Puritan Struggles

• The colonists who settled Plymouth Colony were English Protestants who left for the new world in order to break from the Church of England. Unable to reach their intended destination, the Puritans had to establish their colony in modern day Cape Cod in November of 1620. Dangerously low on provisions, the colonists took whatever supplies they could find, including those of the neighboring Wampanoag tribes, in order to survive the coming winter. By spring of 1621, nearly half of the original 116 settlers had died.
  
  

Wampanoag

• Determined to avoid the events of the previous winter, Samoset, the leader of the Abenaki people, visited the Plymouth Colony, and brought the English speaking Tisquantum (better known as Squanto) of the Wampanoag with him. Tisquantum taught the Puritans how to plant corn, use fish to fertilize their fields and hunt wild game in the area. By autumn of 1621, the colonists had stored enough food to survive the coming winter. In celebration, the colonists began planning a three-day feast to commemorate the occasion, and to remember those who had perished the previous winter.
  
  

Thanksgiving

• Drawn to the Puritan colony by the sound of gunshots, Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoag, brought 90 men with him to determine whether the English were preparing for war. When they arrived, Massasoit realized the Puritans were hunting in preparation for a feast, and dispatched some of his men to help collect game. For three days, the Puritans and Wampanoag people ate, sang, danced and played games. They feasted on foods such as roast goose, cod fish, lobster, corn, deer and cranberries. The spirit of today's Thanksgiving comes from this celebration of unity.
  
  

Historical Footnote

• The term Thanksgiving comes from the religious practice of giving thanks to God for the blessings received. Thanksgiving celebrations in colonial times occurred more frequently, and for a variety of reasons. The first recorded Thanksgiving celebration occurred in 1623 when the colonists gave thanks to God after a two-month drought had ended. It was not until 1846, when magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for a national Thanksgiving, that the 1621 feast became known as the first Thanksgiving, according to National Geographic Kids.