The History of Thanksgiving: From Harvest Feast to Family Tradition

Thanksgiving is more than just turkey and pumpkin pie—it's a celebration with deep roots stretching back four centuries in American history! Let's explore how a simple harvest celebration between two different cultures grew into one of America's most beloved holidays.

The First Harvest

The story begins in the early 1620’s, when a ship called the Mayflower carried 102 passengers—later known as the Pilgrims—across the Atlantic Ocean to start a new life in North America.

After a difficult journey, they established Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts.

The Pilgrims' first winter was brutal. Many remained on the ship where disease spread quickly. By spring, only half of the original passengers and crew survived. Thankfully, help arrived in the form of an English-speaking Native American liaison named Squanto (Tisquantum) from the Patuxet tribe of the Wampanoags. He helped forge an alliance between the colonists and the local Wampanoags who were led by Chief Massasoit, and taught the colonists how to:

• Cultivate corn

• Extract sap from maple trees

• Catch fish in the rivers & sow and fertilize native crops

• Avoid poisonous plants

• How to trade fur

  
  

In November 1621, after their first successful corn harvest, Governor William Bradford organized a celebratory feast and invited their Native American allies. Chief Massasoit arrived with 90 men, and the celebration lasted for three days! This is what we now consider the "First Thanksgiving", even though it was really more of a large meal to celebrate a successful harvest and a newly formed alliance, and not the sort of Thanksgiving we imagine today.

What Was Really on the Menu?

Forget the cranberry sauce and sweet potato casserole! The First Thanksgiving menu looked quite different from our modern feast. While we don't have a complete record, historians believe the meal included:

• Wildfowl (like duck and geese, possibly turkey)

• Venison (deer meat) brought by the Wampanoag

• Seafood like fish, eels, and shellfish

• Corn (likely prepared as a porridge)

• Vegetables such as beans, onions, and squash

• Wild fruits and nuts

Notably missing? Potatoes weren't yet common in North America, and they didn't have ovens for pies or bread. And sorry, kids—no marshmallows on sweet potatoes!

From Harvest Celebration to National Holiday!

After what most know as the “First Thanksgiving”, similar celebrations occurred irregularly throughout the colonies, usually as days of prayer thanking God for blessings like good harvests or military victories. Different colonies and states celebrated on different days, and in the beginning some celebrations weren’t even in November! Nonetheless, the path to becoming a national holiday was long:

• President George Washington proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December of 1777 as a victory for defeating the British at the Battle of Saratoga in the American Revolutionary War

• The Continental Congress designated days of thanksgiving, prayer, and humiliation from 1774-1789

• In 1789, President George Washington furthermore issued the first Thanksgiving Day proclamation designated by the national government of the United States of America

• President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799

• James Madison, in 1813, declared the holiday at the close of the War of 1812

• In 1817, New York became the first state to adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday appointed by NY governor De Witt Clinton

• By the 1830s, many states celebrated their own Thanksgiving holidays

The person who deserves the most credit for making Thanksgiving a national holiday is Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular women's magazine "Godey's Lady's Book." For 36 years, she published editorials and wrote letters to politicians advocating for a national Thanksgiving holiday.

Her persistence paid off in 1863, during the Civil War, when President Abraham Lincoln finally proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November. In 1941, Congress officially established Thanksgiving as a national holiday on the fourth Thursday of November.

Thanksgiving Traditions Through Time...

Thanksgiving traditions have evolved significantly over the centuries:

• 1800s:

  • Religious services were most common to give thanks

  • Family gatherings became important

  • No work on Sundays

  • Turkey became the centerpiece of the meal

  • Regional foods developed (like cornbread in the South)

• Early 1900s:

  • Parades began (Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade started in 1924)

  • Football games became associated with the holiday

  • The meal became more standardized across the country; turkey, mashed potatoes, beans, pie, etc.

• Modern Era:

  • Black Friday shopping emerged

  • Television specials became part of the tradition

  • Volunteering and charity work gained importance

  • New traditions like "Friendsgiving" developed

  • The Spirit of Thanksgiving: Coming Together

    
    

What makes Thanksgiving special is how it brings people together. The First Thanksgiving represented a moment when two very different cultures—European colonists and Native Americans—came together in peace and cooperation.

This initial celebration reminds us of the possibility of different groups finding common ground.

Today, Thanksgiving continues to be a time when families and friends gather, when differences are set aside, and when we focus on gratitude. It's a holiday that has evolved but maintained its core purpose: to pause, reflect, and give thanks for the blessings in our lives.

Teach Your Little Turkeys Some Fun Thanksgiving Facts!

• Americans eat about 46 million turkeys every Thanksgiving!

• The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade didn't feature balloons—it had live animals from the Central Park Zoo!

• Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey, not the bald eagle, to be America's national bird

• The tradition of breaking the wishbone for good luck came from the Etruscans of ancient Italy

• TV dinners were invented because someone at Swanson misjudged how many turkeys would sell for Thanksgiving in 1953

  
  

Whether you're enjoying turkey with all the trimmings, watching the parade, cheering for your favorite football team, or simply spending time with loved ones, remember that you're participating in a tradition that connects us across generations and cultures.

Happy Thanksgiving!