History Of Thanksgiving

The History of thanksgiving is not just about the day we celebrate now, but it is also about the others day of “thanks giving.” To clarify no one knows when the exact day of the first thanksgiving was due to it being defined as a day or a moment of giving thanks. So for the historians out there, finding the exact first moments is going to be very hard. The days of celebration of giving thanks can be traced back to the traditions during the times of the protestant reformation. At this time the tradition was to thank for a good harvest or simply for religious celebration, which at times lasted days.

In the Americas, or actually in the US, the history of thanksgiving is widely believed to have originated from the celebrations of pilgrims and Native Americans of a good harvest and friendship. Most believe that they celebrated in a feast, but from historical letters and from the notes of William Bradford, Plymouth colony’s leader, it was concluded that the so called first thanksgiving was just a hunting

That had very good success for it made all hands very industrious, so much [more] corn was planted than otherwise would have been". This system brought better harvests; it was noted that the first year of this system going into effect, the harvest of that seemed to be abundant, but rains stopped and summer became dry. The pilgrims held a “Day of Humiliations” and the rains came again. The people of Plymouth believed that this was a sign of God blessing their new system. Bradford proclaimed November 29, 1623 as a day of thanksgiving, this being the first historical record of the first thanksgiving in the new world.

Whilst the thanksgiving origin might be of much speculation for many historians, one must remember what is the meaning of thanksgiving is, and so no matter where it came from, one must always be giving