The Pilgrims
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The Pilgrims who sailed on the Mayflower were members of the English Separatist Church (a Puritan sect). Seeking a better life, they negotiated with a London stock company to finance the voyage to America. Most of those aboard the Mayflower were hired to protect the company's interests. Only about one-third of the original colonists were Puritans.
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The 1st Thanksgiving
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The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. By fall, they had lost 46 of the 102 people who sailed on the Mayflower. In 1621, the remaining colonists decided to have a feast to celebrate their first harvest. The celebration included 91 Indians who had helped the Pilgrims survive. The Pilgrims would not have lived through the year without their help.
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What They Ate
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The feast was a traditional English harvest festival that lasted three days.
Governor William Bradford sent "four men fowling" after wild ducks and geese. We don't know if they ate turkey since "turkey" meant any kind of fowl.
We do know they didn't eat pumpkin pie. They ate boiled pumpkin and made fried bread from corn. There was also no milk, cider, potatoes, or butter. There were no cattle for dairy products, and the newly discovered potato was thought to be poisonous. The rest of the menu was made up of fish, berries, watercress, lobster, dried fruit, clams, venison, and plums.
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U.S. Thanksgiving
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On June 20, 1676, the council of Charlestown, Mass, proclaimed June 29 the day for thanksgiving.
In 1863, President Lincoln changed it to the last Thursday in November.
And in 1941, Thanksgiving was made a legal holiday observed on the fourth Thursday in November.
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Canadian Thanksgiving
On January 31st, 1957, Canadian Parliament proclaimed...
"A Day of General Thanksgiving to Almighty God for the bountiful harvest with which Canada has been blessed ... observed on the 2nd Monday in Oct.
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CORNUCOPIA
The cornucopia is one of the most popular images for Thanksgiving. It is also called the "horn of plenty".
It comes from ancient Greece where it was a sign meaning abundance.
The original cornucopia was a curved goat's horn overflowing with fruit and grain.
It symbolizes the horn owned by Zeus's nurse, Amalthaea, which could be filled with whatever was needed.
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