Thanksgiving History

Thanksgiving is one of the biggest holidays in the United States. A time where family can get together with a few extra days off of work, and a time to give thanks for all that you have. Sometimes however, in all the hustle and bustle we can forget how Thanksgiving started. Let’s take a look back and recap what Thanksgiving is all about and why we celebrate this day of thanks.

Of course we know that it had something to do with the Pilgrims and the Indians, but what are the particulars? The Pilgrims were the original members of the English Separatist Church. They had escaped religious persecution by sailing to Holland but never really took to the Dutch way of life. In hopes for something more they later set out for America on the Mayflower. Most of the Pilgrims on the Mayflower were non-separatists; only 1/3 of them were the original separatists.

When they reached Plymouth in 1620 the winters were hard and fierce. Approximately forty six of the original 102 of the people died. The remaining colonists survived and continued to work on their crops until the next year when the weather turned in their favor. The Indians they had met during that year had given them aid in helping them survive the cold winter and harvest their crops. It is believed that they would not have made it through the year without the help of the natives. It was during the harvest of this following year when they decided to celebrate with a feast of thanks. This was more of a traditional English harvest festival rather than a thanksgiving observance; a celebration if you will. The celebration lasted three days while the Governor continued to send out various men fowling. It is believed that this is where the turkey comes into play as the term “turkey� was used by the Pilgrims to mean any type of wild fowl.

So although we eat turkey at thanksgiving the Pilgrims and Indians may not necessarily have stuck with that particular bird feast. Another tradition of Thanksgiving is of course the pumpkin pie. It is unlikely however that the first thanksgiving harvest festival included that delicious treat since supply of flour had diminished and bread and pastries were rarely heard of. However one tradition that we do know of that had to do with pumpkins is eating boiled pumpkin with a type of fried bread from their corn crop. There feast would have included other things like fish, berries, lobster, dried fruit, venison and probably some red or black plums. Although we continue to celebrate Thanksgiving every year, that first traditional harvest feast was not continued the next year. It wasn’t until 1676, following a severe drought that the Pilgrims along with the Indians gave thanks once again for the rain and their bounteous harvest.

Many different individuals, including several presidents tried to proclaim a national day of Thanksgiving unsuccessfully. It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor’s efforts that made Thanksgiving finally official. After a forty year campaign of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Thanksgiving finally would be nationally recognized as the last Thursday in November. It was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln with the date being changed a couple of times. In 1941 Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday; the fourth Thursday in November.

Knowing your history and how Thanksgiving started can help make the holiday more memorable and can make you a little more grateful for what you have been given.