Setting the record straight on early ‘days of thanks’ VOICES

The wacky first sentence of The Norwalk Hour editorial titled “A Chance to Teach Native American History” (Dec. 18) reads “George Washington would have flunked American history.” But contrary to this wild and reckless assertion, it is The Hour that just flunked American history.

The editorial refers to the fact that George Washington did not mention Native Americans in the national day of thanks he proclaimed in 1789. That’s true. But Washington wasn’t thinking about the harvest festival observed at Plymouth in 1621. He was thinking about the formation of our new nation after our astounding victory over Great Britain in the Revolution. His purpose was “to recommend to the People of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors of Almighty God especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness.”

Days of thanks were proclaimed in America at various times throughout the 17th and 18th centuries by religious and civic officials for various reasons, including military victories, good harvests, the disappearance of plagues, and even the massacre of Native Americans.

Our curriculums will only be richer for the addition of Native American history, as well as that of Blacks, Latinos and other peoples often excluded from the national narrative. Newspapers can help out by being careful with the facts. They are what good history is made of.