Welcome to my blog, "The British Are Coming, Y'all!" From 17–27 November, I'm participating with several hundred other bloggers in the "Gratitude Giveaways Hop," accessed by clicking on the logo on the left. All blogs in this hop offer reader-appreciation giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting essays from Relevant History author guests on the theme of gratitude and thanksgiving. We'll give away books and gifts during the eleven days, to show appreciation for our readers. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Gratitude Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

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The Declaration of Independence can be viewed as a long, specific list of points on which Britain and the patriot faction in its North American colonies disagreed. In the practice of thanksgiving, we find another example of those ideological differences.

During the first six decades of the eighteenth century, each of Britain's colonies celebrated events such as bountiful harvests in separate ways. The colonies didn't unite for the first time in thanksgiving until after the Congress had declared independence from Britain, and the Continental and British armies were slugging it out. The Congress then appointed specific thanksgiving days and recommended the observation of them for each state. Here are those days of thanksgiving:

• 18 December 1777, to celebrate the Continental Army's victory over Crown forces at Saratoga
• 30 December 1778, to honor the alliance with France
• 7 December 1780, to rejoice that George Washington had avoided being captured by Crown forces during Benedict Arnold's defection
• 13 December 1781, to celebrate the Continental Army's victory over Crown forces at Yorktown

Today, residents of the United States might be baffled at the austere nature of these thanksgiving days for those who were patriots. Each day was designated a day of fasting and prayer. No feasting, no playing. Many patriots who were Christians eschewed revelry, particularly when it was associated with a religious holiday such as Christmas. They sought to distinguish themselves from celebrations that they considered corrupt and immoral. Some of those celebrations were associated with Britain and the Anglican Church. Thus Christmas and Congress-designated days of thanksgiving were somber, low-key affairs.

In contrast are the celebrations of gratitude from loyalists and Crown forces. M. E. Kemp mentioned the flourish with which Guy Fawkes' Day was celebrated in the colonies: fireworks, bonfires, feasting, drinking, brawling. Colonists had good reason to celebrate; had Guy Fawkes and his cohorts been successful in the infamous "Gunpowder Plot" of 1605, the House of Lords would have been blown up, and King James I of England might have been assassinated. Twenty-first century Britons continue to celebrate Guy Fawkes Day.

At the time of the War of Independence, most people associated with the British empire were still honoring the ancient, annual rhythm of solstices and equinoxes. (Consider how many of them made a living off the land and thus had to stay attuned to the seasons.) So for the winter solstice, Crown forces might have had a feast and dance similar to the Yule party I depict in my third book, Camp Follower, with roast pork and vegetables for men of rank and file, and a multi-course feast for officers, followed by dancing. The customs of Yule log and bonfire at the center of such festivities hearkened back to practices of Neolithic people who, on the shortest day of the year, gave thanks for the return of the sun.

Regardless of whether we prefer our thanksgiving no-frill or well-adorned, at its heart, every celebration of gratitude is about pausing to acknowledge that each of us is part of something much larger than a simple congregation of individuals. Life endows us with certain blessings. Perhaps the greatest show of gratitude we can make is in converting our unique blessings into gifts that help others.

Happy Thanksgiving! For what are you grateful?

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I'm giving away an ebook copy of my latest release, Regulated for Murder, to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on my blog today or tomorrow. Make sure you provide your email address. I'll choose the winner in a drawing from among those who comment on this post by Thursday 24 November at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of the winner on my blog 28 November. Multiple file formats are available. No eReader required.

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