The Berkley Plantation and A Day of Thanksgiving by Robert Socha

To the victor go the spoils. After his victory, President Obama was quick to lecture, running on the platform to “fundamentally change the United States” and stating that “elections have consequences.” I wonder if he wishes he could retract that statement today, especially in light of President Trump’s transition team and DOGE.

With this in mind, maybe the North’s victory in America’s Civil War, JFK’s first Thanksgiving proclamation, or perhaps “A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving” allowed history to record the first Thanksgiving celebration in the New World, commissioned by William Bradford in a northern state, Salem, Massachusetts, in November 1621.

What is not so well known, but coming into the national discussion about Thanksgiving Day’s history, is this year marks the 405th anniversary of the first recorded Thanksgiving proclamation made by settlers to these shores. In the summer of 1619, King James commissioned the Virginia Company to settle lands on the Chesapeake, 8,000 acres, leaving British shores on the first day of fair weather and complimentary winds following September 15, 1619. The following day, they obtained what the charter decreed, and the small 35-foot vessel, with 36 settlers, departed for the New World. This tiny ship, the Good Ship Margaret, battled severe weather and survived the treacherous crossing, landing on the Virginia shores at Berkley Hundred on December 4, 1619.

The Berkley Plantation still stands there today and is open for tours should your travels take you to Historical Williamsburg, Jamestown (first settlement), and Yorktown (Cornwallis Surrender). If you visit, you will walk on the original floors that the first ten Presidents of these United States danced, where President Lincoln fired his generals when they had 160,000 men in their charge, while Richmond, a mere 12 miles away, still lay in Confederate hands, Taps was written and played for the first time, and as you will see below, the first Thanksgiving prayer was made and recorded for posterity.

The first act these courageous men accomplished fulfilled an inspirational charter to Berkley Hundred when they humbled themselves before the Almighty:

“As Clifford Dowdy noted in his book, The Great Plantation, the men were rowed ashore, placed their personal luggage on the hard ground, gazed at the woods enclosing them and listened to the complete silence.

Then, at a command from Captain Woodlief, with which they were profoundly stirred to comply, the homesick men knelt on the dried grass to pray.

As instructed by the London Company, Woodlief prayed: “We ordaine that this day of our ships arrival, at the place assigned for plantacon, in the land of Virginia, shall be yearly and perpetually kept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God”.

You see, the Berkeley Company had given a very specific list of ten instructions to the settlers when they departed England. The very first instruction was upon landing that they give a prayer of Thanksgiving for their safe voyage and to do so annually and perpetually thereafter.

America’s first official English-speaking Thanksgiving had just occurred, one year and 17 days before the Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts and almost 2 years before the pilgrims held a 3-day Harvest Feast with their Native American friends, which is commonly thought today to be the first Thanksgiving.[i]”

What is truly remarkable, apart from the historical notes above, is the fact that two of the most famous recordings of settlements to these shores were religious acts of Thanksgiving to Almighty God! Not only has this celebration set aside specific time to be thankful annually, but it also reminds the world that we should be grateful for the sacrifice endured by those who settled these lands, and those who fought the battles of the Revolution that has culminated in the Land of the Free and the Home of the Brave. Let us celebrate this fourth Thursday of November, not just by gathering and enjoying a magnificent feast but by setting aside some time and humbling ourselves before the Author of Life with a simple and penitent prayer of Thanksgiving. We have so much to be thankful for.

[i] https://berkeleyplantation.com/first-thanksgiving/#:~:text=As%20Clifford%20Dowdy,the%20first%20Thanksgiving.