Life In The Creek
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Nov. 10, 2008
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An American Thanksgiving Cermony
An American Thanksgiving Ceremony
By Theresa Camoriano
It has become very clear that we have failed to teach our children the
lessons of America's history. Below is a ceremony to help us pass the
lessons of our early history on to our children and grandchildren, and, I
hope, to future generations as well. This ceremony is intended to take
place before the traditional family Thanksgiving feast but may be used in
schools or other settings. I hope you will make this a part of your
family's tradition and will spread the word and encourage others to adopt it
too. You have my permission to reproduce this script and to modify it to
suit your needs. I would appreciate your letting me know what changes you
have made or otherwise sending me comments to improve the script for the
future. Please send your comments to Editor@....
In addition to following the script, you may want to have children act out
more of the parts, maybe walking hunched over to get onto the ship with the
low ceilings, or pretending to shoot deer and turkeys or to haul nets of
fish, and so forth, in order to keep them involved and interested in the
story.
The following supplies are needed:
1. A pan of cornbread cut into one-inch squares
2. Dried kernels of corn, divided into unequal numbers, into small
paper or cloth bags, one bag for each participant. Some bags should have
only one or two kernels, while others should have five, others ten, and so
forth. (Dried corn kernels may be obtained at a feed store, or popcorn may
be used.)
3. Some cut up vegetables for dipping, such as carrot sticks or celery
sticks, and two different dips - one vinegar and one salt water.
4. A whistle
5. A bell
6. Candles for the table
7. Pens for signing the Mayflower Compact
The leader lights the candles on the table and says:
We are gathering together today to celebrate the real
American Thanksgiving!
Participants gather around the table and begin following this script:
1st participant: Who were the Pilgrims who celebrated the first
Thanksgiving?
Next participant: The Pilgrims were mainly extremely religious
Christian families who had rejected the official religion of England and
decided to practice their own version of Christianity. That was against the
law, and many of the Pilgrims had been punished and even imprisoned for
their religious beliefs. Some members of their group even were killed.
Let's dip a vegetable stick into vinegar and eat it to remember the bitter
experiences of the Pilgrims in England.
Action: Everyone takes a vegetable stick, dips it into the vinegar, and eats
it.
Next participant: The Pilgrims decided to go America and
establish a new settlement where they could practice their religion in
peace. In August, 1620, they boarded two ships to begin their voyage. The
ships were called the Speedwell and the Mayflower. Unfortunately, they had
many problems. They spent more than one month trying to repair their ships
and to resolve disputes with the investors who were financing the trip. The
investors planned to make a profit from the furs and dried fish the Pilgrims
would send back to them.
Next Participant: Eventually, the Pilgrims decided that the
Speedwell was not fit for the trip, so some of the Pilgrims gave up and went
back home, while others piled into the Mayflower with their supplies. On
September 6, 1620, 102 pilgrims left Plymouth, England for America aboard
the Mayflower. They already were tired after having spent a month on the
ship. In the "tween decks", which is the part of the ship where they lived,
the ceiling was only five feet above the floor, so many of the adults, and
even some of the children, could not stand up straight there. It also was
dark and damp and smelly. They already had used up much of their food, but
still they hoped for a safe voyage and looked forward to a better life in
America. Action: The participant blows the whistle and calls, "All aboard
the Mayflower! Next stop America!"
Next participant: The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean to
America was very difficult. It took over two months from the time the
Pilgrims left Plymouth, England on September 6 until they saw land at Cape
Cod on November 9, 1620. Along the way, there were strong storms that
damaged the ship. A main beam broke. The Pilgrims repaired it, but still
the Mayflower leaked, so they were cold and damp and miserable and had
developed coughs and colds. But there also was some good news. A baby boy
was born on the trip, and his parents named him Oceanus.
Let's dip a vegetable stick into salt water and eat it to remember the tears
of the Pilgrims as they left their friends and family behind in Europe and
to remember the salty ocean water on which they sailed to America.
