Thanksgiving 2025 Guide

Key Points on Thanksgiving's History and Origins

• Research suggests the origins trace back to harvest celebrations in the early 17th century, with influences from European religious traditions and Native American practices, though the popular 1621 Plymouth feast may not have been the very first such event.
• It seems likely that the holiday evolved from regional New England observances, involving days of prayer and feasting, rather than a single founding moment, acknowledging both colonial and pre-colonial harvest customs.
• The evidence leans toward a complex history, where the narrative of peaceful cooperation overlooks Native American perspectives on colonization, disease, and land loss, highlighting ongoing debates about the holiday's implications.
• While absolute claims about a "first" Thanksgiving vary by region (e.g., Virginia in 1619 or Florida in 1565), the modern U.S. national holiday was formalized in 1863 amid efforts to promote unity during the Civil War.

Early Roots and Influences

Thanksgiving's foundations blend European settler traditions of giving thanks for bountiful harvests or victories with Indigenous customs of communal feasts. For instance, Native American tribes like the Wampanoag had long-standing harvest festivals, which intersected with colonial events. Early European examples include a 1565 meal in St. Augustine, Florida, shared by Spanish explorers and local Timucua people, and a 1619 observance at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia, mandated by English settlers' charter to annually thank God for safe arrival. These reflect a pattern of religious and social gratitude, but they were localized and not directly tied to the later national holiday.

The 1621 Plymouth Feast and Its Context

Often romanticized as the "First Thanksgiving," this three-day autumn gathering in Plymouth, Massachusetts, involved about 50 English Pilgrims and 90 Wampanoag people, including leader Massasoit. It celebrated a successful corn harvest, aided by Wampanoag knowledge shared through figures like Squanto (Tisquantum), who taught planting techniques using fish fertilizer. Foods likely included venison, fowl, fish, shellfish, and corn-based dishes, with activities like games and singing. However, this was not initially called a "thanksgiving" – that term referred to solemn days of prayer, like one in 1623 for rain after a drought. From a Native viewpoint, it marked the start of uneasy alliances amid devastating epidemics that had already decimated Indigenous populations by 90-96% due to European diseases.

Evolution to a National Holiday

By the 1660s, annual harvest thanksgivings became common in New England, combining church services and feasting. National proclamations emerged during the Revolutionary War, with the Continental Congress declaring one in 1777 for victories, and George Washington issuing others in 1789 and 1795. In the 19th century, editor Sarah Josepha Hale campaigned for a unified national day to promote patriotism. President Abraham Lincoln formalized it in 1863, setting the last Thursday in November amid the Civil War to foster unity. Later adjustments included Franklin D. Roosevelt's 1939 shift to extend shopping seasons, leading to Congress fixing it as the fourth Thursday in 1941.

Thanksgiving, observed annually on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States, represents a multifaceted holiday with roots in harvest celebrations, religious observances, and national unity efforts. While commonly associated with a narrative of colonial harmony and gratitude, its history encompasses a broader timeline of events, influences from diverse cultures, and contrasting perspectives, particularly from Native American viewpoints that highlight the impacts of colonization. This detailed exploration draws from historical accounts, proclamations, and modern analyses to provide a comprehensive overview, beginning with pre-colonial influences and extending through its establishment as a federal holiday.

The origins of Thanksgiving predate the iconic 1621 Plymouth event, drawing from a variety of cultural and religious traditions. Indigenous peoples across North America, including tribes like the Wampanoag, had long practiced communal harvest festivals to express gratitude for bountiful seasons, often involving feasting, dancing, and spiritual rituals. These customs emphasized harmony with nature and community bonds, predating European arrival by thousands of years. European influences included Protestant traditions of "days of thanksgiving," which were solemn occasions of prayer and fasting to thank God for deliverances, such as military victories or ended plagues, rather than feasts. Early colonial examples reflect this blend: In 1565, Spanish explorer Pedro Menéndez de Avilés held a thanksgiving mass and meal in St. Augustine, Florida, shared with the local Timucua people, marking one of the earliest recorded such events in what is now the U.S. Similarly, French Huguenots in 1564 near present-day Jacksonville, Florida, and English settlers in Virginia from 1607 onward observed thanksgivings. A notable 1619 event at Berkeley Hundred in Virginia involved settlers declaring the day of their arrival as an annual day of thanksgiving, as per their charter, which has been commemorated since the mid-20th century. These regional claims challenge the New England-centric narrative, with historians debating the "true" first Thanksgiving based on location and intent.

