Thanksgiving is well known for a time to get together with family, eat, enjoy the holiday, and be thankful for everything in front of you. The history of Thanksgiving isn't always talked about in schools.. do you know the real history of how Thanksgiving came to be?
September 1620: A small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers—an assortment of religious separatists seeking a new home where they could freely practice their faith and other individuals lured by the promise of prosperity and land ownership in the New World. After a treacherous and uncomfortable crossing that lasted 66 days, they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination at the mouth of the Hudson River. One month later, the Mayflower crossed Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims, as they are now commonly known, began the work of establishing a village at Plymouth.
November 1621: After the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited a group of the fledgling colony’s Native American allies, including the Wampanoag chief Massasoit. Now remembered as American’s “first Thanksgiving”—although the Pilgrims themselves may not have used the term at the time—the festival lasted for three days. While no record exists of the historic banquet’s exact menu, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow wrote in his journal that Governor Bradford sent four men on a “fowling” mission in preparation for the event, and that the Wampanoag guests arrived bearing five deer. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. But, because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not feature pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations.
1623: Pilgrims held their second Thanksgiving celebration in 1623 to mark the end of a long drought that had threatened the year’s harvest and prompted Governor Bradford to call for a religious fast. Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common practice in other New England settlements as well. During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year.
1789: George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States; in it, he called upon Americans to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution. His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies.
1817: New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however. The American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition.
1827: The noted magazine editor and prolific writer Sarah Josepha Hale launched a campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday.
1863: At the height of the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, and it was celebrated on that day every year. Until....
1939: When Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. Roosevelt’s plan, known derisively as Franksgiving, was met with a lot of opposition.
1941: The president reluctantly signed a bill making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November. THUS...What we now celebrate as Thanksgiving.
The holiday of Thanksgiving has largely lost it's religious significance and more commonly focuses on cooking and eating together. However you choose to celebrate Thanksgiving this year- enjoy it.
** Information obtained from The History Channel: History.com Staff, Staff. "History of Thanksgiving." History.com. A&E Television Networks, 2009. Web. 18 Nov. 2016.
