Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved US traditions, and while it has recently been said to have a fabricated origin, or even disrespectful to Native Americans (due to their mass genocide and forceful religious conversion), the celebration of Thanksgiving is a tradition passed on through more than one historical event.

G. Jimenez

Thanksgiving is one of the most beloved US traditions, and while it has recently been said to have a fabricated origin, or even disrespectful to Native Americans (due to their mass genocide and forceful religious conversion), the celebration of Thanksgiving is a tradition passed on through more than one historical event.

The most telling evidence of the First Thanksgiving is a letter from English settler Edward Winslow and while it never mentions the word “Thanksgiving,” it does illustrate a weeklong harvest celebration that included a three-day revelry with King Massasoit and 90 Wampanoag men, “so we might after a more special manner rejoice together.” The food was different from the traditional Turkey and Ham we eat now. In Fact, potatoes had not yet been imported from Europe. Seafood was native to the area, so mussels, lobster, bass would have been the main course. This is the most common story, but this is not what ignited the National Thanksgiving Holiday we know so well.

George Washington and his fearless army did not let defeat intimidate them During the Battle of Saratoga, fought eighteen days apart in the fall of 1777, the two Battles of Saratoga were a turning point in the American Revolution. This incredible victory against the British allowed the French to join forces with American Revolutionaries, an ally we desperately needed as the fight for independence proved to be no easy feat. To celebrate the American victory at Saratoga, the Continental Congress issued a proclamation for a national day “for solemn Thanksgiving and praise,”. This marks the first time Thanksgiving was introduced as a National Holiday.