The modern celebration of “Thanksgiving” has its roots in religious practices in Plymouth and Boston, homes of colonists from England like John Winthrop, who provided one reading for this class . However, those “Days of Thanks-giving” were not associated with any particular day or even any particular season. When the colonies had periods of good fortune, the Governor would declare a Day of Thanksgiving. That good fortune might be anything from rain ending a period or drought, to the subsidence of sickness which had been laying townspeople in their beds.
Conversely, when the Colony experience bad fortune, the colonists interpreted this as a sign of Divine displeasure, and instead of a Day of Thanks-giving, the Governor would declare a Day of Fasting and Repentance, to ask forgiveness for whatever had caused misfortune to befall them.
President Abraham Lincoln was the first to declare a National Day of Thanksgiving, in honor of a victory of the Union forces during the American Civil War. But the holiday we now celebrate on Thursday in November was not regularized until the Twentieth Century
Either Start or Continue reading Ecotopia. I want to start discussing it when you return from your Thanksgiving Break. It is not long. It is not hard. You can squeeze it in between turkey, football, and talking with relatives if you really try.
You remember at the beginning of the semester I showed a bit of of a documentary about the making of the Film, Hair, which was adapted from the stage show which was one of the highlights of the era of the "New Utopianism". This seems like a good time to present the entire film. Invite friends if you want, there's plenty of room in our classroom for them.