Action: Everyone takes a vegetable stick, dips it into the
salt water, and eats it.
Next participant: The Pilgrims had planned to land in the Hudson
Bay area, which was in the northern part of the Virginia territory, but
instead they landed in New England, which was farther north. Since there
was no official government or law that applied to them in New England, they
decided to create their own government by writing the Mayflower Compact,
which was signed by the men on behalf of themselves and their families
before they set foot on the land. They also elected their first Governor.
Please read the Mayflower Compact and add your own signature.
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN. We, whose names are underwritten, the Loyal
Subjects of our dread Sovereign Lord King James, by the Grace of God, of
Great Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c. Having
undertaken for the Glory of God, and Advancement of the Christian Faith, and
the Honour of our King and Country, a Voyage to plant the first Colony in
the northern Parts of Virginia; Do by these Presents, solemnly and mutually,
in the Presence of God and one another, covenant and combine ourselves
together into a civil Body Politick, for our better Ordering and
Preservation, and Furtherance of the Ends aforesaid: And by Virtue hereof do
enact, constitute, and frame, such just and equal Laws, Ordinances, Acts,
Constitutions, and Officers, from time to time, as shall be thought most
meet and convenient for the general Good of the Colony; unto which we
promise all due Submission and Obedience. IN WITNESS whereof we have
hereunto subscribed our names at Cape-Cod the eleventh of November, in the
Reign of our Sovereign Lord King James, of England, France, and Ireland, the
eighteenth, and of Scotland the fifty-fourth, Anno Domini; 1620.
Mr. John Carver Mr. William Bradford Mr Edward
Winslow Mr. William Brewster
Isaac Allerton Myles Standish John
Alden John Turner
Francis Eaton James Chilton John
Craxton John Billington
Joses Fletcher John Goodman Mr.
Samuel Fuller Mr. Christopher Martin
Mr. William Mullins Mr. William White Mr. Richard
Warren John Howland
Mr. Steven Hopkins Digery Priest Thomas
Williams Gilbert Winslow
Edmund Margesson Peter Brown Richard
Britteridge George Soule
Edward Tilly John Tilly
Francis Cooke Thomas Rogers
Thomas Tinker John Ridgdale Edward
Fuller Richard Clark
Richard Gardiner Mr. John Allerton Thomas
English Edward Doten
Edward Liester.
Add Your Signature
Below is a copy of the text of the Mayflower Compact that Governor Bradford
wrote in his diary. The original Mayflower Compact has been lost.
Next Participant: The Pilgrims continued to live in the cramped,
dark, and damp Mayflower as they sent out small groups of men to explore the
Cape Cod area. Their food supply was low. It was too late to plant any
crops, and the winter was very cold and difficult. Although they began
building shelters on land on Christmas day, and they were able to hunt wild
game during the winter, by the next spring, half of the Mayflower Pilgrims
had died. I will ring this bell five times, once for every ten people who
died. Action: Ring the bell five times.
Next Participant: The next spring (1621), they were able to
plant crops. The Indians taught them how to grow corn. They also planted
beans, squash, and other crops and hunted and fished. The Pilgrims had a
communal arrangement by which they all worked, and everything they produced
went into a common storehouse and was shared equally by everyone. Governor
Bradford wrote: They began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and
to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter.
Now open your bags and count out your kernels of corn to see
how much your Pilgrim produced in the first harvest. Each kernel of corn in
your bag represents a bushel basket full of corn.
Action: Each participant counts out his kernels of corn. The leader goes to
each person and asks how many bushels of corn that person produced. He then
takes the corn, saying, "Thank you for your (insert the number)
bushels of corn", and hands the person his equally small-sized piece of
cornbread, saying, "Here is your cornbread ration for today. We hope, if we
are careful, we will have enough food to last the winter."
Next Participant: No matter how much food a Pilgrim produced, he
received the same amount as everyone else. The Pilgrims were thankful to
God for the harvest, and they invited their Indian friends to a Thanksgiving
celebration. Let's eat our cornbread in memory of the Pilgrims' first
harvest.
