ThanksGiving.
Uploaded by ninjanigga001 on Nov 18, 2011
Thanksgiving is also called “Turkey Day.” The First Thanksgiving Was In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast which is acknowledged today as one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations in the colonies. This harvest meal has become a symbol of cooperation and interaction between English colonists and Native Americans. Although this feast is considered by many to the very first Thanksgiving celebration, it was actually in keeping with a long tradition of celebrating the harvest and giving thanks for a successful bounty of crops. Native American groups throughout the Americas, including the Pueblo, Cherokee, Creek and many others organized harvest festivals, ceremonial dances, and other celebrations of thanks for centuries before the arrival of Europeans in North America.
Historians have also recorded other ceremonies of thanks among European settlers in North America, including British colonists in Berkeley Plantation, Virginia. At this site near the Charles River in December of 1619, a group of British settlers led by Captain John Woodlief knelt in prayer and pledged "Thanksgiving" to God for their healthy arrival after a long voyage across the Atlantic. This event has been acknowledged by some scholars and writers as the official first Thanksgiving among European settlers on record. Whether at Plymouth, Berkeley Plantation, or throughout the Americas, celebrations of thanks have held great meaning and importance over time. Thanksgiving Traditions didn’t start out as the feast with turkey, ham, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie that most of us think of today. First, imagine eating your Thanksgiving Day meal without a fork. Forks had not been invented at the time of the first Thanksgiving so I’m guessing they used their hands mostly. There is no hard evidence that they even had turkey as their main course, deer was the meat of choice back in 1621. Turkey didn’t become associated with Thanksgiving until later due to an excess of wild turkey roaming around New England; turkey also fed a lot of people. The other food items that have become an integral part of our holiday meal were not on the table at the first Thanksgiving. There were cranberries and pumpkin pie was made popular at the second celebration of Thanksgiving in 1623. The first feast was not repeated, so the pilgrims did not intend to start a tradition. The original feast was actually 3 days long and was not about family. It was a...