What is Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is a national tradition celebrated in the United States that happens every year on the fourth Thursday of November. It is meant to celebrate the harvest and blessings of the year.
When was Thanksgiving first celebrated?
It all started in 1620, after a small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England. That ship carried 102 passengers. They decided to move to America because they wanted to practice their religion freely. After an uncomfortable 66 days trip, they finally landed near Cape Cod, far north of their actual destination, which was the Hudson River. The Pilgrims, as they were commonly known, started to establish a village and during winter, they passed the time in the ships. During winter they were exposed to many diseases. Half of the passengers died after winter.
Time passed and they moved to the shore where an Abenaki native greeted them in English. Another native, Squanto, taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers, and avoid poisonous plants. After the Pilgrims had their first successful corn harvest, the governor of the Pilgrims invited the native Americans to a feast. That feast had lasted three days straight. After that feast, it was considered as the first American “Thanks Giving.”
What was served on the first Thanksgiving?
When the first Thanksgiving occurred, it didn’t have the same food we have the present day. On the feast they had contained waterfowl, venison, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash.