THANKSGIVING ? L’impérialisme Américain

Description of « The First Thanksgiving » and explaining of Thanksgiving

Today’s Americans celebrate Thanksgiving every year, as they think it represents solidarity and humanism, but is this holiday really what it seems to be by the first look. Well, I will cover this topic right now, given that Thanksgiving has a history stained by inequality.
To begin, we have to address this oil on canvas that represents the first Thanksgiving that took place in November of 1621. But before reviewing this piece of art any further we have to tackle a few key details to understand the event’s context. Why did they invite “savages” to come and share food ?
To understand the matter, we have to go a little back in time: the year of the lord 1620. At this time, the ruler of England is James I/VI. Our story base is a religious conflict, a pretty common at the time. However, it is not for the same issues. Usually, religious conflicts are caused by the ruler’s non-lenience towards other religious branches. This time, the disagreement is not caused by that but rather the opposite. Ever since Henry VIII, England has broken apart for the mainland’s religion to form a new one: Anglicanism. Ever since this schism, they have enforced their beliefs and brought oppression upon other believers. That was until James I who was somewhat lenient towards other ways of practicing religion. Unfortunately, that decision didn’t please extremely protestant people called puritans who couldn’t bear his way of handling decisions and would try to call for a change in leadership or a better approach but the main government would refuse and persecute them altogether. They would finally have enough and flee to the Netherlands. However, after only a few years they realized their culture was slowly fading away within their descendants as they choose rather be oppressed in England than than just watch their heritage fade away.

However, neither these available options would be viable for this tiny community. So they will look west. No, not Ireland, even more west. There was a brand new continent full of fertile land that definitely didn’t belong to anybody at all except few tribes of “savages”. And the English colony of Jamestown, just installed near a creek in modern day Virginia. It was a perfect location insofar as they would still be under the rule of James I so they wouldn’t defy “God’s authority” but they shall practice the religion their own way. Moreover, English culture would still be present and couldn’t be replaced by another one as this colony was English, after all. So, approximately forty of them would try to flee to Jamestown via boat. But they hadn’t the monetary assets at all. So they were obligated to add to their cruse over 60 wealthy people but the main problem is that most of them were thieves and scammers who put up most of the funds which didn’t really please the pilgrims as they thought god would not be fond of using stolen money, even if they didn’t meant to do this but their started their journey anyway.

The crossing of the Atlantic on this boat, the Mayflower, who was supposed to be a merchandise ship and not a civilian convoy at all, demanded huge organization and collaboration, even if both sides did not agree on some ethical dilemmas.
This adventure, who should have last only multiple weeks, turned into multiple months as the provisions were not enough for the whole crew and had to only drink beer and eat biscuits and the crew got greatly reduced by scorbut. This illness was caused by malnutrition and starvation.
They were almost there, but suddenly, a thunderstorm formed between them and their destination and if they tried to go around it, they would surely all suffer form horrible conditions. There was a decision to take: they couldn’t access the Jamestown colony and decided to install in Cape Cod and sign the Mayflower compact that would serve as the legislation in the new colony, where they decided they would still be under English rule but act as an autonomous entity and appointed William Bradford as the regent of the Plymouth colony. They landed there and started building houses and common buildings. Then, winter came, a harsh, a devastating one like they had never experienced before. Half the people in this colony were killed from starvation and freezing coldness even though they desperately looted and destroyed native tombs. At the end of this rigorous winter, they were only 50 left and desperately tried to grow crops, to no avail.

On another hand, their neighboring tribe, the Wampanoag, things were also not going so well: they got absolutely demolished multiple times by their rivals as they had superior equipment and more manpower. Their ruler, Massasoit, understood this could not last any longer, so he took a brutal change in policy. Even though the English had destroyed their crops. They forgave them and started to build close ties with the new settlers. The settlers had muskets and firepower to give them and assure their protection, meanwhile the tribe could give them the knowledge of growing crops in those new lands, so their alliance was beneficial to both of them. The Wampanoag sent one of theirs, a man named Squanto, who know how to speak English when he frequented Englishmen the year before in Jamestown. He told them how to grow crops and to thank them, they invited them to come eat and enjoy with them, all sit on a huge table made of wood, eating the new crops like squash and other vegetables. They exchanged vocabulary, jokes in what was supposed to be like a harvest festival.

