Thanksgiving

The Pilgrims, who celebrated the first thanksgiving in America, were fleeing religious persecution in their native England. In 1609 a group of Pilgrims left England for the religious freedom in Holland where they lived and prospered. After a few years there, they decided to travel to the New World. On Sept. 6, 1620 the Pilgrims set sail for the New World on a ship called the Mayflower. 

 The first winter was devastating to the Pilgrims. March brought warmer weather and the health of the Pilgrims improved, but many had died during the long winter. Of the 110 Pilgrims and crew who left England, less that 50 survived the first winter.

In 1621, after a devastating first year in the New World the Pilgrim's harvest was very successful and plentiful.  

The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long coming winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the neighboring Native American Indians.

In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving.


                                     



Watch this educational video which covers how Thanksgiving became a national holiday ( if you watch it on Youtube , you can follow an interactive script as well ).