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Thanksgiving to most people means the family and friends and Turkey, or maybe beer and football. Many do not know or care about the significence Day. Way back in the 1600s a group of people who were members of the Church of England separatist (Puritan) in England fled their country to escape religious persecution. They boarded a ship and sailed to Holland in the Netherlands. In Holland the people enjoyed a brief period of freedom from religious persecution they faced back in England, but they soon became frustrated by the moral and Dutch peoples bad that they considered sinful lifestyles.

Still looking for a better lifestyle, the separatists reached an agreement with a London stock company to finance a trip to America on a ship named the Mayflower. There were others in England who are not separatists, in fact, the majority who have made the trip aboard the Mayflower were not.

The group arrived in America 11 December 1620 and they set ground at Plymouth, Massachusetts. The first winter the Pilgrims met in America has been horrible. With extreme cold and Blizzard, they have lost 46 of the 102 original that came on the Mayflower. But spring and summer of next year was wonderful with the most pleasant days and Nice, and most pilgrims stay healthy. The local Indians showed them where and how to hunt and trap for the game available, and shared their secrets on growth and storage of indigenous cultures. The harvest of 1621 was very generous with the pilgrims and local Indians who had helped them survive their first year, decided to have a big party to celebrate and give thanks.

The feast or as it is commonly called "The First Thanksgiving" was probably held outside on the tables and benches made by hand, most people sat on blankets on the floor while eating, because records show that the settlers do not have a building large enough to accommodate all people.

In an original letter from a member of the colony, Edward Winslow, here is the true account of the first celebration of thanks:

"Our harvest being obtained in our governor sent four men with guns, so we can rejoice together after a special way after we had gathered the fruits of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little support side, the company has been almost a week. At that time, among other recreations, we exercised our arms, most of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some four ninety men, who for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and gave our governor and the captain and others. And though it is not always so plentiful this time was with us, but by the goodness of God, we are very far from want that we want our participants often abundance. "

In the handwritten letter, we can see that 1 Indian Chief or King and 90 others (Indians 91 total) were invited as guests attended the event with the pilgrims, and the party or celebration that lasted 3 days. The celebration or feast was not repeated until the year 1623, when, during a severe drought, the pilgrims all gathered and prayed for rain. The next day, a long steady rain has occurred, and Governor Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving, and again the pilgrims and the settlers invited their Indian friends to celebrate.

The next Thanksgiving celebration did not occur until the year 1676, when the Governing Council of Charlestown, Massachusetts, held a meeting on how best to celebrate and give thanks for the good of their community known. By voting, they asked Edward Rawson, the clerk, to proclaim June 29th as a day of Thanksgiving.

Other dates that are important for the Thanksgiving holiday was in October of the year.