When Was The First Thanksgiving in North America? by Reggi Allder

Two quotes about Thanksgiving:

“Gratitude is when memory is stored in the heart and not in the mind.” Lionel Hampton

“If you are really thankful, what do you do? You share.” W. Clement Stone

The First Thanksgiving in North America

According to the Smithsonian, The World History Encyclopedia, and Joshua J. Mark, there is some debate about the date of the first Thanksgiving in North America. A thanksgiving ceremony was held on May 27, 1578, in Newfoundland, now part of Canada.

There is evidence of a celebration in the Jamestown Colony of Virginia in 1610. The time between 1609 and 1610 was called the starving time because of severe drought conditions. The settlers held a Thanksgiving prayer when English supply ships arrived.

However, most think of the Thanksgiving celebration in the US colonies as the harvest feast in 1621 by citizens of the Plymouth Colony Pilgrims and the Indigenous Americans of the Wampanoag Confederacy. These people taught the pilgrims to grow corn, beans, onions, and squash and helped them survive the first winter.

Though the pilgrims and native Americans had a complicated relationship, this 1621 celebration is credited as the beginning of the traditional yearly Thanksgiving holiday.

President Abraham Lincoln

In 1863, during the US Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln agreed to have Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. It is thought that President Lincoln hoped it would encourage unity in the country. In 1941 a congressional Joint Resolution officially set the fourth Thursday of November as a  National Thanksgiving Holiday.

 I wondered what the pilgrims ate for the first dinner. Many researchers decided that no turkey was served. However, historians think there may have been wildfowl, geese, ducks, and the like. Deer roasted on a spit was probably cooked, and perhaps venison stew as there were likely onions, beans, carrots, and corn. Succotash may have also been served. Sorry, there were no pies for dessert. :)

Today, pies are part of the festivities. My family always asks me to make pumpkin pies, but apple pie is popular at our house too. 

 

Do you have a favorite pie for Thanksgiving dinner? Please leave a comment and vote for pie with ice cream or without ice cream? 

 

Pumpkin Pie

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Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the day! Thanks for coming by. Hope you will stop by again. Reggi

Author of Small-town Romance and Romantic Suspense Novels