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The average American indus tri a l
worker ea rns between $4 and $5 pcr
ho ur, and the media n family income
is now running about $ 14.000. Even
though inftatio n is picking o ur pock–
ets and high taxes a re robbing us of
much of our income, the typical
America n s till has a higher standard
of living than the citizens of any
o ther nation.
The U.S. inftatio n ra te (abou t 7%)
is considerably lower tha n that of
most other indust rial na tions, where
it is galloping a long at an annual
rate of 10% to 25%. Overa ll, the av–
erage U.S. citizen is abou t 25% to
35% better off than his counterpa rt
living in many other advanced in–
dus tri a l nations. Furthermore, the
per capita income worldwide is now
approx imately $ 1.000 - jus t one
sixth of America's per capita in–
come.
America (the "bread basket of the
world' ') has the la rges t tract of fe r–
tile land with the mos t favorable di–
mate of any nation in the entire
world. Even though America pos–
sesses only a bout 6% of the world's
la nd and 6% o f its popul a tion. she
possesses 18% of its total cropland.
Ameri ca 's vast national rcsources -
minera ls, water, timber, o il. coa!
give her the mcans to maintain th e
world's highest standa rd o f li ving
for the foresceable futurc.
America's "Special Circumstances"
Oth e r nations look at the fa ntastic
blessi ngs of America with amaze–
ment. The Shah of l ran recently
wrote: " In no more tha n two cen–
turies, the U.S. has been able to lay
th e fo undatio ns of astOnishing tech–
nical achievement a nd immense
ma te r ia l progress, the like of which
no society or nation has becn able to
equa l or surpass. In th is re lative ly
short pe riod. America has succeeded
in transforming a huge continent,
blessed with a lmosl unlimit ed na tu–
ral resources, from the simples t be–
ginn ings into the wealthiest a nd
most powerful country th e world
has seen. "
What, according to the Shah. is
th e rea l source of Ame ri ca's uniqu e
position in the world today?
" After 200 years the U.S. has ac–
quired , tha nks to the dynamism of
he r people and the special cireum–
stances that God has provided for
28
them, a position uniq ue
111
the a n–
nals of ma nkind...."
The Shah's s tatement s ho uld
make eve ry American sto p and
think. At this time of yea r, as we
approach our a nnual Thanksgiving
day. Americans should truly give
thanks to God for a ll their bound–
less bless ings. But tragica lly, too
ma ny America ns today a re o b–
li vious to the rich his tory and the
vital meaning behind their mos t im–
portant national holiday.
Brief History of Thanksgiving
In Dccember 1620. the
Mayflower
anchored at Plymouth Rock , Massa–
chusetts. A sma ll ba nd of 103 Pil–
grims landed on the blea k, wi nt ry
coast o f present-day Massachusetts,
intending to set up a new colony - a
Christi an commonwealth
where
they could worship G od according
lo the dictates of their consciences.
Befo re la nding at Plymout h, the Pil–
grims drew up the " May ft owe r
Compaet" by wh ich they intended
to govern themse lves:
"We whose names a re under–
written, the Joya! subjects of our
dread So ve r e ign Lord Kin g
Ja mes .. . . Hav ing unde rtakcn. fo r
the Glory of God and advancement
of thc Chris tian Faith and Honour
of our King and Country. a Voyage
to p la nt the First Colo ny in th e
Northern Parts o f Virgi ni a . do by
these presents solemnly and mu–
tually in the presence of God and
one another. Covenant and Com–
bine ourselves togeth e r into a Civil
Body Polilic. for our bette r o rdering
and preservation a nd furthera nce o f
th e ends aforesa id ...."
Th a t terrible win ter of 1620-21
took a fr ig htful toll in sickness a nd
death among the brave Pilgrims.
Only 56 o ut of the 103 wbo landed
th ere s urvived . But with spring. new
hope budded. Each Pilgrim famil y
now had a home. And they were
blesscd wi th the friendsbip of a
fri endly and he lpfu l Jndian named
Squanto.
During the spring of 162 1, the Pil–
grim settlers pla nted 20 acres of
corn, 6 of barlcy. plus so rne peas.
AII summe r lo ng they anxiously
tended their firs t crop in . thc New
World - for they knew that their
ve ry lives depended upon th e s uc–
cessful maturing of th a t ero p. The
corn and barley did wel l. bu t th e hot
sun pa rched the peas.
The First Thanksgiving Day
T his hardy band of Pilgrims were
accus tomed to the English thanks–
g iving ce lebrations. observed afte r
the British had dcfea ted the French
in 1386 and the Spanish in 1588
when the ir " l nvincible Armada"
had sailed agains t England.
Furthermore, during their br ief
s tay in Ho lland , the devout Pilgrims
ha d seen the Dutch ce lebra te a day
of tha nksgiving lo r the ir victory
over the Spaniards in October 1575.
lt
was quite natural, therefore, for
the Pilgrims Lo o bserve a day of
thanksgiving after a nxiously wateh –
ing their crops ripen during the lo ng
summer of 1621. After thc harves t–
ing of a bumper crop, their gover–
nor, Willia m Bradford. se t aside a
day for specia l feasting and thanks–
g iving.
For three days the womcnfo lk
served the men a t long tables. That
first thanksgiving rcast included
wi ld turkeys. wood pigeons, par–
tridges, ducks, geese, Ind ian pud–
ding. hoecake. and fi sh.
After dinner. the Pilgrims ent er–
tained thcir Jndian guests by d em–
ons trating thei r firea rms, wh il e th e
lndians did th e same with their
bows. Also th ey participated in va ri–
o us athletic even ts. games, a nd
races.
Other Days of Thanksgiving
Many different days of th anksgiving
were observed by the pco ple of the
T hirteen Colo ni es for va ri o us rea–
sons during the decades which fol–
lowed . Va rious tha nksgiving days
were o bserved in g rateful a pprecia–
ti o n for bo untiful c ro ps. victories,
an d de li verance from pest ilence.
In 1742. the gove rnor of Georgia,
James Og le tho rpe. issued th e fol–
lowing thanksgiving proclama tion
as a re ult of thc drama tic victory
which th e English won ovcr th e
Spaniards in the o utheastern pa rt
of America: " ... So wonde rfully
were we protected a nd prese rved.
tha t in this grea t a nd form idab le
conftic t but few of our men were
ta ken, a nd but threc kill ed. Truly
the Lord has do ne g reat things for
US,
by rescuing
US
from lhc powcr of
a numerous foc. who boasted that
The
PLAIN TRUTH November 1976