In the Year 1620 It's Thanksgiving time again! And for most Americans, this holiday conjures up memories or anticipation of such traditions as the huge Thanksgiving dinner with cranberry sauce, someone carving the turkey, and the fight over who gets to pull the wishbone. It's a time we travel "over the river and through the woods" to celebrate with our families - to play ball with our siblings in the yard or to go watch the renewal of the local high school football rivalry. It's been that way for all of our lives. But have we always celebrated Thanksgiving? And how did the traditions associated with Thanksgiving evolve?
When the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, in late 1620, they were ill-equipped for survival in their new homeland. Grain brought on the Mayflower wasn't suited for planting in the rocky American soil. Planting techniques used in England didn't adapt well on this side of the Atlantic either. But, perhaps most devastating, the harsh winter reduced the number of settlers by half.
Invaluable help came from Squanto, also known as Tisquantum, a Wampanoag (wam pa NO ag) American Indian, who taught the Pilgrims techniques for planting and fertilizing that were appropriate for the rugged surroundings. With some seeds provided by Squanto, the Pilgrims planted corn, wheat, and barley in the spring of 1621.
By fall, realizing that their first harvest of corn and barley would be plentiful, Governor William Bradford declared a day of thanksgiving. At the three-day feast, the 50 settlers hosted 90 Wampanoag, including their chief, Massasoit. As was the Wampanoag's custom, they brought venison as a contribution to the meal. Not only was this festival a way to thank the Wampanoag, but it also served to boost the morale of the remaining settlers.
The next Thanksgiving celebration didn't occur until 1623, as the Pilgrims' harvest of 1622 was far from bountiful. In 1668, the Plymouth General Court declared that November 25th would be Thanksgiving - but this date didn't last. The first national Thanskiving didn't occur until 1777 and was perhaps tied more to celebrating the American's Revolutionary War victory over the British in the Battle of Saratoga than anything else. It was George Washington who declared Thanksgiving a national holiday with a Presidential proclamation in 1789. President John Adams followed turn; Thomas Jefferson did not. Whether to have Thanksgiving or not was left up to yearly Presidential proclamations until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln finally declared the last Thursday of November a national day of Thanksgiving.
For Americans, Thanksgiving represents the combination of different traditions of giving thanks. One was a long religious tradition of religious observences where people gathered to thank God for their lives and good fortunes. Another, more ancient tradition is to celebrate the bounty of a good harvest.
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