Now that I explained the context behind this odd meeting between two different cultures clashing and a huge language barrier, I think it is appropriate to start depicting this piece of art.
In the foreground, There are many Natives sitting on the ground being given food on the soil by the settlers whereas the settlers are sitting on a table with their armor on which is clearly wrong given that they must not wear their armor in front of their allies as it signifies distrust. We can clearly see this depiction is wrong given that the natives never would have sat on the ground with would be a sign of inferiority and maybe a sign of weakness with regard to the natives. Moreover, the Wampanoag’s traditional wearing did not include feathers like almost every depiction of Natives and indigenous tribes among American art and cinematography. In the background, we can see natives walking towards what seems to be the settlement and chatting together. We can also see multiple trees and the Ocean or perhaps a bay.

With that out of the way, we can now bar upon how did a harvest celebration turned into a national holiday and a sign of American pride and history? Well, we are about to find out!

After those events, Thanksgiving would not be a really heard of thing as the relation between the natives and the settlers would quickly fade away and when the tension boiled over, the English brought upon the natives over 10 years of brutal fighting in which the English decimated and exterminated them until their total disappearance.
The first Thanksgiving ordered by the governor was held in Charlestown in 1671 but it was just a common harvest festival among others. That tendency would last until the independence of the United States where presidents would decide to organize Thanksgiving multiple years but it was regularly scheduled each year. It was Abraham Lincoln’s presidency that marked the officialization of Thanksgiving as an official holiday each year.
The main point of this description is that it was realized in 1915 by an artist who had not any historical proof and that this depiction of the first Thanksgiving is a romanticized version made symbolically to show the nation’s history and pride and it is not at all historically accurate.

Who can truly say they know the real story behind the first Thanksgiving? Well obviously you don’t, or you would not be here. To begin, I need to describe the oil on canvas of Jean Leon Gerome Ferris to you. This oil on canvas  was painted in 1915 by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in the USA, and now this oil on canvas is in a private collection.

In the foreground, as you can see there are American Natives, the Wampanoag. They are sitting on the ground and a women is giving food to the Wampanoag. This oil on canvas was created in the 1915 but the scene actually took place in 1621. So the scene depicted here is a romanticized version and not historically accurate. The clothing worn by the Pilgrims is incorrect, the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground.

Also you can see a dog near the American Natives, we could think that Jean Léon Gérôme Ferris wanted to show the Wampanoags were on the same level as a dog. To my opinion it is horrible to compare a man with a dog, moreover, the Americans Natives are represented as savages.

Maybe you want to know the story behind this event. Well back in 1620, when the Pilgrims arrived in America, they were unprepared and had no food. They stole corn from Native American graves and storehouses. Half of them died during their first year, given that the Pilgrims did not know how to farm in winter and diseases were killing many people. King Massasoit (one of the kings of the Native Americans) understood an alliance with the Pilgrims could make them stronger, they were very weak and hated by their rival tribe the Narragansett, so Massasoit asked Squanto (an English-speaking Native American) to help them farm their land and grow new corps. On the day of the harvest festival, the Wampanoag hunted deer meat and joined the festivities.

In the middle of the painting, there are people, I am sure they are Pilgrims because they are represented upper than the Natives, they are around a table, maybe they are preparing food to share with the Natives. I suppose the pilgrims are sharing the food that the Natives actually taught them to grow. Here lies the irony. There is also a chair, perhaps the Pilgrims made it in America, so I suppose there is a carpenter among them. Behind the Pilgrims there is a house, maybe the Natives are asking why their houses do not look like theirs. I also could see someone with an armor, but from what I could remember, the Pilgrims didn’t wear armor, so I guess, the artist was keen to show the Pilgrims stronger than they really were.

