A Brief History Of Thanksgiving

Most Americans know the story of Thanksgiving. The pilgrims made peace with the local natives and had the first Thanksgiving dinner together. Sadly, this is one of the few cases that history gives us where white settlers and Native Americans were able to coexist peacefully. The pilgrims in the story were an assortment of people seeking a new home and religious freedom, though they likely did not call themselves pilgrims. While they did have a famous dinner to which many Native Americans were invited it’s also doubtful that they called it thanksgiving at the time the actual meal took place. The Thanksgiving holiday is one of the most interesting in our history particularly as some of these seemingly important details have been added over the years to improve upon the message of giving thanks.

The First Thanksgiving

The history of Thanksgiving as a holiday goes back to 1620. Late that year, the Mayflower, a small ship for ocean crossings, left England with over 100 passengers onboard. Some of them sought religious freedom in the new world and others simply were drawn by stories of the prosperity once could achieve in America. The journey to the new world lasted over two months. When they arrived, they found themselves well off course, near the tip of Cape Cod. They had been navigating for the Hudson River. They setup the colony at Plymouth on the other side of the bay over a month later. The settlers were ill prepared for the harsh New England winter and by the time spring came, they were down to about half of their original compliment.

That spring they met a Native American who spoke English. He introduced them to Squanto; the famous English speaking Indian who helped the settlers stay alive. He showed the otherwise hopeless settlers how to fish and hunt as well as how to grow corn and tell edible plants from poisonous ones. Squanto then introduced the settlers to a friendly local tribe called the Wampanoag. With the help of the Native Americans the settlers prospered and later that year, in November of 1621 the settlers were ready to celebrate the successful harvest of their first crop of corn. The settlers invited many of their Indian allies to the party. The celebration of that first harvest lasted 3 days and many dishes both from the settlers as well as Native American cuisine.

Modern Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving holiday has come a long way from its humble beginnings and that one harvest feast in New England. The settlers at Plymouth had another celebration two years later. The idea took and many New England settlements took up the holiday on an annual or occasional basis. Thanksgiving was celebrated during the American Revolution at least once and George Washington declared a day of thanksgiving in 1789 to mark the end of the Revolutionary War. The holiday was celebrated by different states at different times for many years to follow.

Making Thanksgiving An Official National Holiday

Before being adopted as a national holiday, Thanksgiving was made a state holiday in several states, beginning with New York. During this time, the southern states knew little of the holiday and did not celebrate it themselves. This all changed in 1827, when the writer of “Mary Had A Little Lamb” Sarah Josepha Hale decided that Thanksgiving should be a holiday celebrated by the entire nation as one. She began a program of letter writing in which she sent correspondence to all manner of politicians over a period of 36 years. In 1863, Abraham Lincoln fulfilled her request. He made thanksgiving a national holiday to be observed on the last Thursday of November. The holiday remained static until the great depression. In an attempt to improve retail sales, Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in the calendar. This change didn’t fly with the public however, and in 1941, he signed a bill changing it back to its original place on the fourth Thursday in November.

How Modern Thanksgiving Is Celebrated

While there isn’t any evidence that Turkey was even served on that first Thanksgiving, it has become a staple centerpiece for a holiday that has become less about giving thanks and more about gathering family and friends for a large meal. In fact, it is suggested that almost 90% of Thanksgiving meals include turkey of some form. Even vegetarians celebrating this holiday have created Tofurkey, a tofu turkey replacement for the day. Seafood, which was likely on the original menu is no longer commonly associated with the holiday. One of the largest changes in the history of Thanksgiving during the 20th century was the inclusion of parades to celebrate it. By far the most popularized Thanksgiving Day Parade is the one Macy’s sponsors in New York. It features huge balloons in the shape of popular cartoon figures and other celebrities and is televised. Typically, the parade receives a huge number of viewers via television and the internet, and many family gatherings are centered around watching the parade regardless of where the family resides in the United States.

Where To Find More information Online

There are many websites that offer additional information about the history of Thanksgiving. Some of the good places to start looking online are listed below.

History.com

A good synopsis of the history of Thanksgiving is given at http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving. It includes links to many of the important characters and places involved with the holiday.

Wilstar.com

Another site with a short, but well features history of Thanksgiving is http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm. It summarizes the history of the holiday into a fairly brief story.

2020tech.com

This site lists a few links but holds a wealth of information. It includes additional information such as a Native Americans take on the holiday. This information can be found at http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/.