What's the History of Thanksgiving?

how our modern concept of Thanksgiving evolved. Okay, the story that a lot of us grew up within school is that the first Thanksgiving was a fall harvest celebration that brought together British colonists and Native Americans in what's now Massachusetts in the sixteen hundreds. And it does seem that something like this actually happened. Let's talk about the Pilgrims. In the early sixteen hundreds, a group of people in England broke away from the Church of England and left

seeking religious freedom. They wound up in the Netherlands, and from Amsterdam, one hundred and one people interested in a new life boarded the Mayflower and set sail for North America. They landed in December of sixteen twenty and established the Plymouth Colony along the coast of what's now Massachusetts. Their first year didn't go too well. They had landed in the winter, only about half of them survived to see

the spring. When they tried to grow familiar European crops from seeds they had brought, the crops failed, luckily for them. Some of the locals were interested in forging a treaty of mutual protection and well being. The Peduxit band of the Wampanog Confederation negotiated with the Pilgrims to basically leave each other alone, but also act as allies in defending against any attack on either group. One native man was really crucial in these negotiations, to Squantum, often known by

the nickname Squanto. He had actually been sold into slavery by European explorers a few years prior, but regained his freedom and made his way back to the Americas as an interpreter. It was thanks to him that this treaty happened in March of sixteen twenty one, and he also taught the remaining pilgrims a lot of survival skills, including how to grow corn. By that fall, they had a successful harvest, and around fifty three Pilgrims and ninety ptuxit

held a three day celebration of that bounty. The Pilgrim's hunted birds probably ducks, geese, swan, and pigeons, maybe even turkey, and brought in enough to feed the colony for a week. The ptuxit brought a heroic amount of venison. Historians think there might have been roasts and stews, a seafood like clams, lobsters, cod and eels, a bread or porridge made from cornmeal and fruit and vegetables like onions, carrots, turnips, greens, and

possibly even cranberriers or pumpkin. There was also beer and singing, dancing, games, races, and a bunch of firing of firearms. A Most of what we now know about that harvest festival comes from a letter that one of the pilgrim leaders, one Edward Winslow, later wrote to a friend. Similar feasts likely happened in any number of places at any number of times, though relationships between colonists and Native Americans were often strained, which

is understandable because colonialism is often horrific. But this one became enshrined in our concept of Thanksgiving due to the extensive work of one lady named Sarah Josepha Hale. About two centuries after the event. In the eighteen forties, Hale was the editor of a popular women's magazine called Goody's Lady's Book. She had author the nursery rhyme Mary had a Little Lamb, and she was witnessing her nation become more and more divided as it inched towards Civil War.

Back in the seventeen eighties, the Continental Congress had floated the idea of a national day of thanks but nothing had come of it. But Hale decided that this was exactly what the country needed. A Boston clergyman had found and published Edward Winslow's letter a calling the sixteen twenty

one feast the first Thanksgiving, and Hale loved this. She started publishing articles and recipes for families to create their own Thanksgivings, and in eighteen forty six she started a letter writing campaign to America's presidents asking them to make it a national holiday. She bugged Zachary Taylor, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and finally Abraham Lincoln. The idea finally caught with Lincoln because it was eighteen sixty three

and the Civil War was raging. He made a proclamation that all Americans should set aside the last Thursday in November as a day of Christian thanks for quote, the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies, and to implore God to again quote heal the wounds of the nation, and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquility,

and union. A. Lincoln and each president after him made a yearly declaration designating the holiday until Congress made it permanent in nineteen forty two as the fourth Thursday of November. But it was Sarah Josepha Hale's concepts about the holiday that caught on and stuck with us. She wrote these fictionalized accounts of the love and peace between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims. She created our modern image of the pilgrim. You know, black and white clothing, tall hats,

lots of big buckles. Those were actually fashions being worn by the Puritans, a whole separate group of colonists living up in Boston at the time, pilgrims might have had some similar formal wear, but were more likely to be in more casual clothing in a range of earth tones and bright colors. And Haile created our basic Thanksgiving menu that's persisted for going on two hundred years. Those dishes that we eat are what Victorian era Americans thought of

as fall feast dishes. Your roast turkey and gravy, roasted root vegetables, a stuffing or dressing, mashed potatoes, sugar sweet and cranberry sauce, and a custardy pumpkin pie baked in a flaky crust. Hale even dictated the day of the week a Thursday, to give home cooks time to prepare this feast between Sundays, as it was common for families to have big weekly Sunday suppers. Other traditions came along later. The first Thanksgiving Day football game happened in eighteen seventy

six when Yale played Princeton. The first Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade marched in nineteen twenty four. The first National Day of Mourning as an Indigenous and Allied observance of remembrance and awareness of the true history of colonialism was held the fourth Thursday of November in nineteen seventy. However, you may be observing this day, we hear a brainstuff whish

you piece and knowledge. Today's episode is based loosely on the article ten historical untruths about the First Thanksgiving on how stuffworks dot com, written by Chrisoffer, with additional material by me and Annie Reese, my co host on my other podcast Saver the brain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how stuffworks dot Com and is produced

by Tyler Klang. For four more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows,