The History of Thanksgiving in America

First Thanksgiving When Americans think of Thanksgiving, most recall the story of the Pilgrims and Indians at Plymouth Rock.

As the story goes, the Pilgrims arrived in America on December 11, 1620, completely unprepared for the winter they were about to face. Out of the 102 passengers that arrived on the Mayflower, 46 died during the first few months.

Despite the devastation, they had a good harvest, partly in thanks to the Indians who lived nearby.

They had a traditional British Harvest Feast in thanks to God for their survival, along with the provisions and blessings that would see them through the winter. They actually had more meat than vegetables, including venison, fish, and wild foul which may or may not have really been turkey, in contrast to our modern Thanksgiving menu.

Considering they did not have a lot of flour or sugar on hand, they probably didn’t have much in the way of desserts. They likely had boiled pumpkin, in lieu of pumpkin pie. The very first Thanksgiving feast lasted for three days.

For many years, Thanksgiving was not an annual event in the U.S. There was a drought in 1623, and instead of having a celebration the Pilgrims held a prayer service. When their prayers were answered the next day, they invited their Indian friends to join them in another Thanksgiving observance.

In Charlestown, Massachusetts June 20, 1676 was celebrated as a day of Thanksgiving. However, this was very different from the first Thanksgiving. This was to celebrate a victory over the Indians. In October of 1677, all thirteen colonies celebrated another victory, this time it was the victory over the British.

George Washington established the very first national Thanksgiving day in 1789 even though not everyone agreed it was good idea, including Thomas Jefferson.

What we know as our modern Thanksgiving didn’t come to life until 1863. Sarah Josepha Hale decided to promote Thanksgiving in her Boston Ladies’ Magazine and in Godey’s Lady’s Book. She also wrote letters to different presidents and governors.

Thanksgiving was finally established by Abraham Lincoln as the last Thursday in November. After being changed around a few times (to the third Thursday), Thanksgiving was established on its current date, the fourth Thursday of November, in 1941.

It has drifted away from it’s original focus of being thankful over the years. It has become a day to stay home from work, eat a lot of good food, and watch football. While none of those things are bad, we should all take the time to actually be thankful for our blessings, and let those that we are thankful for be aware of just how much they mean to us.

Truly be thankful this Thanksgiving for all that you DO have.

Popularity: 1% [?]