History of Thanksgiving

Many of us know Thanksgiving as a day to spend time with family, eat turkey, and watch football.  However, Thanksgiving has a rich history that began when the Mayflower left England in September of 1620.  A group of 102 religious separatists from England left their homes, with hopes of finding religious freedom in the new world.  The Pilgrims landed in modern-day Massachusetts, which was very far off from their intended destination of Jamestown.  During their first winter in America, the Pilgrims suffered from disease and starvation.  Less than half of the original Pilgrims survived this harsh winter.

After that difficult winter, the remaining colonists needed to find a way to survive and grow food.  In March of 1621, Squanto, a Patuxent Native American, greeted the Pilgrims.  Squanto knew how to speak English because in 1614 he was kidnapped by an English explorer and brought to Spain as a slave.  He managed to escape, and returned home in 1619.  Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to catch fish (including eels and lobsters), he taught them how to grow corn, as well as how to fertilize the soil and work the land.  Additionally, Massasoit, the Wampanoag chief, signed an agreement with the colonists and helped to provide them with food for a few years.

In November of 1621, the Pilgrims had a successful harvest.  Their governor William Bradford organized a feast to celebrate.  Some members of the Wampanoag tribe and Squanto joined the Pilgrims for what became known as the first Thanksgiving.  The feast lasted for three days.  Although the original menu was never documented, there is evidence that the colonists and Native Americans ate venison, goose, fish, turkey, and corn.

Many years later, President Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.  In 1863, during a difficult time in the civil war, Lincoln proclaimed that the last Thursday of every November would be celebrated as a day of Thanksgiving. The president urged Americans to be thankful and to “praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the heavens.”

So, this Thanksgiving, remember the struggles that the early Americans faced.  Be thankful for everything that we have, and all of the opportunities that lay ahead.  Happy Thanksgiving, Biotech!

Written by Rachel Weinstein

Photo from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6e/The_First_Thanksgiving_cph.3g04961.jpg