Quote:
Originally Posted by Mutt
i dunno - in the US Thanksgiving is a holiday to celebrate a truce between native Indians and the first English settlers
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That is actually a fairy tale.
The truth behind Thanksgiving isn't the fun little story of pilgrims and Indians sitting down for a big meal that they teach you in school when you are five. No such meal ever took place.
There was a New England settlement that used a form of communism. Their residents were not very productive under the system and the result was a high level of deaths each winter. To signify the tough times ahead, they would have a feast going into the winter months. Their last big meal.
Then they moved away from communism, people became more productive and they had enough food to last through the winter months. They also decided to continue the yearly feast, only it would now signify a thanksgiving for all they had. The tradition spread and lives on to this day.