In the background, the sea is visible, perhaps the artist wanted to show where the pilgrims came from. A wisp of smoke can be seen, perhaps Jean-Léon Gerome Ferris meant to say: « the pilgrims will not return to their home », if I were Jean-Léon Gerome Ferris, I would have depicted a boat sailing away to show that the pilgrims who settled in America had no intention to ever going back.

You might wonder why for many Natives, this holiday invokes a legacy of racism, violence, genocide, and mistreatment. It is because  by 1637, the Pilgrims started a decade-long war with their Native American neighbours. Ultimately, the colonists massacred the local tribes, including the Wampanoag, so now Native people begin to gather on the holiday to hold a day of mourning instead, a tradition know as Unthanksgiving Day.

Do you know the real story of the first Thanksgiving?
In 2026, for many people, Thanksgiving means sitting at table, eating a turkey and sharing a family deal. But before, Thanksgiving had a different meaning. Originally, it was a time to say thank you, especially for the food and the help received.
This painting, intitled The First Thanksgiving, was painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1915. The scene depicted here is a romanticized version and not historically accurate. It shows an idealised vision of the First Thanksgiving between the settlers and the Native Americans.

In the foreground, we see Native Americans sitting on the ground. They share food with each other and seem focussed on this moment of sharing. Some hold out dishes, others hold food in their hands, as if they were paying attention to everyone. We feel in their gestures a mixture of respect and solidarity. The scene gives an impression of calm, and shows the importance of community and generosity in their culture. Behind this quiet image lies a more complex story. These meetings were not only moments of friendship: they were also linked to survival, exchanges and tensions between peoples. The painting therefore shows a symbolic moment, which reflects both the sharing and the challenges of this era.

In the background, we can see a large group of people standing close together. Some of them are Pilgrims, wearing dark clothes, long coats and hats, which were common in Europe at that time. Others are Native Americans, dressed in traditional clothing. They seem calm and attentive, as if they are obsessing the meal or waiting for their turn to eat.
Overall, the background gives the impression of order and peace, and it reinforces the idea of cooperation between the two groups, even if this image presents and idealized version of the historical event.

They cross the Atlantic Sea, which is long and difficult to navigate. Many get sick during the trip, but they finally arrive in Plymouth, on the east coast of North America. The first winter is very hard and many settlers die. In 1621, after a good harvest, the settlers shared a meal with the Wampanoag Native Americans. This meal becomes the first Thanksgiving. In the background, we see people far behind the meal. They are standing, near the trees and foliage. We mainly distinguish a woman, surely a mother, and other people on the left. They are less visible and less detailed, which shows that there are far away and that there are many people around this meal. Behind them, we can image the sea in the distance, reminiscent of the long journey of the settlers from England.

To conclude, this painting shows an idealized vison of the first Thanksgiving. He highlights the idea of sharing and peace between settlers and Native Americans, even if the historical reality was more complex. This work therefore seeks above all to convey a positive message rather than to shows the exact truth.

You think you know the origins of Thanksgiving? Well, think again. Today, wer are going to talk about the first Thanksgiving.

First, we will describe this document. The nature of this document is an oil on canvas by Jean-Leon Gérôme Ferris, who is an famous American painter. He is famous because he painted many scenes of American history. It was painted in 1915 and it is now in a private collection in the USA. Moreover, it is entitled “The First Thanksgiving”.

Indeed, it deals with the first Thanksgiving, which took place in 1621, whereas it was painted in 1915. Actually, historians say: “The scene depicted here is a romanticized version and is not historically accurate.” Indeed, it is obvious that it is an idealized version because Jean-Leon Gérôme Ferris was not present at the first Thanksgiving: he was born in 1863, in the 19th century, whereas the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, in the 17th century. Indeed, there are almost 250 years of difference, that is, about two centuries.
I am not sure, but I believe that his great-grandfather or his great-great-grandfather was present at the first Thanksgiving. I guess it is possible because Jean-Leon Gérôme Ferris was born in Philadelphia, in Pennsylvania, near New Jersey, while the first Thanksgiving took place in Massachusetts, which is not very far.

