Thanksgiving
Table of Contents
Introduction………………………………………………….. page 2
The Exciting Feast…………………………………………. page 3
Challenging Plymouth……………………………………. page 5
Fascinating Then and Now………………………………. page 8
Conclusion……………………………………………………. page 11
Glossary……………………………………………………….. page 12
Sources………………………………………………………… page 13
Introduction
Children were laughing. The sweet smell of corn on the cob filled the air. Pilgrims and Native Americans sat down to celebrate the harvest with a feast that is now known as Thanksgiving. This well know holiday is a celebration that has been celebrated for over 100 years! This tradition started in the colonial town of Plymouth, in present-day Massachusetts. Thanksgiving may have to do with many things, but the feast was definitely the most rewarding part. Today, people celebrate Thanksgiving all around North America, but this tradition has definitely changed over time.
The Exciting Feast
Squanto
Squanto was a Native American from the Wampanoag tribe that lived near Plymouth. He showed the Pilgrims how to plant corn, catch fish, and hunt. Many people believe that Squanto was very helpful to the Pilgrims, and the harvest would probably never have happened without him. Also, Squanto had helped Massasoit, the Wampanoag tribe leader, keep peace with the Pilgrims by signing a peace treaty. So when the Pilgrims collected the first fall harvest, they decided to invite Squanto and the Wampanoag tribe to the feast because if Squanto had not helped the Pilgrims, there would not be any harvest to celebrate.
What They Ate
Everybody sat down for the feast. The Pilgrims sat in chairs and the Wampanoags sat on the ground. The women brought out the food. And the sweet smell of cranberries and fresh baked corn bread filled the air and friendly smiles were on every face. On Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims and the Wampanoags ate things like wild turkey, cranberries, pumpkins, wild geese, lobsters, eel, clams, oysters, corn, deer, fresh fish, and vegetables. The Native Americans brought 5 deer to the feast. Besides that, the Pilgrims supplied basicly everything else. Researchers think that it must have taken a very long time to gather all of the food because there were about 50 Pilgrims and about 90 Native Americans. So there was around 140 people at the feast. It is interesting to note that the Native Americans ate on the ground and only the women served the food.
“William Bradford dominated political life in Plymouth for a generation, being elected thirty times between 1621 and 1656.” This quote from Encyclopedia.com supports that William Bradford was the leader of the Pilgrims, so he was probably the leader of the first Thanksgiving.
Challenging Plymouth
England
Imagine not having the freedom of your own religion, and being forced every Sunday to go to the same church as everybody else in England. Some people think that the Pilgrims and King James of England had a fine relationship with each other, but actually, the Pilgrims had an unpleasant relationship with King James. This is really why the Pilgrims traveled to the New World, in present-day North America. The reasoning behind the bad relationship between the Pilgrims and England was because King James had a rule that everyone had to belong to the Church of England and the Pilgrims wanted religious freedom. So the Pilgrims left in search of a place to live. You might think that they purposely sailed to Plymouth, Massachusetts, but they were trying to sail to Virginia, which was already colonized.
Geography and Climate
Plymouth has extremely cold temperatures during the winter because it is on the Atlantic Ocean. Even though the winter is so cold, being on the Atlantic Ocean makes the air during the summer hotter than many places because of the humidity. Also, the colonists probably had to worry about hurricanes because they were on the ocean. The land then was covered in hills and forests. Because of the geography and climate, this was a challenging place to live, so not all of the Pilgrims survived. The effect of this was that there were only 4 women at the first Thanksgiving, because many had died.
The Mayflower Compact
The Mayflower Compact was an agreement to help keep peace between the Pilgrims. The Mayflower Compact was made on the Mayflower, one of the ships the Pilgrims sailed on to get from England to Massachusetts. “The Mayflower set sail from England in July 1620, but it had to turn back twice because Speedwell, the ship it was traveling with, leaked. After deciding to leave the leaky Speedwell behind, the Mayflower finally got underway on September 6, 1620.” This quote from www.plimoth.org shows that the Mayflower wasn't originally the only ship to try to sail to the New World, present-day North America. The Compact definitely helped the Plymouth Colony become the most peaceful colony so far. Many Historians think that the Mayflower Compact was a very smart idea of government because it helped them keep order. The Mayflower compact was connected to Thanksgiving because if the Pilgrims had not made this compact, they probably would not have been as peaceful to each other and the Wampanoag tribe.
Fascinating Then and now
Then
You might think that Thanksgiving was always the same date, but no one actually knows exactly when the first Thanksgiving happened. Historians believe it was held sometime in 1621 between mid-September, and mid-November. The first Thanksgiving was an outdoor feast that lasted 3 fun filled days. There were only 7 small houses in the colony at the time, so that is why they had to eat outside. This letter from www.plimoth.org is to a friend in England from Pilgrim, Edward Winslow, describes interesting details of the event:
Now
Everybody sits down at the dinner table to give thanks. My aunt brings out her Thanksgiving china. We see family members that we have not seen for a very long time. Then we all say what we are thankful for. Now, Americans and Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving inside of their homes with their families, and eat things like turkey and stuffing. Some people think that Thanksgiving has always been called Thanksgiving, but it used to just be called a harvest festival. Today, Thanksgiving only lasts 1 day each year. And many families spend some of the time saying what they are thankful for, giving the holiday a true meaning besides just sharing food.
What is Different
Many things have changed about this holiday over time, but most of all the food choices have changed, because nobody eats eel at Thanksgiving anymore. Also, the date has changed, and where it is celebrated has changed. It is now an official federal holiday. And even the length of the holiday has changed.
Conclusion
Thanksgiving is definitely an important holiday. Many Americans must think it is amazing that Thanksgiving has been a holiday for nearly 100 years and was celebrated in 1621 but was not officially a holiday until 1863. Thanksgiving is a very important event that sets an example of teamwork for North America today. In addition, this event would not have been possible if King James had never been as strict. Furthermore, Thanksgiving has changed over ti
Glossary
Fowling: Hunting or trapping of wild fowl, game birds.
Dominated: Have a commanding influence on, or to be in charge.
Compact: A formal agreement between 2 or more parties, or states.
Federal: Relating to the central government of the United States of America.
Treaty: A formally concluded agreement between countries.
Bestowed: Confer or present with an hour, right, or gift.
Underway: The moving of a boat through the water.
Definitions from Google
Sources
ferrebeekeeper.wordpress.com