The 1621 harvest feast in Plymouth Colony, Massachusetts, has become the most mythologized origin story, often depicted in school pageants and media as a symbol of peaceful coexistence. Following the Mayflower's arrival in 1620, the Pilgrims – a group of English Separatists seeking religious freedom – endured a harsh winter, with only about half surviving. In spring 1621, they formed a mutual defense treaty with the Wampanoag tribe, led by Massasoit, who provided aid through intermediaries like Samoset and Squanto. Squanto, a Wampanoag who had been kidnapped, enslaved in Europe, and returned home only to find his village decimated by disease, taught the settlers to plant corn, use fish as fertilizer, and navigate local resources. That fall, likely in late September or early October, the Pilgrims organized a harvest celebration. Four men hunted fowl, but the sound of gunfire alerted Massasoit, who arrived with 90 warriors, initially fearing conflict. Realizing it was a feast, the Wampanoag contributed deer, leading to a three-day event where men, women, and children from both groups shared meals of venison, wild turkey, fowl, fish, shellfish, corn porridge (nasaump), and possibly vegetables. Activities included ball games, singing, and dancing, with prayers likely offered. However, contemporary accounts by Edward Winslow and William Bradford do not mention staples like potatoes, pies, or even the term "thanksgiving" – this was a secular harvest rejoicing, not a religious observance. The alliance was pragmatic, born from necessity amid Wampanoag losses to epidemics introduced by earlier European contacts, which had killed 90-96% of coastal Native populations, leaving lands "cleared" for settlement.

In contrast, the first explicitly religious "thanksgiving" in Plymouth occurred in 1623, a day of prayer and humility to thank God for rain ending a drought, aligning more closely with Puritan traditions of solemn reflection rather than feasting. By the 1660s, annual harvest thanksgivings became routine in New England colonies, harmonizing religious services with communal meals, spreading southward over time. The 18th century saw formalization through proclamations: During the Revolutionary War, the Continental Congress issued the first national one in 1777, drafted by Samuel Adams, for a December 18 observance of prayer and thanks for victories. George Washington proclaimed national thanksgivings in 1777 (as general), 1789 (November 26, for the Constitution), and 1795. Other presidents like John Adams followed suit, though Thomas Jefferson abstained, citing church-state separation concerns. James Madison revived it in 1814-1815 for War of 1812 outcomes.

The transition to a fixed national holiday accelerated in the 19th century, driven by cultural and political forces. Editor Sarah Josepha Hale, through her magazine Godey's Lady's Book, campaigned from the 1820s for a unified Thanksgiving to promote domesticity and national patriotism, influencing policymakers. Amid the Civil War's divisions, President Abraham Lincoln's October 3, 1863, proclamation, penned by Secretary William H. Seward, established the last Thursday in November as a day of national thanksgiving for Union blessings and victories, aiming to heal sectional rifts and even relations with tribal nations. This came just a year after the 1862 Dakota War, where federal corruption led to Dakota starvation and uprising, resulting in Lincoln ordering the execution of 38 Dakota men – a stark contrast to the holiday's unity theme. Post-war, annual presidential proclamations continued, with Congress making it a federal holiday in Washington, D.C., in 1870 and nationwide in 1885.

The 20th century brought adjustments and commercialization. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt shifted Thanksgiving to the next-to-last Thursday to boost holiday shopping amid the Great Depression, sparking controversy and "Franksgiving" divisions among states. Congress resolved this in 1941, amending the law to fix it as the fourth Thursday in November, effective 1942. Traditions like the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade (starting 1924) and NFL games (from 1920, with fixed teams like the Detroit Lions since 1934) emerged, blending gratitude with entertainment and consumerism.

From Native American perspectives, Thanksgiving's narrative perpetuates a "dark history" of erasure and trauma. The 1621 feast is seen not as enduring friendship but as the "beginning of the end," leading to broken treaties, wars like King Philip's War (1675-1676), and massive land dispossession. Epidemics, viewed by some colonists as divine intervention, facilitated invasion, with survivors like Squanto embodying resilience amid loss. Since 1970, many Indigenous people observe a National Day of Mourning on Thanksgiving, gathering at Plymouth to honor ancestors and protest ongoing injustices, as initiated by Wampanoag leader Frank James (Wamsutta). This counters the mythologized story, reframed in the 19th century during immigration waves to Americanize newcomers via Pilgrim tales. Modern observances vary, with some Native communities maintaining harvest traditions without the holiday's label, emphasizing family and cultural foods.

To organize the timeline of Thanksgiving's history and origins, the following table summarizes key events, dates, participants, and implications, drawing from primary and secondary sources for a balanced view: