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The Story of Thanksgiving

The Mayflower, the first hard winter, the help of the Wampanoag people and the harvest feast that followed. The history behind the American holiday, told plainly enough for B1 learners.

The Mayflower reached America in 1620 with about a hundred passengers, and roughly half of them died in the first winter. What saved the rest was help from the Wampanoag people, who showed them which crops would grow and where to fish, and the harvest feast the two groups shared the following autumn is remembered as the first Thanksgiving.

The holiday became national much later: Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a day of thanksgiving in 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, and the fourth Thursday of November was fixed by Congress in the 1940s. Telling it in that order gives a class a real chronology, and room for the harder question of what the following century meant for the people who helped.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the story behind Thanksgiving?

In 1620 the Pilgrims sailed to America on the Mayflower and survived a hard first winter with help from the Wampanoag people, who showed them how to grow corn and where to fish. The harvest feast they shared the following autumn became the first Thanksgiving.

Is the traditional story the whole picture?

No, and it is worth saying so in class. What followed for the Native American nations was loss of land and life, and many people now mark the day as one of mourning. Older students can hold both facts at once, which makes for a real discussion.

When did Thanksgiving become a national holiday?

Abraham Lincoln fixed it as a national day of thanksgiving in 1863, during the Civil War, and the fourth Thursday of November was settled by Congress in the 1940s. Before that, the date moved from state to state.