Moving on to the oil on canvas, from what I gathered, we can see on the right settlers who are talking around a massive wooden table. I guess they did not have such furniture at the first Thanksgiving, or they could not transport it on the ships. It is weird because the Mayflower was not a big boat and there were many pilgrims in the lower deck.
Moreover, next to this table, we can see a luxury chair with carved details on the back and on the sides. Like the table, how could they transport it on the Mayflower? I guess they could not build this chair in America because they did not have precise tools to carve it. These two elements show that it is a romanticized representation.

In the middle, we can see an English woman, so a pilgrim or a stranger, who gives food to the natives. I cannot really tell, but I suppose the food is pancakes on a wooden plate. From our point of view, we have the impression that it is the natives who are hungry and who have not eaten for a very long time, and that it is the English who help the natives by giving food and teaching them how to grow plants, though in reality it is the opposite.

Indeed, it was not the English who helped the natives; it was the natives who helped the English by giving them food and teaching them how to grow plants, because the English even stole food from Native graves. However, this is not represented in the oil on canvas because it would be negative, whereas in the painting the English are shown as heroes for the Natives.

Now, moving on to the representation of the natives, because it is important. Actually, their representation is very stereotyped. Indeed, all natives wear feathers. I am not sure, but I guess the leader of the tribe is the one with the longest and most impressive feathers, and he is the one who takes a pancake. Moreover, they are sitting on animal skins, and from what I gathered, their clothes are made of animal skins.
Obviously, this representation is false because, in reality, they did not all wear feathers. I believe they used body paint, both women and men, with earth or colored powder. In addition, they are placed at the same level as the dog, so they are treated like animals. Perhaps it is because they are compared to savages.

My last remark is that, in my view, the right side, where the English are, is brighter than the left side, where the natives are. I guess it is a choice by Jean-Leon Gérôme Ferris to say, through this oil on canvas, that the English are civilized and protected by God, whereas the natives are not civilized, are seen as savages, and do not have God’s protection. This makes me think of the oil on canvas by John Gast entitled “American Progress”.

Finally, we must talk about the most important point: what happened after. English settlers killed Native Americans, so today, while Thanksgiving is a joyful feast for a large part of the USA, for many Native Americans it is a feast associated with racism, violence, genocide, and mistreatment.

You want to know the real history of Thanksgiving… so let me tell you the truth behind the myth.

First this document is an oil painting on canvas exhibited at the Women in the Arts Museum, painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1915. The title is “Thanksgiving at Plymouth.” It bears upon the first harvest festival with Colonists and Natives in 1621.

The scene depicted here is a romanticized (idealized) version and not historically accurate. The clothing worn by the Pilgrims is incorrect, the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground.

Next let me describe this oil painting.

In the foreground, there is a woman offering food to the Natives, I am assuming it was a friendly sign of peace and tranquillity. In front of the woman there is a dog and next to her there is a little girl perhaps, she is her daughter and their dog. In the second ground we can see other Pilgrims around a table, they were serving food. There was also a man next to the little girl I guess he was a warrior to protect the colony “New Plymouth”.

This is the first Thanksgiving! But let me take you back to see what happened and what led to this scene.

They were people called separatists because they wanted to preserve their religion so, left the Kingdom of England and decided to leave for the Netherlands, but they were not happy because they wanted to live as Englishmen and because their children start to speak Dutch. So the separatists left the Netherlands and decided to leave for the New World more precisely in Virginia and Jamestown.

Plan A was:
-To land in Jamestown by the Hudson river but it failed because of treacherous storms.

Plan B was:
-To settle in Massachusetts, Cape Cod, Plymouth. So they called their colony “Plymouth” because it was the name of the city in England they left from.

But the passengers had questions in mind:
-What were the laws?
-Who was in charge?
-How would decisions be made?

So they chose a governor, called “John Carver”

William Bradford wrote in his journal that 41 adult male colonists signed a contract named “the Mayflower Compact”

And they promised:
-To be loyal to King James I
-To be good Christians
-To work together
-To create a self-governing society
It was successful.

