The History of Thanksgiving

The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in the year 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast together.  The first Thanksgiving feast was never repeated so it was not the start of a tradition.  The colonists did not even call it Thanksgiving.  To them, Thanksgiving was a religious holiday in which they would go to church and give thanks to God for a specific event.  The feast was a secular celebration so it would not have been considered a thanksgiving in the pilgrims minds.  On a religious day such as this, the activities that the colonists and Wampanoag  Indians participated in (dancing, singing, and games) would not have been allowed.

The original feast occurred sometime between September 21st and November 11th.  Their feast lasted three days long, much unlike our Thanksgiving holiday.  The event was based on English harvest festivals.  After the first harvest was completed by the colonists, Gov. William Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer shared by the colonists and neighboring Indians.  In the year 1623, a day of fasting and prayer during a drought was changed to a day of thanksgiving when rain finally came during their prayers.  Gradually the custom prevailed in New England of celebrating thanksgiving after the annual harvest. 

During the American Revolution an annual day of thanksgiving was suggested by the Continental Congress.  New York State adopted Thanksgiving as a yearly holiday in 1817.  By the middle of the 19th century, many states had done the same thing.  In the year of 1863, President Abraham Lincoln appointed a day of thanksgiving as the last Thursday in November.  Since that time, each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation.  In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the day for Thanksgiving to be the fourth Thursday in November.

Venison and wild fowl are the only two foods that historians know were on the menu at the Thanksgiving feast.  Vegetable dishes were not really a large part of the pilgrims feast because depending on the time of year, many vegetables were not available to the colonists.  It is likely that the colonists did not have pies or sweets at the feast because the supply of sugar they may have brought with them on the Mayflower had dwindled.

Fortunately for us we celebrate our Thanksgiving holiday with various pies and sweets. :)  No matter how you celebrate your holiday this year, enjoy your three days off of school and don't eat too much turkey!
Happy Thanksgiving!

Last Updated: November 27, 2007
By: Adrienne Moser and Ashley Money