The devil in disguise: Natives, puritans and the history of Thanksgiving
For a change, we will be shifting from our usual theme of Indian politics while focusing on some international stuff. A few days from now is Thanksgiving, one of the biggest festivals celebrated in America. Today celebrated as the onset of harvest season, this festival has a story to it. A story that had a happy beginning but unfortunately ended with genocide of the people responsible for this festival of joy and, as its name suggests, gratitude. The story begins in 1513 with the arrival of Juan ponce de Leon, the first European to reach North America, in present-day Florida. He was a Spanish explorer and the governor of Puerto Rico. After his first warm visit, Juan made another voyage in 1521 to the newly discovered continent with lots of lands. Unlike the first visit, Juan kept Europeanism with him for the second time and tried setting up a colony, which was not received very well by the natives. He was hit by an arrow and later succumbed to his injuries. Juan Ponce de Leo...