THANKSGIVING DAY HISTORY
Thanksgiving observances have been around ever since men and women have felt a need to give thanks. In America, the formal observance originated with the Plymouth colonists upon their arrival at the Berkeley Plantation in Virginia on December 4, 1619. This day was required by charter to be observed as a day of thanksgiving to God. The severe winter killed almost half the settlers. In 1621 the Pilgrims joined together with the Wampanoag tribe of Native Americans and gave thanks to God for their harvest. The Pilgrim colonists provided the fruit of their harvest, and their Native American friends provided the wild turkeys and venison. They enjoyed a three day celebration of prayer and feasting. Various observances and proclamations were made over the next two hundred years throughout the nation. President George Washington proclaimed the first national Thanksgiving Day as November 26, 1789. President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in the year of 1863 as a national day of thanksgiving…
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