Thanksgiving

The MayflowerIn 1620, the Pilgrims sailed on the Mayflower from England to start a colony in America.

The voyage lasted more than two months.

AmericaThe Pilgrims landed in America on November 11, in what is now the State of Massachusetts.

The weather was cold and the Pilgrims did not have much food.

Half of the Pilgrims died during the first winter.

Their first year in AmericaThe native American tribe, the Wampanoag, taught the Pilgrims to plant corn, squash, and beans.

The Wampanoag also hunted deer and turkey and fished for eels and cod.

The first Thanksgiving

To thank the Wampanoag tribe, the pilgrims invited them to a feast of that years harvest. Thanksgiving: giving thanks The Pilgrims gave thanks to the Wampanoag and to their harvest. The Pilgrims and Wampanoag celebrated for three days.

Thanksgiving today (In America)

Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Americans celebrate Thanksgiving by eating a big dinner similar to what the Pilgrims ate almost four hundred years ago.

Americans usually join their extended family for Thanksgiving dinner. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Roasted turkey is the most important part of Thanksgiving dinner.

The turkey is usually stuffed with bread, vegetables, and spices. This stuffing is served separately.

The fat from the turkey is used to make gravy

Thanksgiving Dinner

Mashed potatoes are a popular side dish on Thanksgiving. Mashed potatoes are served with gravy.

Sweet potatoes are also popular.

Corn, Brussel sprouts, carrots and peas are all traditional thanksgiving dinner vegetables

Cranberry sauce, which is a sweet and sour sauce made from cranberries grown in Massachusetts, where the Pilgrims settled, is also a traditional dish

For dessert, pumpkin pie is traditional! 

  Apple pie is also popular and both pumpkin pie and apple pie can be served with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.

The next day

The day after Thanksgiving is the first day of Christmas shopping so stores began a tradition to have it as a day of sales know as “black Friday”. Stores open early and often have long lines of people waiting.

Thanksgiving in Canada

In Canada we also celebrate the harvest and the friendship between settlers and native americans with Thanksgiving however because it gets colder earlier, thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday in October.