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The Pilgrims and America's
First Thanksgiving
The
Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing
religious persecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of
Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they
lived and prospered. After a few years their children were speaking
Dutch and had become attached to the Dutch way of life. This worried the
Pilgrims. They considered the Dutch frivolous and their ideas a threat
to their children's education and morality. So
they decided to leave Holland and travel to the New World. Their trip
was financed by a group of English investors, the Merchant Adventurers.
It was agreed that the Pilgrims would be given passage and supplies in
exchange for their working for their backers for 7 years. On
Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called
the Mayflower. They sailed from Plymouth, England and aboard were 44
Pilgrims, who called themselves the "Saints", and 66 others,
whom the Pilgrims called the "Strangers." The
long trip was cold and damp and took 65 days. Since there was the danger
of fire on the wooden ship, the food had to be eaten cold. Many
passengers became sick and one person died by the time land was sighted
on November 10th. The
long trip led to many disagreements between the "Saints" and
the "Strangers". After land was sighted a meeting was held and
an agreement was worked out, called the Mayflower Compact, which
guaranteed equality and unified the two groups. They joined together and
named themselves the "Pilgrims." Although
they had first sighted land off Cape Cod they did not settle until they
arrived at Plymouth, which had been named by Captain John Smith in 1614.
It was there that the Pilgrims decide to settle. Plymouth offered an
excellent harbor. A large brook offered a resource for fish. The
Pilgrims biggest concern was attack by the local Native American
Indians. But the Patuxets were a peaceful group and did not prove to be
a threat. The
first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. The cold, snow and sleet
were exceptionally heavy, interfering with the workers as they tried to
construct their settlement. March brought warmer weather and the health
of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Out
of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less that 50 survived the
first winter. On
March 16, 1621, what was to become an important event took place, an
Indian brave walked into the Plymouth settlement. The Pilgrims were
frightened until the Indian called out "Welcome" (in
English!). His
name was Samoset and he was an Abnaki Indian. He had learned English
from the captains of fishing boats that had sailed off the coast. After
staying the night Samoset left the next day. He soon returned with
another Indian named Squanto who spoke better English than Samoset.
Squanto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean and his visits
to England and Spain. It was in England where he had learned English. Squanto's
importance to the Pilgrims was enormous and it can be said that they
would not have survived without his help. It was Squanto who taught the
Pilgrims how to tap the maple trees for sap. He taught them which plants
were poisonous and which had medicinal powers. He taught them how to
plant the Indian corn by heaping the earth into low mounds with several
seeds and fish in each mound. The decaying fish fertilized the corn. He
also taught them to plant other crops with the corn. The
harvest in October was very successful and the Pilgrims found themselves
with enough food to put away for the winter. There was corn, fruits and
vegetables, fish to be packed in salt, and meat to be cured over smoky
fires. The
Pilgrims had much to celebrate, they had built homes in the wilderness,
they had raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming
winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. They had
beaten the odds and it was time to celebrate. The
Pilgrim Governor William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving to be
shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native Americans. They
invited Squanto and the other Indians to join them in their celebration.
Their chief, Massasoit, and 90 braves came to the celebration, which
lasted for 3 days. They played games, ran races, marched and played
drums. The Indians demonstrated their skills with the bow and arrow and
the Pilgrims demonstrated their musket skills. Exactly when the festival
took place is uncertain, but it is believed the celebration took place
in mid-October. The
following year the Pilgrims harvest was not as bountiful, as they were
still unused to growing the corn. During the year they had also shared
their stored food with newcomers and the Pilgrims ran short of food. The
3rd year brought a spring and summer that was hot and dry with the crops
dying in the fields. Governor Bradford ordered a day of fasting and
prayer, and it was soon thereafter that the rain came. To celebrate -
November 29th of that year was proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. This
date is believed to be the real true beginning of the present day
Thanksgiving Day. The
custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest,
continued through the years. During the American Revolution, (late
1770's), a day of national thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental
Congress. In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday. |
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