The beginning of Thanksgiving (Day) in America is often erroneously tied to the autumn harvest feast held by the English Separatists who settled in Plymouth, Mass. December 11, 1620 (in an area known as Plymouth Rock). It is customarily believed that these settlers founded Plymouth Rock and/or Plymouth, Massachusetts. Plymouth had been settled 5 years earlier by Captain John Smith, who named it after the English port city of the same name.
[The name "pilgrims" was derived from the "event" of setting out on a pilgrimage to America. It was not what the settlers (or anyone else) actually called themselves.]
The settlers were ill-equipped for the harsh winter and 46 of the original 102 settlers died during the winter of 1620, either from starvation or complications of weather. Were it not for the Wampanoag Indians, they would have failed miserably the following year. Since the non-hostile natives taught the settlers how to survive and how to plant and store food, they were invited to join the "pilgrims" for their autumn harvest feast in 1621. The feast was actually a traditional English harvest festival held to give thanks to God for a plentiful harvest.
The "pilgrims" in Plymouth, Mass, however did not celebrate the harvest the following year, but in 1623, after a severe drought, the "pilgrims" gathered to pray for rain. A long steady day of rain followed the very next day, and a harvest feast of thanks was again held, including 91 of the natives.
October 1777 marked the first time that all 13 colonies shared the thanksgiving celebration, but it was a one-time event. The celebration was more related to the patriotic victory over the British at Saratoga than a 'harvest feast'.
In 1789, George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving, but most scoffed at the idea of honoring the survival of just a handful of settlers with a National holiday.
The true Thanksgiving Day holiday was a result of the efforts of Sarah Josepha Hale, who was the Editor of the Boston Ladies' Magazine and Godey's Lady's Book. She campaigned for over 40 years writing editorials in her magazine and book, and writing to Presidents and Governors. As a result, in 1863, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November to be a National Day of Thanksgiving. [Thus, the REAL Thanksgiving Day was not created until 140 years AFTER the "first feast of thanks" held by the settlers in Plymouth, Mass, to which Thanksgiving is attributed.]
Every President since Lincoln followed suit and proclaimed the holiday. President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the next-to-last Thursday in order to extend the Christmas shopping season. The public was outraged, and two years later, Roosevelt moved the holiday back to its original 'last Thursday' in November.
It wasn't until 1941 that Congress finally sanctioned the event as a nationally recognized holiday, no longer requiring each President to issue separate proclamations, and set the day as the FOURTH Thursday in November.  | 
11-18-2005, 12:12 AM
lol - i shoul dknow am irish lol
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