First Thanksgiving held in 1621 or 1623?

The Pilgrims established their first colony in Plymouth, MA, in 1620. They built homes, storage buildings and a church during the first year of their arrival in the New World. By the time the cold, fall season set in, they decided it was time to celebrate.

From its beginning, Thanksgiving was a holiday affected by politics and disagreements of its official place in American history.

About 50 Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag Indians gathered sometime in November of 1621, the exact date is unknown, to celebrate the success of the colony. This was more of a political move on the part of the Pilgrims than what they considered a thanksgiving. A strict religious group, the Pilgrims believed that a thanksgiving was a gathering that included prayers and worship of God.

The Pilgrim leaders wanted to use the 1621 celebration as a way to cement the military alliance between them and the natives who undoubtedly saved them from starvation. The Wampanoag Indians showed the Pilgrims how to kill game for food and cultivate the land for crops. Massoasoit, supreme chief or king of the Wampanoag people, attended the celebration that lasted at least three days. William Bradford, the English governor, also was there.

The Pilgrim women didn’t attend the feast. Only the men participated in the several days of socializing and eating with the Indians. The women were delegated to cook the numerous meals consumed during the celebration. The two cultures exchanged gifts and played games.

All the celebrating was done outdoors. They didn’t sit at long tables that are often depicted in paintings and drawings. Most people at the celebration stood up to eat or sat leaning against trees. At night the Pilgrims went to their homes. The natives were left to sleep outside.

During the second day of feasting, the Pilgrims conducted a shooting contest among themselves. Some historians surmise the Pilgrims wanted to impress the Indians with their match-lock rifles that were loud and spewed large clouds of smoke from the black powder they used. This could have been a show of superiority by the Pilgrims who were concerned about the advantage of the American Indians who greatly outnumbered the new colonists.  

Two years later, Governor William Bradford declared the community hold a thanksgiving gathering that included all members of the group. As expected, the women still had to do the cooking. The second Thanksgiving in 1623 included religious celebrations, and the colonists used the time to thank God for their success in the New World. The 1621 celebration is usually the one recognized as the first Thanksgiving. After all, it did concentrate on eating and having fun rather than holding religious functions.
 

Turkey wasn’t on the menu for the Pilgrims. The bird didn’t become a staple part of Thanksgiving Day feasts for another 300 years. Wild duck was plentiful and a popular food the Pilgrims ate regularly. They also ate roots, squash, carrots, peas and corn that they grew themselves. Migrating fowl of several types were plentiful in the autumn. Lobster, mussels, clams and several kinds of fish were eaten at the feasts. The forest provided walnuts and chestnuts.

Fresh corn wasn’t available in the cold autumn and only dried corn was on the Thanksgiving menu. The Wampanoag guests provided a favorite of theirs called sobaheg. Sobaheg is a stewed mix of dried corn, roots, beans, squash and chunks of meat. Pumpkins grew wild but pies didn’t exist. 

Cranberries were available, but only in their natural form. Cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes were not invented yet. The friendly Indians provided several deer to the original feast. Venison was readily available and was a favorite food for the locals and the Pilgrims.

The first attempt to nationalize the Thanksgiving holiday occurred in 1789 when President George Washington proclaimed a day of thanksgiving. He issued his request on October 3^rd of that year. It didn’t become a national holiday until later.

Hoping to use any means to unify the country that was at the beginning of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed in 1861 that government offices would close on the fourth Thursday of November to celebrate Thanksgiving. The holiday became a national observance on Oct. 3, 1863. Prior to that, each state government scheduled its own celebration at different times in November.

Politics influenced the celebration period of Thanksgiving again in 1939. President Franklin D. Roosevelt agreed to move the holiday one week earlier to encourage citizens to begin their Christmas buying season sooner. The country was ending its worst economic decade, and the president thought the extra spending would help the weakened economy.

 Many state governments objected to the date change. Congress acted during a time of great turmoil in American history to move the official day back to its origin. On December 26, 1941, just 19 days after the bombing of Pearl Harbor that pushed the country into World War II, Thanksgiving was moved by law to its permanent place on the fourth Thursday. It became a calming effect on a very nervous population that was facing what became a world war.

Thanksgiving is often considered the favorite national holiday. It doesn’t have the pressure of buying gifts to exchange with family and friends. And it’s a quick holiday that doesn’t extend past two weekdays.

Thanks for reading this blog. Check here at the end of the month for another interesting topic. You can check my website at www.joevlatino.com where you can get information about my book of short stories, “The Device"

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