The History of Thanksgiving

Dr. David Silverman, an expert on indigenous peoples of America and professor of history at George Washington University, visited Upper School assembly to discuss the story behind  Thanksgiving. 

Silverman is the author of This Land Is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled History of Thanksgiving. At the assembly, he broke down how the myth of Thanksgiving — one where an unidentified group of friendly Indians teach pilgrims the ways of the new land, in a spirit of generosity and good fellowship, and sit down to a feast before disappearing from the narrative — came to be.

His story began with the Wampanoag welcoming the pilgrims to Plymouth for a very specific purpose: they sought a military alliance.  With the Wampanoag population having been weakened by illness in the previous year, Wampanoag Chief Massasoit recognized the benefits of a mutually supportive relationship. In exchange for giving the English people sustenance and guidance on how to farm and hunt on the land, the Wampanoag received protection from the well-armed English.

Silverman introduced primary sources from the earliest records of American colonies to draw attention to the fact that while settlers at Plymouth and Wampanoag did share a meal, it was not a momentous occasion. They likely shared many meals during decades of peace time simply as part of their allied coexistences.

Over time, as the pilgrims gained knowledge and strength and the English population in the region steadily increased, tensions began to grow. Pilgrims began to apply their own laws to Wampanoag people, imprisoning and suing those whom they viewed as breaking English law — with increasing power imbalances recorded in journals and historical accounts from both sides.  Professor Silverman explained that a differing interpretation of land rights was a source of much of the tension, with the Wampanoag understanding their grant of land to be more of a temporary license to use the land, not a permanent transfer, and the English asserting that they had bought permanent rights to own and occupy land. 

Following Chief Massasoit’s death in 1661, it appeared that a conflict was on the horizon. Over the next ten years, more skirmishes and inflammatory incidents occurred. In a final effort, Chief Massasoit’s second son, Metacomet (who later adopted the name King Philip), approached English leaders to inform them of his intention to declare war against them — which Silverman noted was an unprecedented step that indicated a genuine interest by the Wampanoag to express their disappointment in the rapid decline in relations. The colonists replied that this would amount to pure destruction of the Wampanoags, given the English’s advanced weaponry and improved understanding of the terrain. The Wampanoag replied that if that were to be the case, the colonists should show the same grace and mercy that they were shown upon their arrival. That proposition would be a non-starter.

The warning proved prescient, as the bloody conflict known as King Philip’s War ultimately led to the complete conquest of the Wampanoag and allied tribes. The English conquest included brutal killings, including beheading Chief Massasoit’s son, placing his head on a pike, and displaying it outside the gates of Plymouth for decades, and selling into slavery other Indians who had surrendered

In a lively Q&A session, one faculty member asked when the federal Thanksgiving holiday introduced by President Lincoln became synonymous with the Pilgrims at Plymouth narrative of Thanksgiving.  Dr. Silverman was able to trace the origins to an academic paper which referenced a Plymouth primary source about a harvest feast and, in an influential footnote, dubbed it as “the first Thanksgiving.”   

Dr. Silverman spoke at assembly in response to an invitation from the Upper School Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion team during Native American Heritage Month (November).  In addition to focusing on the Wampanoag interactions with the English settlers in the seventeenth century, Dr. Silverman discussed the twentieth-century work of Wampanoag tribe member Wamsutta Frank James, who worked to shed light on the historical Wampanoags at Plymouth and was the first to protest in Plymouth on the federal Thanksgiving holiday each year and proclaim it as a National Day of Mourning for native peoples. As Dr. Silverman explained, he sought to provide more nuanced context to upcoming Thanksgiving celebrations and shine light on accurate historical accounts rooted in primary source documents, while also encouraging students to continue to celebrate their family gatherings, community, and spirit of gratitude during the holiday.