My husband found this interesting entry telling of the origin of black-eyed peas for New Year’s Day tradition on a message board called Online Baptists.
The Humble Cow Pea
Tomorrow is New Years Day, 2008. Here in the South we are fond of
tradition and one of the traditions which will be observed tomorrow
is the eating of Black-eyed Peas also known in the South as Cow Peas
and often served in a dish known as Hoppin’-John.
Tradition is a good and useful thing. It’s purpose is to make us
remember and it serves to teach those who were too young to witness
the original lesson first hand what was so important to their
ancestors.
So what’s so important about Black-eyed Peas? What lesson could that
humble little pea possibly teach us? Well, let me tell you a little
story.

The Cow Pea was brought to the shores of North America in the late
1600s. It was not considered a food source for humans, hence the
name, Cow Peas. They were grown for feeding livestock. That was,
until the turbulent period between 1861 and 1865 when Southerners
were fighting for the independence of their Southland.
During this time the US Army had the custom of burning everything in
it path that it couldn’t steal and use for itself or ship North.
Cash crops like cotton and tobacco were often burned to prevent its
use in funding the Confederate cause. All food crops were also
stolen or burned often leading to the intentional starvation deaths
of thousands of Southern women and children. One crop that was often
overlooked was the Cow Pea. It was just an animal feed and with the
animals stolen and shipped North or shot and left to rot where they
fell, what was the since in expending the time and manpower in
burning a useless livestock feed crop?
History has it that during the siege of Vicksburg, Mississippi the
ravaging horde of United States troops burned every food crop
surrounding the city that their vandal torches could touch. Every
available food source left to the citizens of Vicksburg, animal or
vegetable was laid waste. The patriotic citizens held out for as
long as possible eating shoe leather and rat meat. If an artillery
mule was accidentally killed by an incoming federal shell, its meat
barely had time to cool before it was cut up and distributed to the
starving civilians and soldiers in the city. The shelling was so
thick from the federal guns that the citizens took to living in dank
and filthy bomb-proof caves cut from dirt banks. Disease took its
toll along with starvation. No doubt, the prayers rose thickly to
Heaven from Vicksburg during that brutal siege and prayers were
answered. It was discovered that the Cow Peas were still available
and they didn’t taste so bad after all when you’re hungry. The dried
peas were ground into flower and mixed with water to make bread.
They weren’t too bad just boiled in water or even eaten raw. The
threat of death from starvation has a way of making things look
different. I know it’s hard to imagine anyone turning up their nose
at Black-eyed Peas today but back then it would have been like asking
someone to eat dried dog food or a bag of goat feed.
Even though the city of Vicksburg eventually fell to the forces of
federal despotism, the lives of many Southerners were spared due to
the little Cow Pea. This scene was played out all across the South,
especially in the swath of desolation cut by Sherman in his
vindictive march to the sea.
But what has the little Cow Pea taught us? Why have we remembered it
every year since the close of that war so long ago? Many people will
just tell you that eating Black-eyed Peas will bring you good luck
and that’s as far as the story is ever told. But for our Southern
ancestors it wasn’t about good luck. They had something else they
wanted us to know and remember. The lesson taught by the Cow Pea was
a blessing from God. It reminded us that God never places a burden
on us too great to bear and he always leaves a way out to the
faithful. It was a lesson in humility. Sometimes the way out is to
humble ourselves. The Cow Pea showed us that we can adapt and
persevere in the face of death and overwhelming odds. It gave us
hope when all hope had fled. It was a symbol of strength in that the
small and insignificant can confound the strong and mighty.
And there are other things the little pea taught us that our fathers
wish us to remember every year. But this is where I start to talk of
things that scare my friends and family and those who were raised in
government schools, learning government lies from government
textbooks printed up North.
Our fathers wanted us to remember the importance of liberty through
Southern independence. To them, it was worth every deprivation
imaginable. It was worth starvation and disease. It was worth
dismemberment, blindness and other horrific wounds on the battlefield
and slow death. It was worth the risk of rotting in a government
prison. It was worth losing all your worldly possessions. Liberty
at every cost save the loss of honor because the alternative was
slavery under a despotic government.
Our fathers wanted us to remember their noble Cause and the
sacrifices they made for it. They wanted us to vindicate that Cause.
Not by merely talking about it and remembering it but by making the
same kind of sacrifices they made. So tomorrow, and every New
Year’s Day henceforth, when you hoist a forkful of savory Hoppin’-
Jon to your palate, think about this; Are we more free today than
our ancestors 140 years ago? If you say yes, go back to sleep. If
you say no, prepare with me for hard times and sacrifice.
Happy New Year.