The First Thanksgiving
There are only two references to the fall or harvest celebration that we
know today as the "First Thanksgiving." It is not known exactly when the
event occurred, but it was between September 21or 22 when a group of
Plymouth men returned from Massachusetts, and November 9, 1621, when the
ship Fortune arrived. "Mourt" refers to the name "G. Mourt" who signed the
dedication at the beginning of the book. It is thought that this was
George Morton, who arrived on the Anne in 1623. The tradition of the
Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving is steeped in myth and legend. Few people
realize that the Pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving the next year, or
any year thereafter, though some of their descendants later made a "Forefather's Day"
that usually occurred on December 21 or 22. Several Presidents, including George Washington,
made one-time Thanksgiving holidays. In 1827, Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale began lobbying several
Presidents for the instatement of Thanksgiving as a national holiday, but her lobbying was
unsuccessful until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln finally made it a national holiday with his
1863 Thanksgiving Proclamation. Today, our Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday of November.
This was set by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 (approved by Congress in 1941), who
changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (which could
occasionally end up being the fifth Thursday and hence too close to Christmas for businesses).
But the Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving began at some unknown date between September 21 and November 9,
most likely in very early October. The date of Thanksgiving was probably set by Lincoln to somewhat
correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred
on November 21, 1620 (by our modern Gregorian calendar--it was November 11 to the Pilgrims who used
the Julian calendar).
Foods Available to the Pilgrims
For their 1621 Thanksgiving
The following is a fairly complete list of the foods available to the Pilgrims during the three-day Thanksgiving harvest celebration. As can be seen in the above two quotations, the only foods specifically mentioned by the Pilgrims are: "corn" (wheat, by the Pilgrims usage of the word), Indian corn, barley, peas (if any where spared), "fowl" (Bradford says "waterfowl"), five deer, fish (namely bass and cod), and wild turkey.
FISH: cod, bass, herring, shad, bluefish, and lots of eel.
SEAFOOD: clams, lobsters, mussels, and very small quantities of oysters
BIRDS: wild turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and other miscellaneous
waterfowl; they were also known to have occasionally eaten eagles (which "tasted
like mutton" according to Winslow in 1623.)
OTHER MEAT: venison (deer), possibly some salt pork or chicken.
GRAIN: wheat flour, Indian corn and corn meal; barley (mainly for beer-making).
FRUITS: raspberries, strawberries, grapes, plums, cherries, blueberries, gooseberries
(these would have been dried, as none would have been in season).
VEGETABLES: small quantity of peas, squashes (including pumpkins), beans
NUTS: walnuts, chestnuts, acorns, hickory nuts, ground nuts
HERBS and SEASONINGS: onions, leeks, strawberry leaves, currants, sorrel, yarrow,
carvel, brooklime, liverwort, watercress, and flax; from England they brought seeds
and probably planted radishes, lettuce, carrots, onions, and cabbage. Olive oil in small
quantities may have been brought over, though the Pilgrims had to sell most of their oil
and butter before sailing, in order to stay on budget.
OTHER: maple syrup, honey; small quantities of butter, Holland cheese; and eggs.
October of 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving
celebration. It also commemorated the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga.
But it was a one-time affair. George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving
in 1789,
although some were opposed to it. There was discord among the colonies, many feeling the
hardships of a few Pilgrims did not warrant a national holiday. Here is his proclamtion:
Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey
His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and
Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to
the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by
acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially
by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety
and happiness:"
Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be
devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who
is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may
then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and
protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal
and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and
conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which
we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable
to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly
the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which
we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and,
in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.
And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to
the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other
transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our
several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government
a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional
laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and
nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments,
peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and
the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such
a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.
Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789.
(signed) G. Washington
And later, President Thomas Jefferson scoffed at the idea of having a day of thanksgiving.
It was Sarah Josepha Hale, a magazine editor, whose efforts eventually led to what we
recognize as Thanksgiving. Hale wrote many editorials championing her cause in her
Boston Ladies' Magazine, and later, in Godey's Lady's Book. Finally, after a 40-year campaign
of writing editorials and letters to governors and presidents, Hale's obsession became a reality
when, in 1863, President Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November as a national
day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was proclaimed by every president after Lincoln. The date
was changed a couple of times, most recently by Franklin Roosevelt, who set it up one week to
the next-to-last Thursday in order to create a longer Christmas shopping season. Public uproar
against this decision caused the president to move Thanksgiving back to its original date
two years later. And in 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday,
as the fourth Thursday in November.
Blessings,
Beryl