History of Thanksgiving

History of Thanksgiving
This holiday has been celebrated since 1621. At that time, it was an occasion for the pilgrims to thank God for a plentiful harvest. The pilgrims had to abandon England because they were against some of the rituals of the Church of England. First, they moved to Holland and in 1620, they sailed to the USA on the famous ship The Mayflower. They carried lots of seeds, garden tools, gunpowder and firearms. After a long trip (65 days) they arrived in a place that they called Plymouth, the English town they came from.
The first Thanksgiving festival was in October 1621 and it lasted three days. The pilgrims invited the native Americans to join the celebration.
In 1863 President Lincoln made it a national holiday.