinarians. Unruly children were often punished by a rap on the head with a thimble. Kindlier dames might provide a pillow in a corner where hard-working toddlers could rest their weary heads. When children actually got out of the school depended solely on the teacher’s abilities, and some teachers had little more training than their wards.

However much she knew, the dame’s job was to teach children their ABCs. Those not lucky enough to have primers to work with might draw letters in sand or teach the alphabet directly from the Bible. Lucy Laron, who attended Aunt Hannah’s school in 1830, later wrote: “I learned my letters in a few days, standing at Aunt Hannah’s knee while she pointed them out . . . with a pin, skipping over the ‘a b abs’ into words of one or two syllables, thence taking a flying leap into the New Testament.”

Between reading and perhaps singing songs with the dames as she spun* flax or baked bread, many children also learned to sew by working samplers. It was a skill that girls would use for the rest of their lives.

Surrounded by a houseful of lively children, a dame did not earn much for her efforts. A typical salary, if paid by the parents, was a few cents a week per child. If paid by the towns, there might be an arrangement such as one 18th-century teacher had for “£12 and diet, with use of a horse to visit her friends twice a year.”

While some of her pupils would be lucky enough to go on to a private academy, most of them never received any further formal education once they left her kitchen. For pennies a day, the dame, for nearly two centuries, helped keep literacy alive.

*irregular past form of ‘spin’

Taken from Reader’s Digest Discovering America’s Past – Customs, Legends, History & Lore of Our Great Nation.

Culture Spot : School Days in America’s Past – Schooling, Southern Style

In 1752 planter Theophilos Field placed a notice in the Virginia Gazette, soliciting the services of a qualified tutor. His needs were simple: “Any single man, capable of teaching Greek, Latin, and Mathematicks* . . .”

Field’s was one of many similar advertisements that appeared in southern newspapers throughout the 18^th century, for the gentry considered ignorance a disgrace. An uneducated member of the family was scorned as “Scandalous, . . .and a shame to his relations.”

But if education was important, it was also a problem. There were some “old-field schools” – community schools built on worn-out land – but they were relatively rare, and difficult for most children to get to. Since plantations were vast, families were isolated, and the burden of schooling fell directly on the parents.

Those who could afford it sent their sons to England for a proper education. Others found tutors who would live on the plantation and teach all of the children. The assignment could be challenging. When Philip Fithian accepted a position at Nomini Hall, a 70,000-acre Virginia estate, in 1773, he had only eight pupils. The children, however, ranged in age from 7 to 18 or older, and in experience from those just learning their letters to some who could read Latin.

Fithian was a graduate of Princeton, but American tutors were the exception. More often they were Scots or Englishmen who came to this country as indentured servants, pledging four years of service in exchange for ocean passage and the chance for a new life. Whether or not they were actually trained as teachers, those who had at least a smattering of Latin, literature, and the “the Mathematicks” made use of those skills when they got here.

While many indentured servants were treated as social inferiors, some, like John Harrower, who arrived in Virginia in 1774, were welcomed as gentlemen and had their own school buildings to work in. Horrower’s was “a neate* little House 20 foot Long and 12 foot wide” that doubled as his home. “I sleep in it by myself,” he wrote his wife back in Scotland, and “have a verry* fine feather bed under me.”

Despite his indenture, Horrower, like many other tutors in the South, was allowed to accept children from neighboring plantations as pupils. It was his one means of earning a bit of extra money to send home and help hasten the day when he and his family would be reunited.

*archaic spelling

Taken from Reader’s Digest Discovering America’s Past – Customs, Legends, History and Lore of Our Great Nation

Culture Spot : School Days in America’s Past – Defeating “Ye Ould* Deluder Satan”

Public education was a new idea in the New World, and our Puritan forebears turned it to the good use of guarding souls as well as improving minds.

Members of the General Court of Massachusetts had two goals in mind when, in 1647, they passed a law that created the first publicly supported schools in America. Their dual aims were to foil the efforts of “ye ould* deluder Satan, to keepe* men from the knowledge of ye Scriptures,” and to ensure that “learning . . . not be buried in ye grave of our fathers.”

The law required every settlement of more than 50 families to appoint a teacher to provide instruction in the Puritan version of the three R’s: reading, writing, and religion. Towns with more than 100 families had to set up a “grammar schoole*,” where emphasis was put on the education of boys of “hopeful promise,” who studied Latin, Greek, and literature in preparation for college. Girls, on the other hand, were rarely allowed above the primary level for fear that they might lose their wits if exposed to too much reading and thinking.

If a town lacked a schoolhouse, classes could be held in the meetinghouse. Teachers were paid a meager stipend, supplied with produce, and if not resident of the town, were “boarded around” with townsfolk. Families were also expected to provide wood for the school’s stove – a task that was often neglected until a child came home and complained of shivering through the day in the wintriest corner of the drafty room.

The daily routine was tied to the sun’s cycle. During most of the year the day began at 7:00 A.M. and ended sometime between 5:00 and 9:00 P.M. with a two-hour break. In winter months the schedule ran from 8:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M.

Primitive and simple though the system was, children who spent even two or three years in these schools did learn enough to become familiar with the laws of the land – and to keep the “ould* deluder” at bay.

*archaic spelling