L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 2020 www.italoamericano.org 14 L'Italo-Americano LA VITA ITALIANA TRADITIONS HISTORY CULTURE D ear Readers, Thanksgiv- ing Day is an annual festival in the U.S. celebrated the last Thursday in November, since it was so fixed by Pres. Lin- coln in 1864. The custom dated from the thanksgiving day set aside by the Mayflower Pilgrims after their first harvest in 1621, and was later adopted by the var- ious colonies and States.Thanksgiving has be- come an established Ameri- can custom, although the de- votional observance of early days has given way largely to sports, recreation, family re- unions and feasting; roast turkey and cranberry sauce being traditionally associated with the thanksgiving dinner. *** The Pilgrims arrived at P l y m o u t h , M a s s a c h u s e t t s o n t h e M a y f l o w e r , i n N o v e m b e r 1 6 2 0 a n d l i f e h a s n e v e r been the same for America's Indigenous People. T h i s y e a r w e c e l e b r a t e 400 years since the landing o f t h e M a y f l o w e r i n Colonial America. On both sides of the Atlantic, cele- brations were planned for t h i s m o n u m e n t a l e v e n t b e f o r e c a n c e l l a t i o n s a s a result of the pandemic. The Mayflower passen- gers originated as a sepa- ratist movement from the Church of England. They left in 1608 for Holland, where religious freedoms were off- set by hardship and dissatis- faction. I n 1 6 2 0 , s o m e o f t h e g r o u p s e t o u t a c r o s s t h e Atlantic to found a colony in North America. A f t e r 1 0 w e e k s a t s e a , they landed several hundred miles north of their Virginia destination. Of the 102 pas- sengers and 30 crew mem- bers, half died in the first winter. *** To refresh your memory and mine I will share with you a few excerpts from an old school book "The Story of America." The first Thanksgiving story took place in what is n o w P l y m o u t h , Massachusetts, a year after the Pilgrims arrived there in 1620. *** T h e l a n d i n g o f t h e P i l g r i m s . O n a r a w December day in 1620, when the ground was covered with snow, a small ship anchored in Plymouth Bay, far to the north of their Virginia desti- nation. The Mayflower was crowded with one hundred and two men, women and children. We call these travelers Pilgrims because they trav- eled so far to practice their r e l i g i o n . I n E n g l a n d , t h e king insisted that everyone must go to the same kind of c h u r c h , t h e E n g l i s h Episcopal Church; but the P i l g r i m s d i d n o t w a n t t o belong to that church. Their own church service was very simple and they liked it bet- ter. The Pilgrims did not come directly to America when they left England. They went first to Holland, but they were not happy there. They worked from morning until night and then often did not have enough money to buy food for their families. But what made them even more unhappy was the fact that they soon saw that their children were forgetting how to speak the English lan - guage. They spoke Dutch. Pilgrims decided to move t o A m e r i c a , w h e r e t h e y c o u l d h a v e t h e k i n d o f church they wanted and still remain English. They borrowed enough money to hire a ship and buy food for the voyage. With m e m b e r s o f t h e i r c h u r c h who joined them in England, t h e y s e t s a i l i n t h e Mayflower and landed on t h e r o c k y c o a s t o f N e w England, as the New World was called by the English people. The people of the English t o w n o f P l y m o u t h , f r o m which they had last set sail, w e r e v e r y k i n d t o t h e m . Therefore the Pilgrims called their new home Plymouth. It was a bad time to begin a s e t t l e m e n t . T h e P i l g r i m s al most fr oze befor e they could build cabins to live in. Nearly a year would have to go by before they could raise grain and vegetables, and they knew that many a night they must go to bed hungry. It was indeed a terrible winter for the poor Pilgrims. By spring, half of them were dead, and those who were Advancing our Legacy: Italian Community Services CASA FUGAZI If you know of any senior of Italian descent in San Francisco needing assistance, please contact: ItalianCS.org | (415) 362-6423 | info@italiancs.com Italian Community Services continues to assist Bay Area Italian-American seniors and their families navigate and manage the resources needed to live healthy, independent and productive lives. Since Shelter-in-Place began in San Francisco, Italian Community Services has delivered over 240 meals, over 900 care packages and made over 2000 phone wellness checks for our seniors. still alive were so weak from s i c k n e s s a n d h u n g e r t h a t t h e y c o u l d h a r d l y c r e e p around. One day an Indian walked i n t o t h e c a m p a n d c a l l e d o u t : " W e l c o m e , E n g l i s h m e n ! " H e h a d learned a little English from f i s h e r m e n a l o n g t h e Massachusetts shore. The Pilgrims understood him to say that the Indians who had owned the land they were on had all died, and that they might use it. The Indian's name was Samoset. A few days later Samoset r e t u r n e d w i t h a n o t h e r I n d i a n , n a m e d S q u a n t o . T h i s I n d i a n c o u l d s p e a k English very well. He told the Pilgrims that his chief wished to live in friendship with them and would sell them corn. Squanto's people sold the Pilgrims corn and meat and t a u g h t t h e m h o w t o h u n t and trap game. They gave t h e P i l g r i m s i n Massachusetts the same sort o f h e l p t h a t P o c a h o n t a s father gave the Jamestown settlers in Virginia. *** T h e f i r s t T h a n k s g i v i n g . W h e n spring came, the worst of the t r o u b l e s w e r e o v e r . T h e Pilgrims raised good crops, and, when fall came around, their barns were full of corn, pumpkins, and beans. So t h e y s e t a s i d e a d a y o f thanksgiving to give thanks to God for his blessings. And down to this day, Americans have followed the example of the Pilgrims in giving a day once a year to thanksgiving… . T e n y e a r s a f t e r t h e Pilgrims came to Plymouth, other Englishmen settled in Boston and spread to other towns nearby. Some began t o b u i l d c a b i n s i n Cambridge, where Harvard University now is. Others built villages at Watertown, C h a r l e s t o w n , a n d elsewhere. Like the Pilgrims, these settlers left England because of their religion. The voyage across the ocean. Today a steamship as long as two city blocks can c r o s s t h e o c e a n f r o m England to Boston in five days...

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