The conditions were horrible because there was harsh winter but without food there were a lot of death. They were 102 and with the harsh they remained 50 survivors.

The “Wampanoag” tribe had a man called “Squanto” an English-speaking Native American to help them farm their land and grow new corps so they do a deal:

“Deal the Pilgrims did with the Native Americans: The tribal chief Massasoit signed a treaty with the Pilgrims. In exchange for food and help, the Pilgrims agreed to defend the tribe against their enemies (primarily the tribe of Narragansett)”

In 1863, President Lincoln will commemorate this time of gratitude and comradery, by establishing a national holiday called Thanksgiving.

So today, Native Americans have another definition of Thanksgiving… For them, it means a legacy of racism, violence, genocide and mistreatment, so they are celebrating another tradition know as “Unthanksgiving”

To finish, today thanksgiving is every fourth Thursday of November, Americans gather around a table, share food and tell what they are thankful for… But the colonists should be grateful for the help from the Natives, but they ended up killing them stealing their land for the sake of expansion.

I reckon it is a hypocritical celebration…

Well, let us tell you about the history of this painting and we will describe it too. First this document is an oil on canvas. This is painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1915. This art’s name is « The first Thanksgiving ». It represents the first thanksgiving meal shared between the Pilgrims and these Native American, especially the people of wampanoag in 1621. In the painting, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe are gathered outdoors and sharing food together. The scene looks peaceful and friendly, and the two groups seem united. The Pilgrims are wearing traditional European clothes, while the Natives are shown with feathered headdresses, the clothes who they are wearing are wrong because Natives and Pilgrims did not wear these clothes at all .

Historically, the Pilgrims arrived in America in 1620 aboard the Mayflower, this ship was composed of Pilgrims and prisoners so the atmosphere in this ship was not very good. They settled in Plymouth Massachusetts. Their first year was extremely difficult because they had little food (wine and pancakes), suffered many diseases and people died because of those unforeseen circumstances. When they landed, the Natives tried to scare them away but Pilgrims came back again. After the tribe of wampanoag helped them to survive by teaching them how to grow corn and adapt to the land, Pilgrims stole corns from their graves, saying that God put them in their path. Moving on to how Pilgrims thanked them. Thanks to this help, the Pilgrims had a good harvest in 1621 and organized a three-day meal. However the scene depicted here is a romantized version and not historically accurate. The clothing worn by Pilgrims is incorrect, the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground. In reality, this meal was probably more a traditional English harvest celebration than a symbol of friendship.

After this event. The peaceful relationship did not last. As more settlers arrived, tensions increased, and violent conflicts began. The colonists took Natives lands, and many tribes including the Wampanoag were massacred or displaced. For this reason, Thanksgiving does not have the same meaning for everyone. For many Native Americans, it represents a history of violence and injustice, and some commemorate it as a Day of Mourning. To conclude this painting presents an idealized version of history and hides the tragic consequences of colonization.

Today the first thanksgiving led to a huge desaster because now in the united states, I do not know if I can really say this but there is a kind of team. One team is in flavor of Thanksgiving and refuses to admit what really happen. So they celebrate thanksgiving with the whole Family unaware that undress of year ago it was completely different. In the second group, people potest against Thanksgiving because they admit what really happened and find it completely irrational to celebrate a day like this.

First, let us describe this oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris about « the first thanksgiving. » This paited is from a private collection in the USA. You must know that the scene depicted here is romanticized (idealized) version and not historically accurate. The clothing worn by the Pilgrims is incorrect, the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground. This is not a faithful represantation of what happened this day.

Let us explain what we mean by unfaithful. Basically the artist was not there to see what really happened. The first thanksgiving taken place in 1621 but this oil on canvas had been painted in 1915. In the foreground, we can see a lot of Natives who are sitting on the ground, I am not sure but I am assuming, they are asking food to the Pilgrims. I may be wrong but I guess Jean Leon Gerome Ferris wanted to represente the Natives at the same level as an animal. I can tell this is a cliché because they were not dressed like that. In the middle of the oil on canvas, on the right, we can seea lot of Pilgrims around the table, I am pretty sure, they are celebrating the first thanksgiving.

