Turkey, football, parades – all conjure the image of Thanksgiving, a beloved American holiday celebrated with feasting and lazing about. The roots of the American Thanksgiving are blurred by beliefs perpetuated by elementary school plays, children’s books and movies. The first Thanksgiving was not, contrary to popular belief, celebrated by pilgrims in buckle hats, nor was it an event which caught on quickly.
On September 6, 1620, the Mayflower departed the port city of Plymouth, England for the American colonies. The pilgrims would land near Cape Cod, Massachusetts, but would not settle there, opting to travel to the settlement of Plymouth, so named by Captain John Smith in 1614 after the port city of the Mayflower’s origin. Plymouth was an optimal settling place not only because it was an established area but because the Native Americans which inhabited the territory were not hostile towards the Europeans.
Times were hard and the cold winter quickly set in, leaving the new colonists unprepared and facing a season of starvation. Their saviors were the nearby Wampanoag Indians who taught them the correct sowing and harvesting techniques for native vegetables and food. The following winter, the pilgrims had enough food to get them through the winter easily. It was at this time, in 1621 that the first Thanksgiving celebration occurred.
The tradition of celebrating a bountiful harvest was not new to the Indians of North America: Cherokee, Creek, Pueblo and other tribes enjoyed such festivities. In addition, the Thanksgiving celebration of 1621 did not recur for a few years, thus the tradition was slow developing.
Thanksgiving, according to the pilgrims, was actually a religious day spent in church and prayer which followed a significant trial. For example: a difficult voyage. While the celebration shared with the Wampanoag Indians was full of festivities such as games and dancing, the pilgrims’ traditional thanksgiving observances did not allow such revelry.
The Thanksgiving celebrated in 1621 saw long tables of pilgrims dressed, not in black and white with buckled hats, but in earth tones similar to the leaves falling about them, who scooped up their spiced meat with their hands and did not partake of desserts as are enjoyed today. The participants played games, danced and took pleasure in one another’s company, as the holiday’s observers do today.
The Truth about Thanksgiving Day
The original celebration of Thanksgiving, with its feasts and festivities, did not take place on the fourth Thursday of November, but likely occurred sometime between September 21 and November 11, lasting for three solid days. The observance slowly became an annual occurrence.
During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress suggested a Thanksgiving holiday, but it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln established Thanksgiving as a holiday which the entire nation celebrated. President Franklin D. Roosevelt then officially set the day for Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday of November.
Thanksgiving is a time to reflect on the year and remember what one is grateful for. The same was true in 1621 when the pilgrims celebrated their good fortune and a bountiful harvest. The first Thanksgiving is very similar in spirit to the holiday today.
May your Thanksgiving be a joyous event this year!
(Portions of this post originally posted by author at Suite101.com Oct. 24, 2008)
Mike Hankins
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History Minds 