What Were The Two Reasons For The First Thanksgiving In 1621?
In the year 1621, for two main reasons, the 53 Pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts, and 90 Wampanoag Native Americans celebrated the first ever Thanksgiving day in the New World.
Those two reasons are:
- As the joy of their first harvest success in the new world in 1621.
- Secondly, the Pilgrims wanted to celebrate their successful ship landings in the new world (America) from Europe and survival in the harsh winter of 1621.
Now, let’s make a brief discussion on both of these reasons.
The Joy of The First Harvest Success In The New World
In 1996, James Baker made research on the first Thanksgiving celebration in Plymouth.
However, the exact date is still unknown. According to him, the first celebration took place between September 21st and November 11th, 1621. The event lasted for three days.
Pilgrims organized it as their first successful harvesting in the new continent. Especially they cultivated crops like corn, pumpkins, cranberry, sweet potato, green beans, etc.
It is said that the 90 Natives were uninvited to the event, they just reached there by accident hearing celebratory gunfire by the Pilgrims. However, Pilgrims warmly welcomed them to join the Thanksgiving party.
Four adults Pilgrim women cooked the food items for the party. Their names were Eleanor Billington, Susanna White, Mary Brewster, and Elizabeth Hopkins.
[Did You Know? On The Same Day Thanksgiving, The Native People In The United States of America Observe The “National Day of Mourning”. Natives Have Been Observing This Day Every Year Since 1970. This Event Began In 1970 With A Speech Given By Frank Wamsutta James]
Pilgrims Wanted To Celebrate Their Successful Ship Landings And Survival
America is a land of migrated people, mostly from Europe. Europeans reached the new world by traveling through the giant Atlantic Ocean.
Most people passed the giant ocean via some small boats and therefore, reaching there alive was a big thing.
On top of that, most people died after reaching the continent because of the harsh winter.
In 1621, those Pilgrims who survived, later celebrated it in the form of Thanksgiving, where they thanked and prayed to their almighty god for keeping them alive.
