Thanksgiving is a warm and fun holiday celebrated by millions of Americans. Though most people know of pilgrims and the Native Americans, it’s a surface-level understanding of one of the most widespread holidays of our country. Our celebrations’ history may be more interesting than one might think!
It all started back in England. Until about 1534, England was a Roman Catholic nation. That is until King Henry VIII made himself the head of a new church, the Church of England, though many were unhappy with this. Some people, who are now called Puritans, wanted the new religion to be like one of the first christians, others wanted a whole other religion all together and were called Separatists.
This view was very illegal at the time and caused many to be fined or jailed. Finally, after having enough, they first fled to the Netherlands. However, the Netherlands wasn’t what they were hoping for. They left their friends and family behind and had to work a lot to stay afloat, even children. On top of that, they were worried that the Dutch and Spanish would go to war. Tensions got so high they fled again, this time to America (WWP).
In 1620 settlers from the Mayflower arrived in the new world, with 101 people setting foot onto land they had never seen. Although they were originally headed for New York, weather caused them to arrive in Massachusetts. After settling in, a leader of the Wampanoag tribe named Squanto visited the Puritans. He was able to communicate due to talking to settlers before. He taught them to grow and hunt how his people had for many years before.
They eventually came up with an agreement to protect each other from other tribes. They had to work quickly to gather food and supplies for the upcoming winter, including hunting for meat. While hunting, they accidentally scared the Wampanoag tribe into thinking they were attacking. A leader sent out men to investigate, only to realize it was a misunderstanding. They ended up helping the pilgrims and had a feast. This feast had corn, deer, shellfish, and other kinds of meat (NGK).
Many years later in 1789, President Washington proclaimed the first national day of Thanksgiving. President Abraham Lincoln made it official, so that every fourth Thursday of November was Thanksgiving (NG). This holiday’s history is an interesting one, from the Puritans to the Wampanoag. This year, whether you’re surrounded by friends or family, you can think back to the pilgrims who started thanksgiving all those years ago.
Written by Eden Crandall
Works Cited:
(NGK) National Geographic Kids, “The First Thanksgiving”
(WWP) Plimoth Patuxet,“Who Were the Pilgrims?”
(NG) National Geographic, “How the traditional Thanksgiving feast has evolved over centuries”