Let move on back on to what I said before, in the piece of art « Engraving of Edward Winslow meeting Chief Massasoit » we can see Massasoit who is tressed again with a big feathered war hat. We know the first meeting between Natives and Pilgrims was very complicated because the pilgrims destroyed Native American tombs to have more food so I can say they stole from the Native.

Moving back on again the oil on canvas, at left, on the background a little far away from the main scene. Let me talk about both the oil on canvas and the documentary we saw in class, « Saints and Strangers. » We can see their face look both happy and joyful may be because the Natives taught them how to grow seeds so they can have enough food. I can see a pilgrim who is holding a weapon because he is not really confident towards the Natives but in the movie the Chief Massasoit asked every Pilgrim to put down their weapons because the Natives did not carry weapons on them. In the background, we can see the sea may be this is the beach where they arrived. We can see a difference between the document and the movie, in the movie the Natives could eat on a table and in the document they eat on the ground.

Next, let switch to the real history of the first thanksgiving, I will repeat myself, the first thanksgiving took place in 1621 but Jean Leon Gerome Ferris painted it in 1915 so he was not there to see what exactely happened also he could imagine by himself then he romanticize this version of the first thanksgiving. Anyway, you need to know there was the living conditions onboard the ship were ghastly.  From what I gathered, they did not have any intimitacy.

Then, they arrived at the island, they survey if there are not anybody but nothing because they are hiding. The next day, they find the Natives the Natives Americans tombs and find their food. The Pilgrims started to build huts to sleep in and really soon after they built a church because religious was dear to them. After a season, a Native named Squanto – who could speak English made an alliance. One week after, Squanto helped the Americans to grow seeds.

To begin, let me introduce this document.

From what I could read, it’s an oil on canvas, painted in 1915 by Jean-Leon Gérôme Ferris.
This painting represents “the real history of the first Thanksgiving”.
I can see two groups of people: the English and the Wampanoag, a Native American tribe. I can differentiate them because the English (pilgrims) are dressed in formal clothes and large hats. However, the Natives are dressed in animal skins and have feathers on their heads. I can also see that the English are around a large table, but the Wampanoag are sitting on the floor.
The English arrived in America in 1621 aboard the Mayflower. They had great difficulty surviving and formed an alliance with the Wampanoag, who helped them cultivate the land. So, the painting represents a moment of peace between the two peoples.
As you might suspect, the scene depicted is a romanticized version and not historically accurate. The clothing worn by the pilgrims is incorrect; the Wampanoag did not wear feather war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground.
Indeed, the first Thanksgiving didn’t happen like that. The English weren’t allied with the Wampanoag. During the first Thanksgiving, the English were alone and had no food, so they stole from the Native Americans. After their alliance, in 1637, the pilgrims started a decade-long war with their Native American neighbors.
But why, 294 years later, would he paint a picture that idealizes this scene?

You must be wondering what the real history of the first Thanksgiving is. To start, I will tell you about the first Thanksgiving in 1621. Native Americans and Colonists gathered around to eat the food they harvested, like corn, carrots, and fruits. When there were many deaths, they put seeds on the bodies and buried them with them.

This painting shows the first Thanksgiving in America. It represents a meal shared between the Pilgrims and the Native Americans in 1621. The Pilgrims had arrived in America and received help from the Native Americans to survive. To thank them, they shared food together after a good harvest. However, this painting is idealized and not completely accurate. The clothes and the scene are shown in a romantic way, to give a positive image of this moment. The painting was made later to tell a story about cooperation and peace.

