Four hundred years ago in England, there
lived a small group of people called
Pilgrims. The Pilgrims were unhappy
because they were not allowed to
practice their religion in their own way.
Go to jail
King James
of England
said everyone
who did not
go to HIS
church would
go to jail.
So the Pilgrims said
goodbye to their
homes and friends
and the world they
knew. In 1620,
they set sail for a
new world called
America. It was far
away across the
Atlantic Ocean.
Their ship was
called the
Mayflower.
Other families came along. They hoped to find
freedom and a better life in their new home.
One hundred and two people squeezed in on the
Mayflower. There were twenty-two children.
The trip to America was long and
hard. One man fell into the ocean
during a storm, but a rope saved
him!
After two months at sea, they arrived, in a
place that today is called Massachusetts.
The trip had been long and many of the
Pilgrims were weak and sick.
They rowed ashore to explore.
It was now winter. Woods were all
around. There were no towns, no
houses, no sign of any people.
Men were armed with guns. They had
heard that America was full of wild
animals and fierce Indians.
Spring came and there were only fifty Pilgrims
alive – and many were children. What would
they do if the Indians attacked?
Then one day, an Indian did come.
The Pilgrims were terrified. But this
Indian had come in peace. His name
was Samoset and the Pilgrims were
surprised that he spoke English.
A few days later, sixty Indians marched
into the village. The Pilgrims and
Wampanoag Indians made a peace
treaty, promising to help each other.
An Indian named
Squanto turned out
to be a special friend.
Squanto had once been
captured and taken to
Spain as a slave. He
escaped to England,
and after many
adventures, had come
home to America.
Like Samoset, Squanto
spoke English and he
agreed to help the
Pilgrims in their new
home.
Squanto showed how to hunt and fish.
He taught them how to grow corn and
pumpkins.
Squanto
told the
Pilgrims to
bury a
small fish
in each hill
of corn.
All that first summer in the new world, the Pilgrims fished and
hunted and farmed. They built more houses. Children
worked and explored and played outside.
When autumn came, the Pilgrims rejoiced over their harvest –
corn and fat pumpkins, peas and beans. They wanted to
celebrate! They knew they could never have survived without
the Indians, so they invited the Indians to a feast.
Historians believe that only
Indian MEN attended the
feast, so this woman was
probably not there in 1621.
The great Wampanoag sachem (Chief) Massasoit
arrived with Samoset, Squanto, and other Indian
men.
Pictures like this show only a few Indians at the
feast. But there were really 90 Indians and only
52 Pilgrims!
This painting has the right number of people.
For three days, the Pilgrims and Indians ate
and drank and danced and played games.
To remember that
time so long ago –
a time of brave
Pilgrims and
lifesaving Indians –
we continue to
celebrate the
feast.
And we remember the very first
Thanksgiving Day.
http://www.plimoth.org/
You Are the Historian: Investigating the First
Thanksgiving
http://www.plimoth.org/education/olc/intro.html
http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/