The Story of the First Thanksgiving
A look at the history of Thanksgiving and its first celebration in 1621.
From: 1620 C.E. To: 1621 C.E.
Location: Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States
Every year, across the United States, families take time to prepare and eat a Thanksgiving meal together. The story of how the holiday began has been told many times. After so many cartoons, school plays, and conflicting opinions, it can be hard to remember the Pilgrims as real, breathing people rooted in history. The true story of Thanksgiving is one of religious conflict, raw survival, and diplomacy in an unfamiliar land. Read on to learn more about the first Thanksgiving and how it has become such a staple of American culture.
Setting Out for the New World
In September, 1620, the ship Mayflower left England carrying 102 passengers and the supplies they needed to begin a new life. But who were these early settlers, and what drove them to leave their homeland? Common legend says they were seeking religious freedom, but the reality is a little more complicated.
Less than a hundred years before the Mayflower set sail, King Henry VIII had split with the Roman Catholic Church to form the Church of England. This move, to put it mildly, proved controversial. The Protestant Reformation as a whole sparked massive wars and toppled monarchies. In England, it led to an age where political and religious turmoil were inextricably linked.
This conflict also led to new religious movements, as each side tried to define the proper way to live and worship. Perhaps most influential of these were the Puritans, a Protestant sect that sought to further distance themselves from Catholicism. They believed that the Church of England still indulged in customs that promoted corruption and “paganism.” Among their targets was Christmas itself, which they saw as an excuse to drink and gamble. The holiday would be banned in New England from 1659 to 1680.
While most Puritans worked to reform the Church, others wanted to remove themselves from it entirely. Their Separatist beliefs were radical for the time, and so the “Pilgrims” of Thanksgiving fame were forced to flee their home country. After harboring in the Netherlands for a decade, the Pilgrims signed a deal with English investors in exchange for supplies and passage to the New World. Their ships, the Speedwell and Mayflower, first launched on August 5, 1620. The Speedwell, however, was so leaky that its members eventually all piled onto the Mayflower.
The First Year at Plymouth
At last, the Mayflower landed in Cape Cod on November 9, 1620. Its passengers made their way to shore with low supplies and little knowledge of the land. Their first winter was a cold and hungry one; about half died due to illness and nutritional deficiencies. The land they settled was all but abandoned by local Native American tribes, who had suffered a devastating pandemic several years before. Still, they found friends among local peoples, including the Wampanoag led by Ousamequin, who held the title Massasoit.
With the help of Native American trade, skills, and gifts, the bedraggled Pilgrims survived to see their first harvest in 1621. No wonder, then, that the survivors felt like celebrating.
What Was Served at the First Thanksgiving?
Despite its importance today, the original Thanksgiving was a small affair. As mentioned earlier, the Pilgrims were not overly fond of merrymaking. They were, however, still regular English people, who possess a long history of harvest festivals.
William Bradford, the governor of the colony, describes the feast very briefly in his history:
All the summer there was no want. And now as winter approached, there began to come in a store of fowl, with which this place did abound. Besides water-fowl, there was a great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, and also stored a supply of venison. They also laid in a peck of meal a week to a person, or, now since harvest, Indian corn in the same proportion. This made many afterwards write their friends in England such glowing accounts of the plenty they enjoyed; and they were not exaggerated, but true reports.
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One such letter still exists, written by Edward Winslow:
Our harvest being gotten in, our Governour sent foure men on fowling, that so we might after a more speciall manner reioyce together, after we had gathered the fruit of our labours; they foure in one day killed as much fowle, as with a little helpe beside, served the Company almost a weeke, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Armes, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest King Massasoyt, with some ninetie men, whom for three dayes we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed fine Deere, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governour, and upon the Captaine, and others. And although it be not alwayes so plentifull, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodnesse of God, we are so farre from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plentie.
From these accounts, we can see the basics of Thanksgiving taking shape. Families coming together to express gratitude, while eating a ton of turkey, are fundamental to the holiday. The Pilgrims were, however, missing the ingredients for modern favorites like sweet pies, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. They also ate a few foods that might look strange on a Thanksgiving table today, such as lobster, venison, and pigeon.
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Thanksgiving as a National Holiday
Thanksgiving persisted as a local harvest holiday in New England before being nationally recognized by Abraham Lincoln in 1863. Christmas became a national holiday seven years later, in 1870. Since then, Thanksgiving has spread and evolved to suit each family’s tastes. Tables around the country are now adorned with everything from corn pudding and mac and cheese to tofurkey.
How does your family celebrate Thanksgiving, and what does it mean to you?
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Sources
Bradford, William. History of Plymouth Plantation. Effingham Maynard & Co., 1890.
McKenzie, Robert Tracy. The First Thanksgiving: What the Real Story Tells Us About Loving God and Learning from History. InterVarsity Press, 2013.
Nissenbaum, Stephen. The Battle for Christmas. Vintage Books, 1997.
Winslow, Edward. Mourts Relation, or, Journal of the Plantation at Plymouth. Edited by Henry Martyn Dexter, J.K. Wiggin, 1865.
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