In the foreground of the image, we can see Native Americans and European settlers sharing a meal together. The Native Americans are sitting on the ground, at the same level as the animals, while the settlers are standing or positioned higher, which shows a difference in status. Some people are serving food, others are eating. We can see animals, dishes, and baskets, showing that a shared meal is taking place. This organization of the scene suggests a hierarchy and shows that the two groups are not represented as equal. Historically, this scene refers to the first Thanksgiving, when Native Americans helped the Pilgrims survive by teaching them how to grow crops, hunt, and adapt to the new land. However, the image remains idealized and does not show the injustices, violence, and conflicts that later happened between Europeans and Native Americans.
In the background, we can see several people standing and watching the scene. They are wearing old-fashioned clothes and hats. Some of them look serious and calm, while some others seem curious. They are gathered together, which shows that this is an important moment for the group. The background helps us understand the historical setting and the community life.

The painting presents an idealized and symbolic vision of the first Thanksgiving. It shows a peaceful meeting between Native Americans and European settlers, based on sharing, cooperation, and harmony. However, the organization of the scene and the differences in position between the two groups suggest inequality and hierarchy. The image does not reflect the real complexity of history: it hides the violence, injustices, and conflicts that later took place between Europeans and Native Americans. Therefore, this painting is more a representation of a myth than a true and realistic historical scene.

Well, first of all, this document is an oil on canvas, painted by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1915. It is in a private collection in the USA.
Be careful, this oil on canvas doesn’t show reality because that scene had never existed. I can’t be sure, but I believe that Jean Leon Gerome Ferris painted this oil on canvas for King George V. Indeed, he wanted to show that white people were superior to Indian tribes.
The Whites seem superior to Indian tribes because on the right of the oil on canvas, I can see the Whites cooking a lot of food. They will share the food with the Indian tribes. Moreover, the Indians are seated whereas the White people are standing. By doing that, I think Jean Leon Gerome Ferris wanted to show that the Indians were inferior to the White people.
According to me, this oil on canvas is the opposite of reality: History shows that the Whites slaughtered the Indians. Indeed, we know that the USA is a giant territory; the White people arrived, so they farmed and had animals to live. That’s why they killed the Natives, which means the Indians, or enslaved them. Sometimes, Indian tribes didn’t want this situation, and they fought against the Whites. It was a time of war.
To finish, this oil on canvas is really the opposite of Thanksgiving because Thanksgiving is a moment during which everybody is together, a moment of sharing symbolized by a lot of food.

Well, first of all, to put you in context, every fourth Thursday of November, Americans gather around tables covered with food. Over the feast, they share what they’re most thankful for from the previous year.
Historians long considered the first Thanksgiving to have taken place in 1621, when the Mayflower pilgrims who founded the Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts sat down for a three-day meal with the Wampanoag. However, the meal was not a symbol of peace but was likely just a routine English harvest celebration.

But, before we say more, let’s go back in time to when the Pilgrims arrived in Cape Cod, Massachusetts. Indeed, when the Pilgrims first arrived in 1620, they were not ready and had no food, so they robbed corn from Native Americans graves and storehouses. Half of them died during their first year, particularly during the winter, which had been very harsh and severe.

King Massasoit – the leader of the Wampanoag, understood an alliance with the Pilgrims could make them stronger – they were very weak and hated they rival tribe the Narragansett.
King Massasoit asked Squanto: an English-speaking Native American, to help them farm their land and grow new corps. It was a success ! They then joined forces and on the day of the harvest festival, the Wampanoag hunted deer meat and joined the festivities. It was the first Thanksgiving.

Now that you know a little about the history, let’s move on to the painting. Actually it’s an oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, in a private collection in the USA. This oil on canvas was painted in 1915 while the scene takes place in 1621. Why so long after ? It’s up to you to decide.

If you didn’t know, this oil on canvas no really represent the reality. Indeed, the scene depicted here is a romanticized ( idealized ) version and not historically accurate. Actually, the clothing worn by the Pilgrims is incorrect, the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground. Here, they are represented on the same level as dogs ; they are considered animals !

The newfound peace between the pilgrims and Wampanoag was short : by 1637, the pilgrims started a decade-long war with their Native American neighbours.Ultimately, the colonists massacred the local tribes, including the Wampanoag.

