In 1621, English Colonists (Pilgrims) and Wampanoag Indians came together in Plymouth, Massachusetts, to celebrate the fall harvest. However, Thanksgiving as we know it did not officially become a holiday until 1863, when Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday and set aside the third Thursday of November for Thanksgiving. But most Americans consider the Plymouth feast as the first Thanksgiving. The colonists arrived in Plymouth in the December 26, 1620 and about half survived the bitter winter with the help of the Wampanoag Indians. The Wampanoag welcomed the settlers warmly and showed them how to survive the harsh winter and to live off the new land. The Pilgrims invited them to share in a fall harvest feast to thank the Indians for being so instrumental in their survival. However, the Pilgrims were in for a surprise when almost one hundred Indians came to the feast, luckily bringing with them plenty of food since the Pilgrims did not have enough for all.
The celebration lasted for three days. During that time, they ate food that was plentiful such as deer, wild turkeys, berries, corn, squash, fish and clams. The Indians and Pilgrims had a special friendship and understanding of each other and lived peacefully side by side. Unfortunately, the peacefulness between the two cultures did not last. As more and more English settlers arrived, the less help they needed from the Indians, the less respect they had for their cultures and land. The settlers disrespected the Indians by showing intolerance to their religion because it was not the same as what they practiced in England. Within a few years of the communal "First Thanksgiving" celebration, fights broke out over menial things and many were being slaughtered, all leading up to a war.
The "First Thanksgiving" started out as a simple thank you and a celebration of two cultures, but unfortunately what it leads to in history was not a cause for celebration. For the Wampanoag and other Native Americans it was the beginning of a sad future. Many do not think about the sacrifices that others have made to have such a feast and how thankful we should be to be able to celebrate it with our family and friends.
Pavika Wilson writes for Cleveland Party Decorating, Northeast Ohio's freshest studio for Thanksgiving Decorations and Holiday Decor.
Source: www.ezinearticles.com
