The first Thanksgiving

_Elsa_

Tiffi decides to check out information on the first Thanksgiving. It doesn’t take her long to find some interesting information.

‘Colonists at the First Thanksgiving Were Mostly Men Because Women Had Perished - The three-day feast was about giving thanks, but it wasn't much like today's holiday. 

As families around the country prepare to gather with family, eat turkey and perhaps partake in some Black Friday shopping, they might be surprised to learn how much we don’t know about the origins of the Thanksgiving. 

Nearly all of what historians have learned about the first Thanksgiving comes from a single eyewitness report: a letter written in December 1621 by Edward Winslow, one of the 100 or so people who sailed from England aboard the Mayflower in 1620 and founded Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts. William Bradford, Plymouth’s governor in 1621, wrote briefly of the event in Of Plymouth Plantation, his history of the colony, but that was more than 20 years after the feast itself. 

According to this account, the historic event didn’t happen on the fourth Thursday in November, as it does today—and it wasn’t known as Thanksgiving. In fact, it took place over three days sometime between late September and mid-November in 1621 and was considered a harvest celebration. 

“Basically it was to celebrate the end of a successful harvest,” says Tom Begley, the executive liaison for administration, research and special projects at Plymouth Plantation. “The three-day celebration included feasting, games and military exercises, and there was definitely an amount of diplomacy between the colonists and the native attendees as well.” 

Let’s continue - It was a feast for a young crowd

Start at the beginning – Tiffi co-authors the Mayflower Story