quadricentennial
“We have come to this Rock, to record here our homage for our Pilgrim Fathers; our sympathy in their sufferings; our gratitude for their labors; our admiration of their virtues; our veneration for their piety; and our attachment to those principles of civil and religious liberty, which they encountered the dangers of the ocean, the storms of heaven, the violence of savages, disease, exile, and famine, to enjoy and to establish. And we would leave here, also, for the generations which are rising up rapidly to fill our places, some proof that we have endeavored to transmit the great inheritance unimpaired; that in our estimate of public principles and private virtue, in our veneration of religion and piety, in our devotion to civil and religious liberty, in our regard for whatever advances human knowledge or improves human happiness, we are not altogether unworthy of our origin. “
Daniel Webster, oration at Plymouth Rock, December 22, 1820 (The Pilgrim Bicentennial)
As it did in 1820, and later for the Tercentenary in 1920, the eyes of America once again gaze on the small town of Plymouth. Will “America’s Hometown speak to the world about the substance and faith of the men and women which launched a nation, or will the message be lost in a total wave of political correctness? ….
thanksgiving in America
"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, and many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want that we often wish you partakers of our plenty." Edward Winslow - Mourt’s Relation
No national holiday is more unifying or has done more to birth a distinctive national identity than Thanksgiving Day. Regardless of sectarian differences or political creed, Americans gather to feast as families, to celebrate around the Thanksgiving table. The debate over whether or not the Pilgrims established the first Thanksgiving celebration misses the point. They modeled for future generations the principle of days of thanksgiving and celebration, and today we right look to the Pilgrim fathers and mothers as our inspiration. Pilgrim father William Bradford, would have been pleased. He anticipated that the work these thankful and persevering people would continue for generations …
PILGRIM LEGACY
On the eve off the quadricentennial of the Pilgrim arrival in Plymouth on the Mayflower, we recall the historic efforts of the town of Plymouth to celebrate the 350th anniversary in 1970. Plymouth 350th executive committee member, Dr. Charles Wolfe, identified key elements of the Pilgrim legacy including spiritul liberty, religious liberty, economic liberty, the defense of liberty, political liberty and constitutional liberty. Below are some of his comments on the Pilgrim legacy:
Justin Abellan (center), playing John Carver, signed an imitation Mayflower Compact as other “Pilgrims” watched in November 1970 for the 350th anniversary commemoration. GLOBE STAFF/FILM
Partisans of multiculturalism may contend that the American pilgrimage began with the establishment of St. Augustine in 1565, but that picturesque, historic town was simply a Spanish military outposts, and Florida was not one of the thirteen original colonies that joined together and declared independence on July 4, 1776 ….