A day of thanksgiving has been celebrated around the world in many cultures for hundreds of years. Long before the Europeans came to the new world. This celebration has been celebrated by many as the harvest festival and the celebration of plentiful crops. Also in England there was a family ceremony called harvest-home where families gave thanks for the bountiful harvests.  And so  the Europeans who settled our  country brought these traditions with them.

There is written evidence in diary's and journals of the day that religious thanksgiving services were celebrated as early as 1607 in Virginia. There is other evidence that the first thanksgiving was a religious service performed on December 4, 1619 by 38 settlers on the Berkleley Plantation now known as Charles City Virginia.

Contrary to popular belief The Pilgrims who landed at Plymouth Rock in November of 1620 were actually driven off by angry Indians and they moved further south and landed at Cape Code. The Indians were more friendly there and the Pilgrims being on their last legs at this point decided to stay in Cape Cod.

The winter was extremely harsh and the settlers were  nearly wiped out by starvation, their lack of survivor skills and no time to build adequate shelters.  However, with the help of the Wampanoag and Patuxtet Indian Tribes they got through the first winter with about half of the people that had originally landed.

Throughout the rest of 1621 using the skills and agricultural knowledge of their Indian friends they were taught how to grow crops and protect themselves against the harsh elements. They of course brought with them the skills to build houses, barns, fences and other necessaries structures. The Indians also taught them how to hunt and fish as well as  grow the crops needed to survive.

The Indian tribes did indeed teach them well and by Autumn of 1621 the colonists had an abundant supply of pumpkin, corn, beans, peas and other crops. So the colony governor declared a three day celebration and the hunters went out and got enough game to feed the settlers and about 90 Indians. There is no real records to show if turkey was actually served although wild turkey was abundant in that part of the country. There is also not an agreed date that the celebration was held my research shows somewhere in November and as late as December 13.

An so a three day celebration was held and the settlers thanked their new friends for all they had provided for them. The celebration was a one time festival and was not celebrated the next year or the one after that.

Fifty Five Years later the Council of Charleston Massachusetts declared June 29 as a Day of Thanksgiving but it too only lasted a year.

Although not intended to be a perpetual annual observance, in October of 1777 a Day of Thanksgiving was proclaimed. Although it marked the first time that all 13 colonies were to join in such a celebration, it was equally a commemoration of the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga. Nevertheless, over time, the notion of a Thanksgiving Day began to spread to other New England colonies.

In 1789, President George Washington issued a general proclamation which named November 26 as a Day of National Thanksgiving. Many were opposed to the idea. There was an air of discord among the Colonies and a feeling that the hardships of a handful of Pilgrims hardly warranted a national holiday. In that same year the Episcopal Church announced the first Thursday in November would be the standard day of thanksgiving. Still no regular holiday. From 1830 to 1855 states began declaring a yearly observance of thanksgiving.

One women Sarah Hale was largely responsible for America recognizing thanksgiving on a united national level. She was editor of the Boston Ladies magazine and she dedicated 40 years of her life to the campaign which promoted the idea of one single day nationwide to celebrate Thanksgiving Day.

For 75 years thereafter every President formally proclaimed the last Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day. In 1939 President Roosevelt tried changing it to one week earlier to help business but there was such a public outrage that it was changed back. Not until 1941 did Congress finally rule the the fourth Thursday in November was a federal holiday called Thanksgiving.

written and published by aboutloveland.com

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