Have you ever imagined what it would have been like to celebrate the first Thanksgiving?
In September of 1620, a small ship named The Mayflower left Plymouth, England, with about 102 passengers. The group included an array of religious separatists searching for a new home where they could practice their faith. They were at sea for 66 days before they dropped anchor near the tip of Cape Cod. Their first winter was brutal, and many of the colonists remained on the ship where they suffered from outbreaks of contagious diseases. In fact, only half of The Mayflower's original passengers and crew lived to see their first New England spring.
In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast, which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations. After everything they had been through and overcome, they certainly had a lot to be grateful for.
From generation to generation, the new Thanksgiving tradition continued, and two centuries passed with days of thanksgiving continuing to be celebrated by individual colonies and states. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be held each November. Historians are certain that wildfowl, corn (in grain form for bread or porridge), and venison were served at the "first Thanksgiving."
Edward Winslow, an English leader who attended the first Thanksgiving, wrote home to a friend:
Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days were entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others."Can you imagine what that would have been like? What's your favorite Thanksgiving tradition? Please tell us about it in the comments!
