Celebrating America's 394th Thanksgiving

Just as the Plymouth Colonists gave thanks on that first Thanksgiving proclaimed by Governor William Bradford in 1621, and our country rallied in the midst of the Civil War to give thanks following President Lincoln's Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1863, may we, on this special day of thanks in 2015, pause to acknowledge God's continued blessings on our great nation with grateful hearts.

While the Plymouth Colonists were celebrating Thanksgiving in 1621, the Netherlands granted a charter to the Dutch West India Company giving it a monopoly to trade and found colonies along the area of America's Hudson River, designated as New Netherland.  Peter Minuit was appointed governor of the small colony in 1624.  He purchased the island of Manhattan from Indian Chiefs and named it New Amsterdam.  By the time Peter Stuyvesant arrived as governor in 1647, records of household inventories indicate that tea was very popular among the settlers in New Amsterdam, and their tea-drinking habits were equal to those of their native Holland.  I'm so grateful the Dutch [followed by the British] brought tea to the United States for us to enjoy in abundance today!

Happy Thanksgiving!