Thanksgiving Celebration in US Constitutional Law

In addition to covering lecture material related to Congressional power under the Spending Clause, we also celebrated a traditional Thanksgiving in my Constitutional Law class today

Ramsay brought many, many supplies in his suitcase -- things that are hard to come by here (like cranberry sauce and Thanksgiving party supplies). He also prepared all of the dishes for our feast!

Peggy also helped with the decorations, as you can see in this garland. (A shout out to my friend David for the reminder that we could get nifty decorating templates on www.marthastewart.com)

Ramsay also made a short presentation about the first Thanksgiving, the history of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, and modern-day Thanksgiving customs.

I had called Grampie (Ramsay's father) who filled me on on the details of Ramsay's ancestors who came over to America on the Mayflower. I shared the story with my students -- about Isaac Allerton, who traveled to America with his wife and 3 children. One of those children was a daughter, Mary, who is Ramsay's ancestor. (She was the last living Mayflower passenger; she was in her 90s when she died in 1690.) Isaac was the Deputy Governor of the Plymouth Colony, a position which he held for many years. His wife (Mary's mother) died that first winter. Indeed two-thirds of the Pilgrims died that first winter. There were about 50 Pilgrims who survived, and they were joined by 90 or so Indians for that first Thanksgiving celebration

It was fun to share this Thanksgiving story and traditional foods (thanks again, Ramsay!) with my students. Some foods were foreign/different (like the cranberries and the sweet potatoes), while others were similar (like the cornbread).