What a Feast!

Even though you may have learned about the first Thanksgiving in 1st or 2nd grade, the teachers never quite told you the real story. They have told you bits and pieces but not the whole story. For instance, the Pilgrims did have a feast but that’s like a teeny tiny piece of the massive story. So let’s start from the beginning. The year was 1621 and the Pilgrims had just completed their long journey overseas from Dartmouth Harbour in England to Plymouth. The Pilgrims came to the New World on account of King George III. They were fed up with him. King George III was very strict about religion. The Pilgrims did not like his religion, so they decided to take a hike to America. Aboard the two ships, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, times were not good. After a few days the Speedwell had a leak. Both ships turned around and headed back to the safe shores of England. Some Pilgrims ceased being Pilgrims and were afraid of the long journey ahead and decided to stay put, while the other fearless pilgrims thought a new discovery in America would be an interesting journey.

On the Mayflower, however, 102 passengers already had the chills and they needed more room for bedding and some playrooms for the children. Imagine you were aboard the Mayflower and you got seasick in the adventure over. People also needed to have room for ablutions, meals and especially religious meetings. All of this extra stress was before Captain Jones sailed away to Plymouth and that was when the Pilgrims entered an awful epidemic. That epidemic was caused by bacteria from rodents. That sickness made the Pilgrims even more sick. At one point on the voyage there were only 7 pilgrims taking care of the rest of them because all the others were sick.

After the long voyage, the Pilgrims safely landed at Plymouth and this is when we get to the indians. The indians did not like the Pilgrims coming to the new world, yet. The head Wampanoag named Aquinnah was not pleased with the Pilgrims coming to his land. When the two met, they were not pleased and did not get along, until the Pilgrims told the indians that they only had 7 Pilgrims to take care of all the others. In spite of that, the indians went out and got enough deer to feed the whole town for one week! For that reason, the celebration also know as the first thanksgiving.

In present day thanksgiving we all gather around the table decorated with turkey, squash, mashed potatoes, rolls and best of all pie, we pray for thanks that we live in such a wonderful world and how we give thanks for everything we own and love. So this Thanksgiving have fun and stuff your face. But don’t forget about the hard journey that the pilgrims took over to america to save their family’s from King George lll.