The Origins of Thanksgiving by ADRIAN MORGAN The story of
Thanksgiving is one that involves many of the great things that
are generally associated with America – but it has become
infused with myth. The Pilgrim Fathers are sometimes portrayed
as “Puritans” which they were not. In many ways the Pilgrims
were free thinkers. Several who had made the journey from
Plymouth had earlier been living as exiles in the Netherlands.
The original Pilgrims belonged to the “English Dissenters” a
religious group who wanted to worship God in their own way,
without belonging to the hierarchical state church. At that
time, they had suffered persecutions for not attending official
“Anglican” church services. Genuine Puritans obliged the
government of King James I, and attended Church of England
services. Anyone who did not attend these official Sunday
services was fined. Two of the leaders of the English Dissenters
had been executed for “sedition,” and these executions hastened
the desire of the Pilgrims to leave England. The Ne