RAHALL REPORT: Much Has Changed Since the First Thanksgiving
From the desk of U.S. Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV)Representing West Virginia's 3rd District
Washington, DC (HNN) -- It has been more than 375 years since the first Thanksgiving, when the colonists and those native to our land sat down together to celebrate the year's bountiful harvest with a magnificent three-day feast and festival.
During that inaugural celebration, Governor William Bradford sent four men on a hunting trip for wild ducks and geese. These four men returned with the meat for the meal, which was then slow-cooked over hot coals by the women of the settlement.
Today more than 45 million turkeys are cooked and eaten in the U.S. at Thanksgiving. Most of them are purchased at grocery stores- with no hunting or plucking required. Some of them even come pre-cooked!
During the first Thanksgiving, there was no supply of flour, so there was no bread or pastries of any kind. Boiled pumpkin, considered a treat, was served devoid of cinnamon, sugar or any other sweet spice.
Today, according to the American Pie Council, approximately 70 million pies are sold in grocery stores each year in preparation for Thanksgiving dinners. Of the pie sold, almost 30 percent are pumpkin.
During that first Thanksgiving, and for many Thanksgivings after that, a full meal was considered a commodity, rather than commonplace. The land was unfamiliar, the weather often brutal and our forefathers spent centuries learning how to properly till and tame the land.
Today, agriculture plays an invaluable role in keeping our economy strong, contributing around $100 billion annually to our Nation's economy in recent years. And what's more, our bountiful harvests help feed the world.
Yes, much has changed since that first Thanksgiving. But sadly, the one thing that should never waver often gets lost in our age of prosperity. Ironically, we often forget, in times of so much to give thanks for our rise from so little.
Abraham Lincoln perhaps best defined this true meaning in his Thanksgiving Proclamation of 1863, which made Thanksgiving an official holiday.
Said Lincoln, "No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and voice by the whole American People."
This Thanksgiving, as we sit down together with our families to enjoy a meal with all the trimmings, let's remember the meaning behind the words of President Lincoln- the same meaning that was alive and well so many years ago.
Let's cherish our freedom under which we can freely worship God and thank him for the countless blessings that he has bestowed upon our Nation this year and in all the years since that first Thanksgiving, for this is Thanksgiving's true meaning.
Also on this Thanksgiving, let us give thanks for the brave men and women who fight to protect our freedom to worship, and so many other freedoms that we enjoy today.
Unfortunately, for many families in West Virginia, there will still be an empty seat at the table again this year.
I join these families and families across America in prayer for the safe and swift return of ALL of our soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world.
May God be with these families, our soldiers and all West Virginians on this Thanksgiving and always. My family and I wish each of you a blessed holiday.