Thanksgiving: The Real Story

The American Holiday of Thanksgiving Has a Long, Varied History.

We owe many of our Thanksgiving holiday traditions to a group of devoutly religious people from England and the Native American people who helped these English immigrants when they stepped off their boat in the state we now call Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims (Puritans) Left England for Religious Reasons and Arrived in America on November 21, 1620

The Pilgrims had left England so they could practice their own religion without interference from the English government. At first, they moved to the country of Holland, and lived there for twelve years before deciding their children were becoming more Dutch than the Pilgrims thought fitting.

A Stormy Crossing of the Atlantic OceanThe Pilgrims decided to come to a new place they had heard about: America. They made plans to sail to the Jamestown Colony in Virginia, which had been settled thirteen years earlier in 1607. (Some experts say they were going to New York.) Sailing aboard for The New World were 101 men, women, and children, and the crossing took 66 difficult days.

The Mayflower Almost Sunk During a Storm

During a terrible storm the main support beam in the Mayflower broke, and the ship would have sunk without a smart idea from one of the Pilgrims. They had a printing press with them for the New World. They took a large iron piece from the printing press and jacked the heavy beam back in place. The sailors could then splice the beam back together.

The Storm Blew The Mayflower Far Off Course

Modern Replica of the Mayflower

Mayflower Compact

• During their voyage to America, the Pilgrims decided they would need some type of laws to govern their lives. They wrote and signed the Mayflower Compact, which spelled out the rules that would govern them.

Welcomed by Wampanog Indians

• Two Indians came to welcome them, Samoset and Squanto. The Pilgrims were given the land for settlement because four years earlier the tribe that has lived there had all died of “Indian Fever,” probably smallpox.

No Plans for New England

The First Winter

The Pilgrims had not planned to land so far north, and they expected the settlers in Jamestown, Virginia, to care for them until they were able to care for themselves. Due to the storm, they had landed hundreds of miles north of their destination. They did not have food, or warm clothing, or a shelter from the cold. They hoped the Captain would anchor the Mayflower, and allow them to use it for shelter, but he sailed back to England. They were left to their fate. That winter over, half of them died.

The First Summer

• That first spring, Squanto and Samoset returned and took pity on the remaining Pilgrims. They show them how to plant crops that would grow that far north; gather fruit and nuts; and fish and hunt.

Game and Food Were Plentiful

Harvest Time

• When autumn arrived, the Pilgrims were blessed with a bountiful harvest. They would not starve this oncoming winter, so they planned a great feast to celebrate with the Indians who had helped them in so many ways.

The Feast of Thanksgiving

The Indians arrived with over a hundred guests, but they brought lots of food with them. The Indians and the Pilgrims gave thanks, ate, played games, and

enjoyed each others company for three days

Today We Celebrate This Feast with Our Own Traditions

The End