“Thanksgiving is not only a holiday, it is a holy day. It is by no means enough to make it an occasion for recreation and feasting….The little band of Pilgrims who first established this institution on the shore by Plymouth Rock had no doubts. If their little colony of devoted souls, when exiled to a foreign wilderness by persecution, cut in half by disease, surrounded by hostility and threatened with famine, could give thanks — how much more should this great nation, less deserving than the Pilgrims yet abounding in freedom, peace, security and plenty, now have the faith to return thanks to the author of all good and perfect gifts.”
President Calvin Coolidge
The Thanksgiving holiday has so many things to love: crisp fall weather, the changing colors of the trees, orange pumpkins, and (hopefully) a large family feast! But it’s a distinctly American holiday, and if you know the history of the Plymouth colony, you know it’s a very religious holiday, as well.
Our Pilgrim forefathers were devout Christians who wanted to worship God freely. They were humble, hardworking, and , and their influence on America lasted for many generations. So, while American culture often focuses on turkey and football, this holiday originated with a heartfelt thanks to God, and confirms the fact that we were truly founded on biblical principles.
You see, the people we know as the Pilgrims were a small group of Puritans living in England. They were the descendants of English Protestant reformers. But while the English church had separated from the Roman Catholic church, it still held to many of the practices that the Reformers opposed. That’s where the name “Puritan” came from: these Protestants were seeking a purer form of biblical worship without all of the required exercises within the church.
But the Church of England did not approve of “illegal” worship practices. When Puritans met in small groups to read the Bible and worship, they were harassed and arrested. The persecution became so great that a large group of Puritans decided to move to Holland for religious freedom. They resided in Leiden for 12 years, and were able to worship God in peace.
But according to William Bradford, their leader, they were not quite content with this new home. One of their concerns was for their children, and the secular culture that influenced them. So, the Puritans in Holland began to seek a more permanent home, and the newly discovered Virginia colony seemed like the perfect location. There was plenty of land on which to settle, the agricultural opportunities were much better than anywhere in Europe, and they saw the Indian tribe as a vast, unreached population for the gospel of Christ.
The Mayflower carried these “Pilgrims” to the shores of Massachusetts in 1620 (after veering off course from Virginia). When they safely reached land, they knelt in thanks to God for His mercy.
In their thankfulness, they sang Psalm 100 (from the Geneva Bible):
Sing ye loude vnto the Lord, all the earth.
Serue the Lord with gladnes: come before him with ioyfulnes.
Knowe ye that euen the Lord is God: hee hath made vs, and not we our selues: we are his people, and the sheepe of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with prayse, and into his courts with reioycing: prayse him and blesse his Name.
For the Lord is good: his mercy is euerlasting, and his trueth is from generation to generation.Psalme of Praise
That first year in America was not easy. They had arrived in winter, to a world very different from their own, and over half of their population grew sick and died. But if there’s anything to learn about the Puritans, it is that they prayed, trusted in God, and thanked him for both blessings and trials.
Bradford wrote:
“All great and honorable actions are accompanied with great difficulties, and both must be enterprised and overcome with answerable courage.”
In his history, Of Plymouth Plantation, Bradford describes the complete trust that the Pilgrims placed in God, and through their trials, they only went deeper into their relationship with Him.
The Pilgrims also experienced many miracles in the midst of such a dire situation. They met Squanto, who could speak English and who took pity on their situation. They had peaceful relations with the Wampanoag tribe. Their first crops in this unfamiliar land were plentiful.
There was much to be thankful for!
So, in the fall of 1621, they held a three-day feast to give thanks to God for his abundant blessings.
“Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the Company almost a week, at which time amongst other Recreations, we exercised our Arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five Deer, which they brought to the Plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”
The Plymouth colony story is such an inspiring part of America’s history. Despite their struggles and losses, they stayed true to God, and he blessed them abundantly.
May not and ought not the children of these fathers rightly say: “Our fathers were Englishmen which came over this great ocean, and were ready to perish in this wilderness but they cried unto the Lord, and He heard their voice, and looked on their adversity, &c. Let them therefore praise the Lord, because He is good, and His mercies endure forever. Yea, let them which have been redeemed of the Lord, shew how He hath delivered them from the hand of the oppressor. When they wandered in the; desert wilderness out of the way, and found no city to dwell in, both hungry, and thirsty, their soul was overwhelmed in them. Let them confess before the Lord His loving kindness, and His wonderful works before the sons of men.
― William Bradford, Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647
Two years later, Governor Bradford of Massachusetts made this first Thanksgiving Proclamation:
“Inasmuch as the great Father has given us this year an abundant harvest of Indian corn, wheat, peas, beans, squashes, and garden vegetables, and has made the forests to abound with game and the sea with fish and clams, and inasmuch as He has protected us from the ravages of the savages, has spared us from pestilence and disease, has granted us freedom to worship God according to the dictates of our own conscience.
Now I, your magistrate, do proclaim that all ye Pilgrims, with your wives and ye little ones, do gather at ye meeting house, on ye hill, between the hours of 9 and 12 in the daytime, on Thursday, November 29th, of the year of our Lord one thousand six hundred and twenty three and the third year since ye Pilgrims landed on ye Pilgrim Rock, there to listen to ye pastor and render thanksgiving to ye Almighty God for all His blessings.”
William Bradford
Ye Governor of Ye Colony
1623
This Thanksgiving, let us remember those brave men and women who risked everything for religious freedom in a strange land, and left us a strong legacy of faith.
For a deeper study of the the first Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims … download my Plymouth, Pilgrims, and the First Thanksgiving unit study.
You might also be interested in my blog post featuring an 1848 high school lesson on the Pilgrim fathers.
You can get the Pilgrim Fathers Copy Work by leaving your name & email. This is a great resource to study Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims.
Nicki Truesdell is a Christian, wife, mother of five, and grandmother of one. She is the author of Anyone Can Homeschool, blogger, speaker, and book lover. Nicki is also a second-generation homeschooler. She writes and speaks encouragement to parents about Christian home education in any family dynamic, on any budget, and with any special need. Nicki founded Knowledge Keepers Bookstore in 2020, where she shares her love of history, book lists, and brings old history books back into print. She blogs at NickiTruesdell.com, KnowledgeKeepersBookstore.com, and is a staff writer for Expository Parenting Ministries and a regular contributor to Learning Well Journal. You can follow Nicki and Knowledge Keepers on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
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