So for many Native Americans, the holiday invokes a legacy of racism,violence, genocide and mistreatment. In the 1970s, right around the bicentennial of the U.S. Native people began to gather on the holiday to hold a day of mourning instead; a tradition known as Unthanksgiving Day.

To begin with, I am presenting this painting by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris which represents “The First Thanksgiving.”

This painting does not represent the real Thanksgiving painted in 1915, but the real Thanksgiving took place in 1621.

The Pilgrims disembarked in Jamestown, Virginia, Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims, not accustomed to their new land, received help from the Wampanoag. After that, we can suppose that the Pilgrims owed a lot to the Wampanoag.

I think that this painting does not represent the real first Thanksgiving because in the foreground, we can see a Pilgrim giving food to the Wampanoag, who are sitting on the ground. However, they are still shown as inferior given that we can see that the Natives are at the same level as the animals.

The scene depicted here is a romanticized (idealized) version and is not historically accurate. The clothing worn by the Pilgrims is incorrect: the Wampanoag did not wear feathered war bonnets, nor would they have been sitting on the ground.

On the right, we can see a table with chairs. They belong to the Pilgrims. As I said before, it is not normal that the Pilgrims have tables while the Natives do not.

As we saw the film in class, we learned that it was a miracle that they arrived with the same number as they started with, but we also learned that the Pilgrims were mainly invaders and that they did not even respect Native traditions.

At the beginning of 17th century, a group of English people called the “Pilgrims”decided to leave England. They were Protestants who wanted to practice their religion freely. At that time, the king of England, James I did not accept their religious puritanism. The Church of England was imposed on everyone, and people who disagreed were often punished. The pilgrims felt oppressed and afraid. They wanted religious freedom, so they decided to to leave their country.

In England, the pilgrims were controlled by the authorities and sometimes arrested because of their beliefs. They could not choose their own way, they could not pray freely, and the were forced to follow the Church of England. For them, religion was very important, and they believed that everyone could follow their religion freely and should not be be rejected for that. This was unbearable, so this pushed to look for another place where they could live in peace.

First, pilgrims went to the Netherlands, especially to the city of Leiden. There, there was more religions tolerance, and they could pray and live according to their beliefs. They felt safer ans more respected than in England. However, life there was not easy, and half of them had difficult lives.

Many of them were poor, broke and had hard jobs in factories or workshops. They also worried about their children, who were learning Dutch and adopting Dutch habits. The pilgrims afraid that their children would forget English, traditions, language, and religion. They wanted to keep their identity, so they decided that Netherlands was not the right place for them in the long term.

The pilgrims planned a very long and dangerous travel to America, where they hoped to start a new life. In 1620, they travelled on a ship called the “Mayflower”. The journey across the Atlantic Ocean was very hard. The ship was tiny for all these people, but also uncomfortable and tiring. Many people were sick, and the weather was often terrible. They were 102 people and half of them were pilgrims and others,where criminals who wanted to made their own gouvernement and their own rules.

After several weeks at sea, the pilgrims arrived to North America, in a place they called “Plymouth”, in Massachusetts. At the begging they planned to go to Virginia, but it was stormy so they could not go there. They arrived late in the year, just before winter. They were tired, and not prepared for the cold climate.

Life in America was extremely difficult, because the first winter was very cold, and half of them died because of hunger, they did not know how to survive in this new land. Their situation was desperate, a,d without help, they might not have survived.
Fortunately, they met natives Americans, especially the Wampanoag people. A native named Squanto helped them because he could speak English. He learned to them how to grow corn, catch fish and use natural resources. With this help, the pilgrims slowly learned how to live in America.

At first, the relationship between the English and Natives was peaceful, they helped each other and shared food. They finally organized a celebration together, which became « Thanksgiving ». Relations became harder and harder because more Europeans came and rookie land.

In conclusion, the pilgrims left England because they had no religious freedom, left the Netherlands because they had cultural and economic problems. They went to America to build a new life. But this story shows how Americans wanted to romantize Thanksgiving, although settlers were just people who stole their Territory from Natives.