History of Thanksgiving

The American holiday, Thanksgiving, has been celebrated since the year 1621. That’s nearly 400 years ago! 

 

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated on November 26, 1621. It started with a group of people, pilgrims, who sailed from Plymouth, England on the Mayflower to come to the new world. The Mayflower carried 102 passengers on its voyage but only 53 survived, due to disease and the cold winters overseas. After 66 days the ship landed at the tip of the  Cape Cod area, but should have landed much farther south, in the mouth of the Hudson River. A month later, they crossed Massachusetts Bay and began establishing their village, Plymouth, named after their town in England. 

 

After the harsh winter in the new land, they were greeted in english by a member of the Abenaki tribe and Squanto, a member of the Patuxet tribe, who was captured by settlers but managed to escape. They showed the malnourished and ill pilgrims how to grow corn, collect sap from trees, catch fish, and to avoid poisonous plants. They made allies with the Wampanoag tribe and learned how to grow more crops and hunt. 

 

After their first successful corn harvest, governor William Bradford the pilgrims hosted the first ever Thanksgiving feast. While we don’t know the exact menu, we do know that it had corn, fruit, and venison (deer meat). Because the pilgrims had no oven or stove on the Mayflower, we think that they used native american techniques to prepare the food. 

 

Two years later the same pilgrims hosted a three day religious fast that became the 2nd Thanksgiving. After the American Revolution, new president George Washington called for the first Thanksgiving proclamation to celebrate the end of the war and the country's independence. In 1817, New York along with several other states officially adopted Thanksgiving as a holiday. Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863 and was set to be held on the last Thursday in November. This was changed by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who moved the holiday up a week to save retail stores during the Great Depression. This was known as Franksgiving, the public was not in favor of this bill and eventually the president moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November instead. 

 

Do you celebrate Thanksgiving? 

 

What does your Thanksgiving meal consist of? 

 

What is your favorite Thanksgiving dish?

 

https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/history-of-thanksgiving 

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  • Both sides of my family celebrate thanksgiving, the food veries evey year. this thanksgiving i didnt even have turkey on my dads side. my moms side of the family there was not turkey left when i got to eat. i think my favorite dish is either all of the side dishes or the mashed potatoe and gravy.

  • I celebrate thanksgiving every year with my family. We always have turkey and mashed potatoes and other traditional foods that everyone has on thanksgiving. My favorite dish/meal is turkey, mashed potatoes, and stuffing, plus dessert

  • I didn't use to celebrate thanksgiving, because it really isn't a thing in we celebrate in Mexico, but my family has joined my uncles these past 2 years and I've really enjoyed it. Our families got together and we each assigned ourselves a dish, my uncle made the turkey, I made a cake, my cousin made mac and cheese, etc. it was really fun and I enjoyed doing it.

  • personally I celebrate thanksgiving with my family, it's always been a tradition along with most of the people in the country. Some people however believe that it's wrong to celebrate for various reasons. I'm only in it to spend time with family and have good food though.

  • My family and I celebrate Thanksgiving every year at my grandparent's house. My grandma makes the best Thanksgiving food for the whole family. My favorites at the table are mashed potatoes with gravy, corn, green bean casserole, and pumpkin pie for desert. Our family tradition is to make apple cinnamon cider and have it for desert after decorating our christmas tree with ornaments. 

  • This year was my first time celebrating Thanksgiving because we don't celebrate it in Germany. I really enjoyed it. I feel like it is a good occasion to get together with family and have a good meal. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn and different kinds of dessert for the thanksgiving dish.

  • Yes, my family celebrates thanksgiving. Some people make turkey, chicken, or some sort of beef like prime rib. Many people have mashed potatoes too. There are many different dishes. Some favorites are green bean casserole, pumpkin pie, and turkey or chicken.

  • Yes, I do celebrate Thanksgiving every year while spending time with family. We used to go to my grandparents' house, but now we stay at home and have our meals there while watching football. I personally like the turkey and the side dishes every year but I enjoy spending time with my family.

  • I celebrate thanksgiving every year with my family. We always have turkey and mashed potatoes and other traditional dishes that everyone has on thanksgiving. I personally like the turkey and the side dishes every year. My favorite dish at thanksgiving is the mashed potatoes.

  • Yes, I do celebrate Thanksgiving every year spending time with family. My meal usualy consists of some corn a roll and thats about it im not a big fan of turkey. I would have to say my favorite thanksgiving dish would have to be corn casserole sometimes it changes. I also really like the ham my grandparents make everyyear.  Personally Im not a big fan of thanksgiving food.

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