Many people think the Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving but there were people before them to give thanks.
The first Thanksgiving known was held by the Europeans in America then called the new world on May 2,1578. Some historians also believe that the Popham Colony in Maine also had a Thanksgiving service in 1607, the same year that the Jamestown colonists gave thanks for their safe arrival to the new world. Jamestown held another Thanksgiving service after their supply ship arrived after the harsh winter they went through in 1610. Berkley Hundred settlers held a Thanksgiving service after they arrived in Virginia, in their charter it states that Thanksgiving services would happen yearly after that but a few years after, an Native American uprising forced them to stop their services. Also the British colonists held several Thanksgiving services in America before the Pilgrim’s celebration in 1621.
The first Thanksgiving the Pilgrims ever had was actually non-religious, the only religious thing that happened was to say grace. After that, they spent three days feasting and playing games with each other. In 1623 the Pilgrims held another Thanksgiving but this time they were in a drought. Colonists prayed for rain to come so they could eat again. A few days later it poured rain. Not too long after Captain Miles Standish came with supplies for the Pilgrims this happened on June 30 of 1623.
Now next time students think the Pilgrims had the first Thanksgiving remember that all the people before them also wanted to give thanks for all kinds of different reasons.
For more information please visit https://www.si.edu/spotlight/thanksgiving/history.
