Thanksgiving and Thanksgiving Day

• In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgivingcelebrations in the colonies. For more than two centuries, days of thanksgiving were celebrated by individual colonies and states.
• Harvest festival observed by the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Americans also trace theThanksgiving holiday to a 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. The Pilgrims celebrated at Plymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1621.
• After 1890, representations of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag began to reflect a shift of interest to the 1621 harvest celebration. By the beginning of the 20th century, the Pilgrims and the Thanksgiving holiday were used to teach children about American freedom and how to be good citizens.
• Traditional foods are a large part of Thanksgiving celebrations. Many families include the entire family in the food preperation. Traditional foods include turkey, stuffing, gravy, sweet potatoes, cornbread, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce. Many people serve pie for dessert at the end of the meal.
• Since Bradford wrote of how the colonists had hunted wild turkeys during the autumn of 1621 and since turkey is a uniquely American (and scrumptious) bird, it gained traction as the Thanksgiving meal of choice for Americans after Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863.

Reflection: What are some things you are thankful for?

• I am thankful for everyone that celebrates thanksgiving because its kind of an important day for everyone.
• I am thankful for those that give out things on thanksgiving because they are helping out the community and others and that makes their day.
• I am thankful that thanksgiving is a holiday that gets the family together and keeps the family together and it makes mostly some of the family members happy.