Sample file. The New World. in Focus. History, Language Arts, Art - The New World THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

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1 The First Thanksgiving in Focus This Enrichment4You E-guide focuses on the first Thanksgiving. In this e-guide you will: *Read about *Write about *Make a Native American Ring Toss Game & an Early Settler Marble Tunnel Game ENRICHMENT4YOU Published by Henrich Incorporated Copyright 2007 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying or otherwise, without first obtaining the written permission of the copyright owner.

2 TABLE OF CONTENT This enrichment guide is designed to give you a short, but interesting overview of the First Thanksgiving during the New World period of the United States. 1. Overview of the First Thanksgiving - Pages Selection of Setting Development Statements - Pages Selection of Vocabulary - Additional Details for Settings - Pages Write a Description of the First Thanksgiving - Page ACTIVITY Make a Native American Ring Toss Game & an Early Settler Marble Tunnel Game - Pages

3 IN FOCUS Thanksgiving is surrounded by fact, fiction & tradition. Separating what really happened the first Thanksgiving to what we celebrate today as Thanksgiving is important. Plymouth Colony was founded by the Pilgrims who were seeking refuge from religious persecution. They were deeply religious and observed three primary holy days: the Sabbath (Sunday), the Day of Humiliation & Fasting, & the Day of Thanksgiving & Praise. Back in Europe and in particular England, it was common to have a harvest festival to celebrate the bounty of the land. Weekly Sabbath worship services were part of the Pilgrims week. They would worship on Thursdays. The Day of Humiliation & Fasting & the Day of Thanksgiving & Praise were reserved for times when the Pilgrims believed that God was letting them know through a variety of troubles that they needed to do to reconnect with Him. The manner in which the Pilgrims wished to do this was through humbling themselves, fasting, prayer, & gratitude. 1 It was from these three primary holy days that the first Thanksgiving in the new land was begun. Obviously, the trip to the new world was wrought with hardships. The Pilgrims had suffered persecution prior to leaving Europe and upon their arrival in Winter, suffered disease, lack of food and shelter and an unpredictable environment.

4 IN FOCUS In 1621, the year of the first Thanksgiving, the Pilgrims were blessed with a bumper crop. To recognize and show their gratitude to God for this bounty, they decided to have a three day celebration that included games and food and to ask for continued spiritual and civil protection, health of the population, and a good harvest. The Pilgrims prayed that God would honor this specially declared day and help continue to prevent disaster and to aid them in their new endeavors in the new land. In 1621 the Pilgrims were still struggling to survive in the new land. They lacked just about everything - food, shelter, supplies and more settlers. The Pilgrims had faced many hardships including drought which had destroyed a great deal of the Indian corn they had planted. Other crops such as beans which were a staple of their diet suffered too. It is not surprising then that morale within the colony suffered during these times. It was their belief though, that something was amiss with the spiritual lives of those in the colony when this sort of problem occurred. When trouble occurred in the colony, the leaders would call the people to a time of fasting and prayer. They were to examine their relationship with God. By doing this, they hoped God would favor them with His blessings. 2

5 IN FOCUS As the colony became more established, the Pilgrims continued to hold special times of prayer, fasting and thanksgiving. Sometime around 1680, the officials of the colony decided to make the Fall months the time to have thanksgiving ceremonies and the Spring became the time for fasting. Traditionally the Catholic church has a period of fasting during the time of Lent just before Easter. Fall became the ideal time to thank the Lord for the goodness He had shown the colony over the past year. By 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday. President Franklin D. Roosevelt set the fourth Thursday in November as the date to celebrate Thanksgiving in He had tried to change it to the third Thursday each November, but it created such an uproar that he went back to the fourth Thursday of November. Congress approved the date in 1941 but changed it to be the last Thursday in November. 3 Slowly over time, Thanksgiving did include feasting. In reality though, the first Thanksgiving would have had foods that the Pilgrims already ate or already had available.

6 IN FOCUS In separating fact from fiction from legend, the first thing you can do is state what was fact. The following are what is known as facts: 1. The first Thanksgiving was an extension of the usual worship and praise offered by the Pilgrims to God for a good harvest. 2. The first Thanksgiving in the new world was celebrated for three days in colonists, amongst whom were the three surviving women from the Mayflower, and with 90 Wampanoag Indians joined together to enjoy food and games. 4. Squanto, a Patuxet Indian, served as translator between the Pilgrims & Indians. 5. There are only two first hand accounts of the first Thanksgiving. 4