On this day, November 23, in 1637

On this day, November 23, is Thanksgiving, and because we've all heard the happy Pilgrim and Indian story, I thought it would be appropriate to share a less heard tale… the true story of Thanksgiving. Most Americans today believe that Thanksgiving celebrates a harvest, but the real legacy of the Pilgrim fathers includes treachery and terror as well. In 1637 near present day Groton, Connecticut, over 700 men, women and children of the Pequot Tribe had gathered for their annual Green Corn Festival which is our Thanksgiving celebration. In the predawn hours the sleeping Indians were surrounded by English and Dutch mercenaries who shot or clubbed them to death while the terrified women and children who huddled inside the longhouse were burned alive. The next day the governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony declared "A Day Of Thanksgiving" because 700 unarmed men, women and children had been murdered. Even the friendly Wampanoag did not escape the madness. The killings became more and more frenzied, with days of thanksgiving feasts being held after each successful massacre. George Washington finally suggested that only one day of Thanksgiving per year be set aside, and Abraham Lincoln later decreed Thanksgiving Day to be a legal national holiday during the Civil War. If this disturbing account interests you at all, I encourage you to do a little of your own research. Don't Stop At The First Thing You Hear.