Thanksgiving History – a Summary

Thanksgiving History is mainly associated with the USA, but it has a long and extended history.

We celebrate Thanksgiving every year on the last Thursday of November. It is a special day for many reasons. Friends and family come together. Some people travel many miles to be together. Some people travel many miles to be together. They enjoy good food and good times.

On the Fourth of July there are fireworks. Trick-or-treating is popular on Halloween. But on Thanksgiving Day everyone looks forward to the meal. In most homes it is a busy time for the cook.

Many Americans eat turkey on that day. About 45 million pounds of turkey are eaten every Thanksgiving. With it, we have 65 million pounds of sweet potatoes and 80 million pounds of cranberries. For dessert, 55 million pumpkin pies are served.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated in America for over three hundred fifty years. It began as a harvest festival. After a hard winter, the early settlers known as Pilgrims had a good harvest of many crops. The celebrated with a feast. That is why we think of Thanksgiving as an American holiday.

Actually, people have always celebrated good harvests. This is true around the world. Some of these celebrations date back to long ago. The names and dates may be different, but the idea behind them is the same.

The ancient Romans had a harvest feast. It was held in early October. They gave thanks to Ceres, the corn goddess. The holiday was known as Cerelia. That is where the word cereal comes from. A wonderful feast would be prepared. There was also music, parades, and games.

The Chinese celebrated good harvests, too. Thousands of years ago they held a three-day Moon Festival. Roast pig and harvest fruits were served. There were small round cakes and candies. The candies were yellow and looked like the full moon.

Jewish people also have a harvest festival. It is called Sukkoth. Sukkoth began over three thousand years ago. It is still celebrated every autumn. Some families build a small hut made of tree branches for the festival. Leaves are spread over the roof of the hut. Apples, grapes, corn, and other vegetables are hung inside the hut. The festival lasts eight days. But the first two nights are special. On those nights, families eat dinner in the hut. American Jews may celebrate both Sukkoth and Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a time for all Americans to feast and to give thanks. Many families begin their Thanksgiving meal with a prayer. Others attend a religious service that day. They think about all the things for which they are grateful.

People start preparing for Thanksgiving Day weeks ahead of time. Some use old family recipes. Often favorite dishes are served. On Thanksgiving, many people eat more than usual. It is okay to have some extra stuffing or a second slice of pie. It is almost expected. But Thanksgiving is much more than an extra slice of pie. It is about appreciating American life.

Thanksgiving History; Beginnings

We know what Thanksgiving is like today, but how did it start? Thanksgiving history dates back to a special feast that took place long ago.

Thanksgiving history began in Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. A group of people known as Pilgrims had just arrived from England. The pilgrims hoped to lead a life devoted to God in a new land. But first, they had to build a place to live, and that wound not be easy.

Their trip from England was also not easy. On September 16, 1620, the Pilgrims set sail on a small ship named the Mayflower. The voyage was long and cold. There were rough storms at sea. The passengers were often seasick. One man died.

Their first months in America were even worse than the voyage. The Pilgrims arrived in December. It was a very cold winter, and they did not have enough food. Many Pilgrims became ill and some of them died. One hundred two people had sailed on the Mayflower. By spring, just fifty-seven of them were alive.

The Pilgrims refused to give up. They tried to plant crops from seeds they had brought from England. But the seeds would not grow in the rocky soil.

These settlers were also not used to catching or hunting for their food. They did not know how to track a deer or where to find the best fish. But then help came.

Thanksgiving History: The Pilgrims Meet the Indians

The Pilgrims had seen American Indians near their village, but the Pilgrims had not spoken to them. That changed on Friday, March 16, 1621. An American Indian named Samoset came to their village. He greeted them saying, “Welcome, Englishmen.” The Pilgrims were very surprised to learn that Samoset spoke English fishermen who came to America each year to fish.

Samoset spoke with the Pilgrims. He knew the area well. There had been an Indian village there, but it had been wiped out by disease. Samoset returned a few days later. This time, he brought a friend named Squanto. Like Samoset, Squanto also spoke English.

Squanto helped the Pilgrims. He stayed with them for several months. Their new Indian friend knew whic crops would grow. Squanto gave the Pilgrims seeds for corn, squash, and pumpkins. Other vegetables were planted too. He taught them to bury a dead fish wherever they planted seeds. Theis fed the soil and helped the plants to grow.

