You hear about it every November, right? Turkey, family, football... but what about the actual reason behind that very first gathering? Why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving, really? Honestly, it wasn't about parades or shopping deals. It was raw survival turning into a sigh of relief.

I remember visiting Plymouth years back. Standing near the replica of the Mayflower, looking at how impossibly small it was, it hit me hard. Imagine cramming over 100 people into that wooden tub for months, crossing the stormy Atlantic. No wonder half died that first brutal winter. Celebrating anything at all seems almost unbelievable. But they did. Let's peel back the layers of myth and see what truly sparked those three days in 1621.

The Pilgrims: Not Exactly Tourists

First things first, who *were* these folks? Calling them simply "Pilgrims" feels a bit clean. They were English Separatists – religious rebels who thought the Church of England was beyond fixing. They wanted complete separation. This didn't make them popular back home. Persecution, jail time – they'd had enough.

Their escape plan? Holland first. More tolerant. They lived in Leiden for about a decade. But honestly? Life was tough there too. Poverty, grueling work hours, and they worried their kids were losing their English roots and faith. They craved a place to be truly English *and* truly free in their worship. America seemed like the only shot.

Raising money was a nightmare.

Imagine pitching: "Invest in us! We'll sail to an unknown continent, survive wilderness, hostile natives maybe, and hopefully send back furs and timber... someday!" Surprisingly, they got backing from London merchants (the Merchant Adventurers), but the terms were borderline brutal. Years of hard labor awaited just to pay off the debt.

The Nightmare Before the Feast: Starving Time & Unexpected Help

November 1620. Cape Cod. Not where they aimed (Virginia was the target), but winter was closing in. They scrambled to build basic shelters near a deserted Wampanoag village (Patuxet). Why deserted? A devastating plague likely brought unwittingly by earlier European fishermen had wiped out the inhabitants years before.

That first winter... it's hard to overstate the horror. Look at the numbers:

Disease (likely scurvy, pneumonia), freezing temps, constant dampness in those cramped huts. They lacked fresh food. Burial mounds grew faster than crops. My kids always ask, "Why didn't they just fish or hunt?" Simple ignorance played a part. These were mostly city folks or farmers unfamiliar with New England's forests and coastal bounty. Starvation gnawed at them daily.

Squanto: The Unexpected Lifeline

Spring 1621. Enter Tisquantum ("Squanto"). His story is wilder than fiction. Kidnapped by English explorers years earlier, sold into slavery in Spain, escaped to England, eventually made it back to his homeland... only to find his entire Patuxet tribe gone. Plague. Talk about devastating.

He spoke English. He knew the land intimately. And he chose to help the struggling Pilgrims. Why? Complex reasons – maybe compassion, diplomacy, forging a beneficial alliance against rival tribes. Whatever his motives, his practical skills were a miracle:

• Fertilizer Hack: Showed them how to plant corn (maize) with dead fish buried beneath for nutrients. Game changer.
• Navigation: Taught them how to navigate local waters safely.
• Foraging: Identified edible plants and shellfish sources.
• Diplomacy: Acted as interpreter and advisor for dealing with the Wampanoag confederation under Massasoit.

Without Squanto? Honestly, I doubt Plymouth survives another year. They were that close to collapse.

The Harvest of 1621: Cause for Celebration

So, after Squanto's tutoring, they planted corn and other crops that spring. Summer brought more settlers from England (though not enough to fully replace the dead). They worked incredibly hard.

Fall arrived. Time for the harvest. It wasn't overflowing European-style abundance, but compared to the starvation of the previous winter? It felt miraculous. They gathered:

• Corn (Maize): Their primary grain crop now.
• Barley: Some success, though not great.
• Peas: Came in poorly, apparently. Gardening fail!
• Garden Vegetables: Squash, beans, onions likely.
• Wild Foods: Waterfowl, shellfish, venison (thanks to Wampanoag hunters!).

This harvest meant survival.

It meant they *might* make it through the coming winter without losing more loved ones. It meant their desperate gamble had a flicker of hope. This harvest is the core reason why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving. It was pure, unadulterated relief and gratitude after unimaginable suffering.

The Event Itself: Three Days of Feasting & Alliance

Governor William Bradford decided to organize a celebration. Not a formal "thanksgiving" day as we know it (those were typically solemn Puritan days of prayer and fasting!), but a secular harvest festival – common in England.

