HIST 100: Engineering The Past

Kyle Mitsunaga Thanksgiving

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Part 1:

  1. Out of these three articles “First Thanksgiving” or the first article in the list is the one that is closest to my childhood. The thing that made it close is just how it talks specifically about the Native Americans and then about the settlers. Just those backgrounds that we are taught then leading into the actual feast of Thanksgiving. It was the closest out of the three to my childhood understanding.
  2. The third article best represents the current understanding of Thanksgiving. It goes more in detail about the history and how it became a holiday. It also explains why the Pilgrims came to America.
  3. As I’ve gotten older I think my understanding has become a little more in detail about who was involved and why it happened. When I was younger I just know there were two groups of people. I never got caught up in all the details when I was young. Now that I’m older I have a much better understanding. As far as the celebration, personally it has become more just about family time. Where as a kid I just wanted to eat really fast and go play with whatever. Now it’s important for me to visit will all my family and spend some good time with them.

 

Part 2:

I found the last article about “the triumph of capitalism over collectivism” the most interesting because of the point it makes. “The real meaning of Thanksgiving, in other words, is the triumph of Capitalism over the failure of Collectivism in all its forms.” That is the very last line in the article and really just made me think hard about that for a little bit. It’s totally different way of thinking about it and is the big reason why I thought it was interesting. The great Thanksgiving hoax might be the one that I could have changed the way I thought about Thanksgiving. Just how it states that the real story started with the Pilgrims getting on the Mayflower to come to America. To me that and the rest of the article sound legit and something that would be able to change my understanding.

Starting with the first article Richard J. Maybury, he has written about investments, and has 22 books. His focus is on economics, history and law. Rush Limbaugh, in the second article to me is one that I didn’t take very seriously. The website just isn’t appealing to me personally and the story or play style of writing wasn’t my favorite. The third article has a saying on it “Soli Deo Gloria” this means glory to God alone. In the article also states parts of the Bible in it as well as a lot of socialism. The author of the last article is an economics professor at Loyola University. He seems to have a very good understanding of history etc. All in all after doing some research on the authors I wouldn’t say it changed my interpretations other than the fact that knowing some of their backgrounds in history and economics etc. I can see where they are coming from. I think after so many years of hearing mostly the same thing my understanding has stuck and would have to be something very strong to really change or influence my understanding.

 

Part 3:

I find the articles and the hearings in this section most interesting than in step 2. I think especially in the first article in this section it question us also in the third article. This for me really goes hand in hand with the second point. Because it questions us it make it more interesting to read and also more compelling because you almost get a sense that we’ve been told wrong our whole lives. All in all I enjoyed this section of reads more then the second section. Kate Zernike is a national correspondent for the New York Times, so mostly covers education and criminal justice. She also has a couple books.

The second article, which was the hearing, was interesting. It was published in 2003, but then updated in 2010 both right around Thanksgiving. The website is credible and was pretty interesting to listen to. The third one was another one I really liked out of these. Again the title was a question to us, which for me is more compelling. It is on education world, which seems credible; I couldn’t find an author but enjoyed the read. The fourth article for me seemed to be the most credible because of the website and the Pilgrim Hall Museum. Lastly, James Wamsutta was an Indian who was invited to speak in Plymouth Rock but then not allowed to give the speech. Coming from an Indian point of view I thought it was pretty cool to read. After knowing more about the authors or the websites the one that strikes out to me in the last one. Being an Indian and writing a speech and reading it seems very real to me and would make be more understanding on his points over the other reads in this section. Like I said this section was much more interesting.

 

Part4:

As a historian you must have an open mind on what the first Thanksgiving may have been. Maybe you hear things that could be true and other ideas that are false, but having that open mind could make you have a better understanding on where they are coming from. To make sure that their interpretation is accurate one would have to be cautious of where their sources are coming from. I suggest doing some research on the authors or websites like we did earlier in this assignment. I would include some intense research on the first Thanksgiving from reliable sources. Once again the more information you can get on the event the better your interpretation will be about it.

An average 30 year old could see these articles in a different way such as, news that they already knew or a bunch of junk that is on the Internet. Honestly I think it depends on the person that is reading these articles and what their background is like. One may interpret the same article differently than another person just depending on their background and how they were taught Thanksgiving. For one of these to be compelling I do think it would have to be loaded with facts and more information that an average person may know about the first Thanksgiving. Most of us have a pretty decent understanding of it to say the least; therefore reading an article that has a bunch of facts and information about this event would be most compelling.

I would look up anything that came from a pilgrim or Native American background for a primary source. Just knowing that they might have some more in depth information about the event would make me feel confident. Also they would be a reliable source to take facts from. If I couldn’t find anything with that background I would go with an educational website that peer reviewed.

A reliable secondary source would include an interview of a historian or anyone that has a history background. Knowing that there may be some uncertainty, that is were I would go to get a reliable secondary source.

First Thanksgiving

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This is an interesting blog post because as I read the instructions I tried to dig deep and remember what I was taught in elementary school about the First Thanksgiving. To be honest, I don’t remember much. I find it sad that I don’t really know that much about the true meaning of this beloved holiday! The real reason we celebrate Thanksgiving has definitely gotten lost in the commercialization of it.

I remember talking about the pilgrims and Native Americans coming together and celebrating a successful harvest by creating a large feast. I remember there being corn, bread, pumpkins/gourds and turkey. I can picture a drawing of Native Americans in the loin cloths and face paint and the pilgrims in their white and black clothing (and weird hats) standing around a picnic-like table.

Around Thanksgiving we would make the hand turkeys to take home to our parents. Sometimes we would used dried corn kernels and glue them to a piece of paper. I remember the term friendship and kinship being used to describe the relationship between the pilgrims and Native Americans.

The First Thanksgiving

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To be honest I have a horrible memory and have been out of elementary school for so loooong! I kid- I am 30 years old but it does seem like forever ago and now have children in Jr. High. Lets see if I think back on just growing up in the U.S and what I can actually remember about what was taught about the first Thanksgiving.

From the little bit I can remember (and to be honest some quick internet research to refresh my memory) the first Thanksgiving was a gathering of the Native Americans and Pilgrims to share a bountiful harvest. The pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Rock the year prior had a hard time with their crops and lives were lost. The Native Americans helped the pilgrims with their crops; this was thought to be the reason they survived. Due to this they had a feast to celebrate their bountiful harvest.

I do not remember specifically but since I have children who have recently completed elementary school I will guess that we colored, drew or assembled a Turkey, Native American, Pilgrim, the Mayflower, and the food scenes.