This booklet depicts the culture of American history. It tells about the Thanksgiving holiday, which is a feast of thanks in the early days of the British colonies in America.
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2. A LMOST EVERY CULTURE in the world has held celebrations of thanks for a plentiful harvest. In the United States, Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and sharing. People gather with family and friends on the fourth Thursday in they arrived at a place on the bay where they found an abandoned Indian village. They settled there, and called the new home Plymouth. Their first year in the new settlement was very dif- ficult. Most of the Pilgrims, as they called themselves, November to enjoy a traditional meal and to give thanks had come from English towns, and did not know how for life’s many blessings. Even if to live in the wilderness. Many were family members live far apart they fearful of the forests. They were not will try to come together for a fam- skilled hunters because in England ily reunion at Thanksgiving. hunting was only for the aristocracy. The American Thanksgiving Common people were fined or pun- holiday began as a feast of thanks ished for shooting game. They had in the early days of the British col- arrived too late to grow many crops, onies in America, almost four hun- and their plants were not well suited dred years ago. In 1620, a ship to the climate. Their seeds of Eng- named the “Mayflower,” filled with lish wheat did not germinate in the more than one hundred people, new soil. In the first year, half the left England and sailed across the colony died from disease, and per- Atlantic Ocean to the New World. haps all would have perished if they Most of the travelers were from a had not received help and training religious group called “Separatists.” from the native inhabitants, the They had separated from the Church Wampanoag Indians. of England because they no longer In March of 1621, a delegation agreed with its beliefs. Separatists groups were out- of Wampanoag Indians, led by Massasoit, their mili- lawed in England, so they migrated to the Netherlands tary leader, arrived at the Pilgrims’ settlement. Their where they could practice their religion freely. Later purpose was to arrange an agreement with the settlers. they received permission and funds from England to The settlers would be allowed to stay on the Wampanoag establish a new colony in the New World. They had land in exchange for protection against a rival Indian intended to settle close to other col- group. Massasoit brought with him onists along the southern coast. an Indian named Tisquantuman, PREVIOUS PAGE: On Thanksgiving Day, families gather for But they sailed off their course and a traditional turkey dinner as they give thanks for life’s who knew some English and trans- landed further north in what is now many blessings. lated at the meeting. “Squanto,” ABOVE: Sarah Josepha Hale was a writer and women’s Cape Cod Bay, in the state of Mas- rights advocate who persuaded President Abraham as the settlers called him, stayed sachusetts. On December 21, 1620 Lincoln to proclaim a national Thanksgiving Day in 1863. with the Pilgrims, and was very F E D E R A L H O L I D AY S 47 T H A N K S G I V I N G D AY
3. important to their survival. He and other Indians this first Thanksgiving, the Indians are said to have even taught the settlers how to grow corn, a new food for brought popcorn. the colonists, and showed them crops that grew well in Until recently, school textbooks often presented the unfamiliar soil. He taught them how to fish and the story of the Pilgrims as one in which the Pilgrims dig for clams, and how to move quietly through the cooked the entire Thanksgiving feast, offering it to the forest and hunt game. “less fortunate” Indians. In fact, as we know now, the Throughout the year, the Wampanoag held festi- feast was planned in part to thank the Indians for vals to thank the earth for its many gifts. The Pilgrims teaching them how to live in the wilderness, and how were also familiar with festivals of thanks at harvest to acquire and cook those foods. Without the Indians, time in England. By the fall of 1621, the settlers were the first settlers would not have survived. learning to survive in their new home, and they har- vested bountiful crops of corn, barley, beans, and The Making of a Holiday pumpkins. They had much to be thankful for, so they Colonists continued to celebrate the autumn har- planned a feast of thanks and special day of prayer. vest with a feast to give thanks. After the United States They invited Massasoit who came with ninety others declared independence in 1776, Congress recommend- and, according to legend, brought turkeys and deer ed having one day of giving thanks for the whole na- meat to roast with the other game offered by the colo- tion. George Washington suggested the date November nists. There were also clams, fish, eels, corn bread, 26. Much later Thanksgiving become an official holi- squash, nuts, cranberries, and other foods at the feast. day, largely due to the efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, a From the Indians, the colonists well-known editor of the mid-1800s. had learned how to cook cranber- She had campaigned for many ABOVE: This traditional Thanksgiving dinner features a ries (small tart berries) and differ- roasted turkey with herb dressing and gravy, mashed years to make Thanksgiving a na- ent kinds of corn and squash. To potatoes, cranberries, and green beans. tional holiday. Finally in 1864, at T H A N K S G I V I N G D AY 48 F E D E R A L H O L I D AY S