Key points often missed:

• Duration: It lasted three days, not one.
• The Guests: Massasoit and about 90 Wampanoag men showed up unexpectedly early! Legend says they heard the gunfire from the Pilgrims' hunting and came to investigate. The Pilgrims scrambled to feed everyone. Massasoit sent his men out, who returned with five deer.
• The Menu (No Turkey Centerpiece?): Forget the Norman Rockwell painting. The main meats were probably venison (from the Wampanoag) and wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, maybe some turkeys they happened to shoot). Seafood like lobster, mussels, and fish were abundant. Corn dishes (porridge, bread), nuts, berries. No pumpkin pie (no ovens, no butter, no wheat flour)! Maybe stewed pumpkin.
• Activities: Feasting aplenty. Militia drills (including firing muskets). Wampanoag contests of skill. Probably storytelling and diplomacy. It was as much a political gathering cementing a crucial, if fragile, peace treaty as a harvest party.

So, why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving with the Wampanoag specifically? It wasn't pre-planned as a joint event. Their arrival was a surprise! But sharing the harvest cemented the vital military and survival alliance. Survival depended on this relationship.

Common Myths Busted: What the First Thanksgiving Was NOT

Pop culture and fuzzy history have created a lot of misunderstandings. Let's clear up some big ones:

The biggest takeaway? Reducing it to a quaint story of Pilgrims inviting grateful Indians to dinner seriously warps the complex, brutal, and fascinating reality of survival and diplomacy.

Why This Story Became *Our* Thanksgiving

So, if it wasn't a yearly tradition for the Pilgrims, how did *this* event become the cornerstone of our national holiday?

• Sarah Josepha Hale's Crusade: Fast forward 200+ years. This magazine editor (think massive influencer of her day) campaigned for *decades* (like, 40 years!) for a national day of Thanksgiving. She saw it as a way to unify the country, especially as tensions rose before the Civil War. She wrote letters to presidents, governors, anyone influential.
• Finding Founding Footing: Hale needed historical roots. William Bradford's old journal ("Of Plymouth Plantation"), rediscovered and published in the 1850s, described the 1621 feast. Hale latched onto this as the "first" Thanksgiving origin story – it provided the perfect, picturesque, early-American narrative.
• Lincoln's Nationalization: In 1863, smack dab in the middle of the Civil War, President Lincoln declared a national Thanksgiving Day on the last Thursday of November. His goal? Unity and gratitude amidst horrific division. Hale's vision and the Pilgrim story became the officially sanctioned origin tale.
• 20th Century Cementing: School plays, illustrations (like those by Jennie Augusta Brownscombe emphasizing Pilgrim piety and hospitality), and later advertising (turkey industry!) solidified the simplified Pilgrim/Wampanoag feast in the national consciousness. The messy complexity faded; the wholesome myth endured.

It's fascinating, really.

A desperate harvest feast, born of near extinction and pragmatic alliance, gets resurrected centuries later to stitch a fractured nation back together. That's the messy, powerful journey of a holiday. Understanding why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving requires peeling back those layers.

Beyond Plymouth: Other Early "Thanksgivings"

Let's be fair. Plymouth 1621 wasn't the only European "thanksgiving" event in North America. Why does it get top billing? Timing, politics, and a good story.

• Florida & Texas (1560s): Spanish explorers and friars held religious thanksgiving services decades earlier (e.g., Pedro Menéndez de Avilés near St. Augustine, FL in 1565 after landing safely). These were Catholic masses of thanksgiving, not harvest feasts.
• Virginia (1619): English settlers at Berkeley Hundred declared their arrival date (Dec 4th) be a yearly day of thanksgiving to God. It was more religious observance than feast.
• Canada: Earlier and more established traditions emerged independently.

So why Plymouth? Sarah Hale's promotion, Lincoln's timing during national crisis, and the compelling (though simplified) narrative of persecuted religious founders laying the foundation for America trumped the others in the popular imagination. It became the chosen origin story.

The Legacy: Gratitude, Complexity, and Reflection

Understanding why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving deeply changes how we view the holiday. It wasn't the start of a peaceful utopia. It was a fragile moment of respite and mutual benefit after horrific suffering and loss for both Pilgrims and Wampanoag.

For many Native Americans today, Thanksgiving is a National Day of Mourning – a reminder of colonialism, broken treaties, land theft, and the devastating impact of European arrival on indigenous populations that continues. That perspective is absolutely crucial for a full understanding.

So where does that leave us?

