A Brief History of Thanksgiving by Giovanni Padin

 November 22, 2024

A Brief History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is a very popular holiday in the United States, but how did it come to be?

Back in the 17th Century, before our Nation existed (and Thanksgiving) our country was comprised of colonies. They were governed under the British and many groups settled around here during this time. 

The Groups of People

Many groups of people who migrated to these British colonies during this time came to seek out new opportunities that weren't previously offered to them in their native countries or for other personal reasons. One of these groups was named the Pilgrims. 

The Pilgrims moved to present day Massachusetts which would eventually become the later American state Massachusetts. The time they landed here was in the Winter, so survival became very rough for them as they were not prepared for the harsh conditions that winter offered in this part of the country.

The Wampanoag was a group of indigenous people who helped the Pilgrims by teaching them who to grow their own crops. The Pilgrims were successful with their harvest and they had celebrated by having a feast. 

The Wampanoag would join the Pilgrims in this feast by bringing their own food to this feast. After this, the feast would go on for three days and would later become what is known today as Thanksgiving!

Why???

But why did the pilgrims migrate to America?

The Pilgrims decided to migrate to America because they wanted religious freedom. 

During this time, the entire European continent was not known to be religiously accepting of other religions during this time. The main religion that dominated the entirety of European was Christianity. Other religions were commonly not respected or accepted during this time. 

Because of this, people who wanted to practice other religions in the region were not respected during this time because they were believed to not be as great as the Christian religion.

Due to these factors, it as hard for people to practice their own religions if they did not want to or did not want the Christian mindset. This was a common reason for many groups, not just the Puritans to go and travel to what was known as the “New World” during this time. The “New World” is simply a term that described the region the England colonized which would eventually become the United States. Another reason that people came to the New World was because they were afraid of being persecuted, which was a common occurrence for people that did not practice Christianity.

Without the Puritans migrating to the New World in the first place, Thanksgiving would have never become a thing in the first place!

What are Indigenous People?

What does the term indigenous people mean???

The term indigenous people is simply the term given to those who were Native to the land that was colonized by various European groups, such as the British.

Before the lands were colonized here, the people who were already living in the Americas had been living here for hundreds and hundreds of years prior to colonization. 

Because of this, the Natives were given the term, “Indigenous People” in honor and respect for those people who had been living on the land here for a very long time prior. 

To this day, we continue the tradition of celebrating these people each and every year in November. To this day we still celebrate the unique cultures and heritage that these people had a very long time ago.

Recognition

Many years later, Thanksgiving in the United States would officially be recognized as a National Holiday. This happened in 1941 under president Abraham Lincoln. Despite the holiday being formed from a certain religious group, Thanksgiving would become a day that the majority of Americans would celebrate and would continue to do so this day!

What are some of your common Thanksgiving traditions?

Works Cited

This article was made possible with information from the following:

Gaskill, Malcolm. “Pilgrims to the New World.” Bill of Rights Institute, billofrightsinstitute.org/essays/pilgrims-to-the-new-world.

“Thanksgiving.” Britannica Kids, kids.britannica.com/kids/article/Thanksgiving/353852.