Action: Everyone eats the small piece of cornbread.
Next Participant: Shortly after the harvest, another ship, the
Fortune, arrived with 37 passengers, which nearly doubled the size of the
colony. The Fortune did not bring food, so now they had to feed almost
twice as many people with the same small amount of food. They knew they
would be going hungry that winter. The Pilgrims loaded the Fortune with
beaver skins, sassafras, and oak boards, and sent them back to England to
help pay off their debt to the investors.
Next Participant: Unfortunately, the next year's harvest also
was not very good, so the winter of 1622 also was difficult. Governor
Bradford worried how they would be able to grow enough food to keep everyone
alive in the future. He found that the communal arrangement they were using
did not work very well. People were unhappy to receive the same amount of
food, regardless of how much they produced. It did not make them want to
work very hard. Governor Bradford wrote in his diary: For the young men,
that were most able and fit for labor and service, did repine that they
should spend their time and strength to work for other men's wives and
children without any recompense. The strong, or man of parts, had no more in
division of victuals and clothes than he that was weak and not able to do a
quarter the other could; this was thought injustice. The aged and graver men
to be ranked and equalized in labors and victuals, clothes etc., with the
meaner and younger sort, thought it some indignity and disrespect unto them.
And for men's wives to be commanded to do service for other men, as dressing
their meat, washing their clothes, etc., they deemed it a kind of slavery,
neither could many husbands well brook it. Upon the point all being to have
alike, and all to do alike, they thought themselves in the like condition,
and one as good as another; and so, if it did not cut off those relations
that God hath set amongst men, yet it did at least much diminish and take
off the mutual respects that should be preserved amongst them.
Next Participant: After two disappointing harvests, and three
winters of hunger, they finally decided to establish a private property
system, giving each family one acre of land per person on which to grow
food, and respecting each family's right to keep the fruits of its own
labor. This made everyone much happier and more productive.
Next Participant: Governor Bradford wrote in his diary: "So they
began to think how they might raise as much corn as they could, and obtain a
better crop than they had done, that they might not still thus languish in
misery. At length, after much debate of things, the Governor (with the
advice of the chiefest amongst them) gave way that they should set corn
every man for his own particular, and in that regard trust to themselves; in
all other things to go on in the general way as before. And so assigned to
every family a parcel of land, according to the proportion of their number,
for that end, only for present use. and ranged all boys and youth under some
family. This had very good success, for it made all hands very industrious,
so as much more corn was planted than otherwise would have been by any means
the Governor or any other could use, and saved him a great deal of trouble,
and gave far better content. The women now went willingly into the field,
and took their little ones with them to set corn; which before would allege
weakness and inability; whom to have compelled would have been thought great
tyranny and oppression. The experience that was had in this common course
and condition, tried sundry years and that amongst Godly and sober men, may
well evince the vanity of that conceit of Plato's and other ancients
applauded by some of later times, that the taking away of property and
bringing in community into a commonwealth would make them happy and
flourishing, as if they were wiser than God."
Next Participant: When the ship Anne arrived that summer (1623),
bringing 60 more people into the colony, there was no worry about having
enough food, and there continued to be plenty of food for everyone from that
time on. Now, let's rededicate ourselves to carrying on the dreams and
traditions of the Pilgrims by singing "America", and then let's have our own
Thanksgiving feast!
Action: Everyone sings:
My country 'tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing.
Land where my fathers died!
Land of the Pilgrim's pride!
From every mountain side,
Let freedom ring!
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About Me
My tidbits as homeschool my daughter and general "Life In The Creek".
I have 14 yrs. between my children. My 1st blessing, my adult son Z-4/89. My 2nd blessing, my daughter, M-12/02, I am homeschooling 2nd grade this year (2009-2010) and pray that God will grant my hearts desire to continue this journey of homeschooling as this marks my 4th year.. Yes, we started when she was 2.5 to 3 years old, that happens when you have an accelerated learner. |
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