Squanto took the Pilgrims into the forest. The men learned to hunt for deer, rabbits, and wild turkeys. Squanto also taught them to make good use of the waters in the area. Before long, the PIlgrims were trapping lobsters and digging for clams.

The women and children gathered wild fruits and berries. They learned which were good to eat and which were poisonous. The Indians had used herbs and plants as medicines for a long time. Now, the Pilgrims used them, too.

The Pilgrims might not have survived that first year without Squanto’s help. But with it they succeeded. By fall 1621 the Pilgrims had a rich harvest. There was enough food for the coming winter. They decided to celebrate with a feast.

Thanksgiving History: The Pilgrims and Indians Have a Feast

William Bradford was the Pilgrims’ governor. He invited Squanto to the feast. Governor Bradford also told Squanto to bring some friends. To the Pilgrims’ surprise, ninety Indians showed up. They did not come empty-handed, though. The Indians brought five deer, so there was plenty of food for everyone.

The foods they ate that day are not what many of us eat at Thanksgiving today. There was venison (deer) that the Indians brought and wild turkey. The Pilgrims hunted rabbits, ducks, and geese, which were probably also served. Eel, codfish, sea bass, and clams were probably other foods at the feast.

There was no pumpkin pie. The Pilgrims’ supply of flour had run out. While they had no cakes or cookies of any kind, they did eat boiled pumpkin, wild fruits, and berries.

No one knows exactly the days when the feast took place, but it was probably sometime in mid-October. The feast lasted three days. The women cooked the food over outdoor fires. Everyone ate outside at long tables. The Pilgrims and the Indians played games. There were footraces, too. The Pilgrims showed off their skills with a musket, a type of gun. The Indians did nte same with a bow and arrow.

The Pilgrims enjoyed the feast. But they did not think of it as a time for giving thanks. To them, giving thanks meant hours of prayer and fasting, not eating.

The harvest feast was not held every year. Some years crops failed and there was little reason to celebrate.

Yet, people liked the idea of Pilgrims and Indians sharing a feast. Over time, this harvest feast came to be known as the first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving History: The Making of the Thanksgiving Holiday

For many years there was no official Thanksgiving Day. Other New England colonies heard about the Pilgrims’ harvest feast. Some had their own Thanksgiving celebrations. But those feasts did not take place every year, and no special dates were set..

During the American Revolution, when the American colonies fought for freedom from English rule, several days were set aside for giving thanks. These days were usually after important victories. The first Thanksgiving Day for the entire country, however, was not until November 26, 1789. President George Washington ordered it, but the custom did not catch on.

In time, some states started their own Thanksgiving Day. New York was one of the first states to do so. By 1817, Thanksgiving was celebrated every year in New York. Other northern states did the same thing. Virginia was the first southern state to follow their lead. Thanksgiving Day became a state holiday there in 1855. The holiday was usually celebrated in November, but different states held it on different days.

People deemed not to see the need for a national Thanksgiving Day. But one woman did not feel this way. Here name was Sarah Joseph Hale. She is sometimes known as the “mother” of Thanksgiving.

Hale was a magazine editor. Every fall she filled her magazine with Thanksgiving stories, songs, and recipes.

Hale thought that Thanksgiving should be celebrated throughout the United States. So she began writing letters to governors and presidents. Support for her idea began to grow.

After many years Hale’s work paid off. IN 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared a day of Thanksgiving for the whole country. It was set on the last Thursday of November. Every president after Lincoln did the same. This custom continued for seventy-five years.

In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed the holiday to the third Thursday of November. This was a week earlier than usual. The president wanted to help American businesses. He hoped making the holiday earlier would make the Christmas shopping season last longer. But, the public did not like the idea of moving the holiday. People were not sure when to celebrate Thanksgiving Day. Some tried the new date. Others celebrated when they always had. Still others celebrated on both days.

Congress finally set things straight in 1941. Thanksgiving Day was declared a federal holiday. This means the United States government said it was an official holiday. The date was changed back to the last Thursday in November. On that day all government offices are closed. So are schools, banks, and most businesses. There is no mail delivery. In homes throughout the nation, people celebrate the day and give thanks.

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