Acknowledgments
Introduction
1. Looking Underneath the House: The Evidence the Pilgrims Left
Us
2. Remembering Odbody?s Axiom: The Pilgrims? Historical
Contexts
3. Pursuing Authentic Education: Thinking About What the Pilgrims
Wanted
4. Finding Heroes, Not Idols: Following the Pilgrims to America
5. Seeing Rhinos, Not Unicorns: The Strangeness of the Pilgrims
6. Discarding False Memories: The Real Story of the First
Thanksgiving
7. Understanding Revisionism: How the First Thanksgiving Has
Changed over Time
8. Receiving Gifts from the Past: The Search for Larger Meaning
Suggested Reading
Notes
Image Credits
Index
Robert Tracy McKenzie (Ph.D., Vanderbilt University) is professor and chair of the department of history at Wheaton College, where he teaches courses in U.S. history, the Civil War and historiography. McKenzie is the author of two award-winning monographs: One South or Many? Plantation Belt and Upcountry in Civil-War Era Tennessee (Cambridge, 1994) and Lincolnites and Rebels: A Divided Town in the American Civil War (Oxford, 2009).
"McKenzie helpfully calls us away from the use of 'revisionist' as
a pejorative for history we do not like. History is not received
like Scripture. And the history of Thanksgiving was subject to lots
of revision over the years, especially in the middle of the 19th
century. The Pilgrim story, McKenzie points out, was not culturally
convenient prior to and immediately after the Civil war, with the
New England connection to the tradition quite strong, abolitionist
governors using their Thanksgiving proclamations to decry slavery,
and Native Americans not especially respected. . . . McKenzie
argues for an alternative, for the practice of history done
Christianly. . . . Combining knowledge with humility should be our
goal in the study of the past. Refraining from self-flattering
moral judgment, we should pursue history as an opportunity for
moral reflection, looking to what figures in the past say about
their own time, and for all time."
*William Thomas Mari, Books Culture, November 2013*
"It is no doubt too hopeful to imagine that The First Thanksgiving
will change how large numbers of Americans understand the Pilgrims
or look upon Thanksgiving. But one can hope that the book makes its
way into the hands of a wide range of audiences including Christian
college students and faculty, elementary and secondary education
teachers, adult Christian education classes, general Christian
readers, and even secular university classes interested in an
excellent primer on thinking historically. If it does, there is
some chance by the time Americans sit down to celebrate the 400th
anniversary of the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving in 2021, more of us
will be better equipped to receive well the gifts that historical
study can provide, including the feast that our Pilgrim forefathers
and mothers offer."
*Richard W. Pointer, Christian Scholar's Review, Summer 2014*
"Tracy McKenzie has written two books in one. The first may be read
for fun and profit by anyone interested in the 'real story' of
Thanksgiving. The second is primarily intended to help American
Christians think in a Christian manner about our nation's history.
There are a host of books that smugly dissect popular 'myths' or
'lies' about American history. Fortunately, this is not one of
them. It is true that McKenzie dispels a number of common beliefs
about Thanksgiving, but he does so in a winsome, engaging
manner."
*Mark David Hall, Anglican and Episcopal History, Vol. 88, No.
4*
"The First Thanksgiving emphasizes the Pilgrims' firm commitment to
God and highlights beliefs today's Christians might disagree with,
such as refusing religious tolerance. Throughout the book, McKenzie
uses carefully selected biblical scriptures to assure readers that
history has a place in Christianity, but Christians must be careful
not to place faith in historical figures or America. Instead, they
should follow the Pilgrims' lead and strive to make heaven their
home. . . . Christians who embrace the strategies used by
historians that McKenzie skillfully teaches, may never view the
past the same again."
*Kaavonia Hinton, ForeWord Magazine, Fall 2013*
"McKenzie shows readers how historians arrive at their necessarily
limited understanding of the 'real story': by evaluating and
analyzing primary sources, by placing sources in context, and by
imaginative reconstruction. . . . McKenzie makes his argument with
brevity, clarity, and wit."
*David Torbett, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology 69,
no. 4*
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