Thanksgiving is the time of year when you should be thankful for what you have. While most enjoy a big meal with their family, others prefer to stay home or hang with friends. Why do we celebrate this holiday?

The “New World”

The Mayflower ship left Plymouth, England in 1620 to journey towards the “New World”. They were traveling so they could celebrate their own religion. They landed far away from their intended destination after traveling for 66 days, but a month later they landed on the Massachusetts Bay. This is where they started to build their village and earn their title as “Pilgrims”.

Most stayed on board the Mayflower during the first winter, but they still ended up with only half of the original number of passengers. During the spring, they got an unexpected visit from the Abenaki tribe, and they could speak English! The tribe, after leaving for a few days, came back with Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe.

Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to do many things, such as extracting sap from trees, catching fish, cultivating corn, and many more. He also helped them make an alliance with a local tribe called the Wampanoag tribe.

The First Thanksgiving

November of 1621 arrived, and Governor William Bradford invited his Native American allies to a feast with the Pilgrims. They celebrated for three days, although we don’t know for sure what they ate. Some believe they used Native American recipes, but sadly, they did not have a type of dessert. The Pilgrims hadn’t brought sugar.