The Godmother of Thanksgiving: Th...
The Godmother of Thanksgiving: The Invention and The Reckoning (Part 2)

Founding Fictions by Elle Van Gundy

Episode notes

For nearly two centuries, the "First Thanksgiving" was a lost footnote in history. So how did a forgotten diplomatic meeting in 1621 become the mandatory national dinner we know today? In this episode, we peel back the layers of America’s favorite feast. We travel from the 17th-century mud of Plymouth to the industrial clamor of the 19th century to meet the "Godmother of Thanksgiving"—the magazine editor who engineered the holiday to stop a Civil War. Plus, we explore the hard history the myth tries to hide: the brutal war that followed the feast and the 1970 rebellion that changed the holiday forever.

Keywords
Constitution Founding fathersBill of Rights Thanksgiving
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