A Day to Celebrate

The history of America's Thanksgiving began with the Pilgrims' celebration in 1621. At that time, and with Squanto’s help, they had harvested sufficient food for their upcoming second winter. They had no surplus, but things definitely looked much better than they had the preceding year when half of the colonists had died.

Governor William Bradford therefore appointed a Day of Thanksgiving, for they now had a place where they could freely worship God, they had survived their first year in the wilderness of New England, and they had reaped a good harvest. Grateful for these blessings, the Pilgrims invited their Wampanoag neighbors to celebrate and give thanks to God with them. Chief Massasoit and some 90 of his men came and feasted with the Pilgrims.

The Pilgrims and their Indian neighbors dined on deer, turkey, fish, lobster, eels, vegetables, cornbread, herbs, berries, and pies. They also engaged in athletic competition, including running, wrestling, and shooting. Chief Massasoit enjoyed himself so much that he and his men stayed three days.

(By the way, this was not the first Thanksgiving in America. There had been several others prior to this one, but only as occasions of prayer.) This Pilgrim event birthed the tradition of Thanksgiving as a time that includes not only prayer but also feasting and athletic events.

As you celebrate Thanksgiving today, take time to honor God in your festivities, and read one of the many early Thanksgiving proclamations that remind us of why this holiday is so important. From all of us at WallBuilders, Happy Thanksgiving!

The above account is excerpted from
The American Story: The Beginnings.
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