Thanksgiving...
After the November elections of 1864, Abraham Lincoln could see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just one month previously, he was convinced that the population wanted him out, and that he was doomed to lose the election to an opponent who was running on a platform of cutting a deal with the confederacy and ending hostilities, effectively severing the continent into two rival superpowers who would continue fighting the war, somewhere down the road and in the future, over the western territories.
His apprehensions were grounded in some measure of truth, too. The Confederate White House and Congress had made it very clear both publicly and privately, that, after the war was settled, they intended not only a westward expansion, but a move into Mexico, all but annexing that country as part of their “divine right” to rule the lesser races, as they put it. Lincoln, as well as this writer, perceived at least two more wars—most probably in the late 19th century and the early 20th century—in which the North and the South would be slugging it out again, with horrific casualties on both sides. Especially so, given the advance of weaponry emerging in the latter stages of the Civil War.
Largely thanks to the Union army, who voted en-masse to assure his election, Lincoln was kept at the helm and he therefore knew that, given enough time, the north would have its much-earned victory. Had the army voted as the war-weary civilian population, Lincoln would have been defeated.
This writer is well-aware that some chicanery occurred among the troops being forced to vote for Lincoln, as the southern papers all proclaimed at the time, but historians have been hard-pressed to find anything of substance to these allegations. Mostly, given the historical record of the letters and diaries of the soldiers of the time, they were all for Lincoln. As for my own family, which served on both sides of the conflict, it seems that a greater portion served in the Union Army.
Lincoln has been accused of being a tyrant. And like all charges, some of these allegations are based in fact. But, he also had to deal with a great many levels and layers of treachery within his own administration—and these malcontents, as history has born out—were also change-agents of the crown in England. His own secret service seemed to serve the enemy more than it did the Lincoln Whitehouse. The SS constantly gave false field reports, and did little in the way of thwarting attacks on his life or in doing any actual counter-intelligence. In point of fact, Alan Pinkerton, who was the head of the Secret Service, was a ruthless killer whose own logo for his company, the Pinkerton Detective Agency, was an all-seeing eye, which later ended up on the US dollar bill. Lincoln had traitors at every level of his administration.
Certainly, Lincoln was a politician, but he also had to hold together a cabinet and country that had yet to be tested and unified under one singular ideal in its thus far, short life. Lincoln once said, “If there is a worse place than hell, then I am in it.”
So, after the election, Lincoln created what is now known as a national day of thanksgiving, to take place on the last Thursday of November. This had nothing to do with landing at Plymouth Rock, or Indians, or settlers or turkey dinners and everything to do with reminding the country that it should be thankful for its blessings, even amidst tragedy.
I, too, this year, find myself in an endless spirit of gratitude. The previous years have been very hard, being homeless for a great number of them. The orgone business, what little that comes in, manages to keep at least basic food in the kitchen, gas in the aging truck, and the utilities paid. Somehow, a trickle of dollars flows in from all of you, making my life possible.
And for that, I am and always will be, truly thankful.
Bless you all.
Don
PS. It also means that until December 1st, I will provide free shipping on any and all orders placed through my website, providing that the destination of the shipment is somewhere within the continental USA. Thank you again. If ordered via paypal, the shipping charges will be automatically refunded to the purchaser's account.
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