In 1621, Plymouth Colony in Massachusetts was just a year old and progressing well. The Pilgrim leaders decided to give thanks for their survival by holding a festival. Their day of Thanksgiving wa planned for October after the harvest.
Chief Massasoit and his Wampanoag tribe had been helpful to the colonists since the Pilgrims first landed at Plymouth in 1620. Now the Pilgrims decided to show their appreciation by inviting Massasoit and his Wampanoags to the first Thanksgiving. In preparation, the Pilgrims sent out hunting parties to obtain ducks and geese for the feast, and wild turkeys. They gathered corn and fish, and other foods from the forest as well.
On the appointed day, Massasoit arrived with 90 tribesmen, and his hunters brought five deer for the feast. This first Thanksgiving dinner also included lobsters, clams, smoked eels, dried berries, wild plums, and even grapes. The feast was so successful that it went on for three days, until all the food was gone and the Indians returned to their villages. Thanksgiving has been an American holiday ever since.
Thanksgiving was made a national holiday in 1863, during the Civil War when President Lincoln proclaimed the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.
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