4. the end of the Civil War, she per- giving. These symbols, as well as suaded President Lincoln, and he depictions of Pilgrims and the declared the last Thursday in No- vember an official Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Menu Mayflower, are found on holiday decorations and greeting cards. Day. In 1941, the fourth Thursday Roast turkey Autumn colors of orange, red, in November was proclaimed a stuffed with herb-flavored bread brown, and yellow are often used federal legal holiday, giving most in table or door decorations, people a four-day vacation from Cranberry sauce or jelly along with dried flowers, colorful work and school. White mashed potatoes with gravy gourds and “Indian corn.” All of Thanksgiving falls on a dif- or sweet potatoes these items represent the harvest ferent date each year. Therefore, Corn and the fall season. the President must proclaim the date every year as the official hol- Pumpkin pie Cranberries, which grow in bogs and marshy areas in the New iday. In the proclamation, the Mincemeat pie England states, are always on the President pays tribute to the his- Thanksgiving table today. The toric observance and the signifi- tart berry had many uses for the cance of the first Thanksgiving at Indians. It was sweetened to make Plymouth in 1621. a delicious sauce; it was used to fight infection; and the In the Thanksgiving spirit of sharing, it is common red juice was used as a dye for blankets and rugs. The In- today for civic groups and charitable organizations to dians called it “ibimi” or “bitter berry.” The colonists offer traditional Thanksgiving meals to those in need, called it “crane-berry” because the bent stalk reminded particularly the homeless. Communities take up food them of a crane, a bird with a long-neck. drives for needy families during the holiday. In 1988, a Thanksgiving ceremony of a different Glossary kind took place at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine plentiful: adj. a very large amount; more than enough in New York. More than four thousand people gath- harvest: n. the gathering of food crops ered there on Thanksgiving night. Among them were tradition: n. custom, belief, ritual, or practice, often Native Americans representing tribes from all over the from the past country, and descendants of people whose ancestors gather: v. to join together; to meet had migrated to America. reunion: n. meeting of a family or group, often to The ceremony was a public acknowledgment of the celebrate Indians’ role in the first Thanksgiving 367 years before. feast: n. great meal with a lot of good food, often for We celebrate Thanksgiving along with the rest celebrations of America, maybe in different ways and for colony(ies): n. a group of people living in a new terri- different reasons. Despite everything that’s tory with strong ties or links to their parent country; happened to us since we fed the Pilgrims, we the link is usually at the level of the government still have our language, our culture, our dis- New World: phrase. name given by early explorers to the tinct social system. Even in a nuclear age, we Western Hemisphere and specifically North America still have a tribal people. outlaw(ed): v. to make illegal —Wilma Mankiller migrate(d): v. to move, usually a far distance, to a new principal chief of the Cherokee nation place of location fund(s): n. money; financial support Symbols of Thanksgiving intend(ed): v. to plan; to have as a purpose Turkey, corn, pumpkins, squash, nuts, and cran- Pilgrim(s): n. member of a religious group that founded berry sauce are symbols that represent the first Thanks- a colony in North America F E D E R A L H O L I D AY S 49 T H A N K S G I V I N G D AY
5. Over the River and Through the Woods T H A N K S G I V I N G D AY 50 F E D E R A L H O L I D AY S
6. wilderness: n. wild area; nature a cause; to promote aristocracy: n. royalty; nobility; upper class persuade(d): v. to convince someone to do something fine(d): v. to charge a fee as punishment proclaim(ed): v. to declare; to announce publicly game: n. wild animals hunted for food or sport pay(s) tribute: v. phrase. to honor with praise and respect suit(ed): adj. matched; appropriate for food drive(s): phrase. an activity to collect food for the germinate: v. to sprout; to start to grow, such as a seed poor and the home-bound, sick people perish(ed): v. to die tribe(s): n. ethnic, genetic, or language group inhabitant(s): n. one who lives in a specific place or descendant(s): n. a person proceeding from an ancestor; region offspring of an ancestor delegation: n. official group or representatives ancestor(s): n. relative who lived in the past, such as rival: adj. competing; enemy grandparent survival: n. ability to live acknowledgement: n. statement or gesture that shows unfamiliar: adj. unknown; new appreciation clam(s): n. type of shellfish found buried in the sand or depiction(s): n. picture, drawing, or representation of mud something bountiful: adj. plentiful; producing a lot; abundant gourd(s): n. squash-like plant; the dried hollow shell of barley: n. a type of cereal used in making some bever- the plant’s fruit ages and soups Indian corn: n. phrase. dried corn with red, yellow, or pumpkin(s): n. large orange squash-like vegetable blue kernels, often used as decoration tart: adj. sweet and sour taste combined bog(s): n. wetland fortunate: adj. lucky; blessed; in part: prep. phrase. partly ABOVE: A cornucopia of grapes, corn, and pumpkins is campaign(ed): v. to push or advance a symbol that represents the first Thanksgiving. F E D E R A L H O L I D AY S 51 T H A N K S G I V I N G D AY
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