Can we still gather with family, eat too much turkey, and watch football? Absolutely. But knowing the complex, messy, often painful reality behind the founding myth adds layers of meaning. It challenges us to reflect on:

• True Gratitude: Appreciating survival and unexpected help, like the Pilgrims felt for the harvest and Squanto's aid.
• Acknowledging Suffering: Remembering the immense loss on all sides – the Starving Time, the plague that wiped out Patuxet.
• Understanding Diplomacy & Alliance: Recognizing the strategic pragmatism that brought Pilgrims and Wampanoag together that fall, not just idealized friendship.
• Facing Difficult History: Learning about the centuries of conflict, displacement, and injustice that followed for Native peoples.

Maybe the enduring power of "thanksgiving" lies in that core human feeling – relief after hardship, gratitude for sustenance and community, however messy the context. That, perhaps, transcends the specific 1621 event. We can hold both the gratitude and the historical complexity.

That's the real story of why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving. Not a simple fairy tale, but a deeply human moment of survival, relief, and connection forged in incredibly tough circumstances. It deserves to be remembered honestly.

Your First Thanksgiving Questions Answered (FAQ)

Let's tackle some common questions people have about this pivotal event:

Did the Pilgrims really call it "Thanksgiving"?

Probably not in the way we think. Governor Bradford's journal mentions they "began now to gather in the small harvest they had, and to fit up their houses and dwellings against winter, being all well recovered in health and strength and had all things in good plenty." He describes the feast with the Wampanoag, but doesn't label it "Thanksgiving." For the deeply religious Pilgrims, a "Thanksgiving" was a formal religious observance involving prayer and fasting, not necessarily feasting. This was a harvest celebration. The name became attached much later.

How long did the peace between Pilgrims and Wampanoag last?

Massasoit honored the peace treaty brokered in spring 1621 for over 40 years, until his death in 1661. It was crucial for Plymouth's survival in the early decades. However, relations deteriorated significantly under the leadership of Massasoit's sons, particularly Metacomet (known to the English as King Philip). Growing English populations demanding more land, cultural clashes, and mutual distrust eventually led to King Philip's War (1675-1678), a devastating conflict that nearly wiped out the New England colonies and shattered Wampanoag power.

What happened to Squanto?

Squanto's story ends tragically. After being invaluable to Plymouth in 1621 and 1622, he began to play a dangerous game. He tried to leverage his position as an intermediary between the Pilgrims and other tribes (sometimes misrepresenting intentions for personal gain) and even attempted to undermine Massasoit's authority. In November 1622, while on a trading expedition with Governor Bradford, Squanto suddenly developed a fever and nosebleed. He died within a few days. Some historians suspect poisoning (possibly by Wampanoags distrustful of his maneuvering), though disease is also possible. Bradford wrote that Squanto begged him "to pray for him, that he might go to the Englishmen's God in heaven."

Why isn't the Virginia 1619 event considered the "First Thanksgiving"?

The Berkeley Hundred event in 1619 was a religious service, mandated by the group's charter to be observed annually on the anniversary of their landing (December 4th). It was a day of prayer and thanksgiving to God. However:

• Its subsequent observance was likely interrupted by the devastating Powhatan Attack of 1622 which wiped out the settlement.
• It lacked the harvest feast element and particularly the Native American participation narrative that became central to the Plymouth story.
• It simply didn't capture the 19th-century imagination and promotional efforts (Sarah Hale) the way the Pilgrim story did. The Pilgrims' religious persecution narrative resonated more powerfully as an American origin myth.

What do historians actually KNOW versus what they guess?

We know quite a bit based on primary sources, but gaps remain:

• Known: The high mortality of the first winter; Squanto's role and background; the alliance treaty with Massasoit; the successful harvest of 1621 leading to a celebratory feast; the unexpected arrival of Massasoit and 90 warriors; that the feast lasted 3 days; that the Wampanoag contributed deer; the types of foods generally available (corn, wild fowl, venison, seafood). Sources: William Bradford's journal "Of Plymouth Plantation" and a letter by participant Edward Winslow.
• Educated Guesses/Uncertain: The exact date (sometime between late Sept and mid-Nov 1621); the precise number of attendees; whether turkey was specifically served (wild turkey was common, so likely, but not specified); the exact menu details beyond the staples mentioned; the specific nature of interactions beyond feasting and militia drills.
• Myths: That it was called "Thanksgiving" by attendees; that Pilgrims invited the Wampanoag out of pure friendship; that it was an annual Pilgrim tradition; that it featured pumpkin pie or potatoes.

Understanding why did the pilgrims celebrate the first thanksgiving means relying on those core eyewitness accounts and placing them in the harsh context of survival.