20. This is a short history of where the celebration of
Thanksgiving comes from!
21. In September 1620, the Mayflower left England on a voyage
carrying 102 people called Pilgrims who were looking for a
place to move where they could practice their religion freely.
22. The voyage across the Atlantic Ocean took 66 days. Then they
landed and settled in a town called Plymouth, Massachusetts
23. The first winter they spent there was very cold and
dangerous. Only half of the pilgrims survived.
24. Some of the local Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how
to grow corn, catch fish, avoid poisonous plants and survive
in this new land.
25. The next year after the first successful harvest of the Pilgrims,
they held a great feast to celebrate. They invited the local
Native Americans that helped. The celebration lasted 3 days!
26. American president Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving an
official holiday in 1863. It’s on the 4th Thursday of November
every year.
28. Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving to give thanks for
everything we have in our lives (friends, family, health)!
29. People travel from all over to be with their families and
celebrate! It is the biggest travel holiday of the year in the
USA!
30. We spend the whole day cooking the Thanksgiving meal. It
includes roasted turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry
sauce, pumpkin pie and many more delicious things!
31. Then we all sit down to eat, but not before giving thanks for
everything that we are grateful for in our lives!
32. It is also a tradition to take a “turkey nap” after you eat all
that food! Turkey has an ingredient that makes you sleepy!
33. It is also a tradition among many families to watch American
Football games on Thanksgiving.
34. There is also a big parade in New York City called the
Thanksgiving Day parade. It has lots of big floats!
