The First Thanksgiving
Almost 400 years ago, many of the people who lived in England became very unhappy because their king would not let them pray to God as they wanted to. The king said they must use the same prayers that he did and that if they would not do this he would throw them in prison or make them leave England. A little girl named Ann lived in England with her father, her mother, and her brother Edmund during this time. Ann’s father and mother believed that God said you could pray to him in any way that you want, but the King didn’t like that. They were very worried that the king would put them all in jail. “Let us go away from this country,” said Ann’s father. Together with other unhappy English people, Ann’s family left England. They moved to a far off country called Holland. When they got to Holland, they began calling themselves Pilgrims. Pilgrims are people who are always traveling to find something they love, or to find a land where they can be happier. Ann’s family was very happy in Holland for a while, but they were much poorer than when they lived in England. In England Ann’s family always had enough money for new clothes and never ran out of food. In Holland Ann had to wear the clothes that the neighbor girls had grown out of and she sometimes only ate one meal a day! After a while, some of the kids began to misbehave. They began speaking D utch like the kids from Holland and some even started disobeying their parents. One day, Ann’s brother Edmund told their parents that he did not want to go to church anymore. “This will never do,” said Ann’s mother and father. Ann’s mother and father met with other Pilgrims and together they decided to come to America. All of the families got together and hired two boats, the Mayflower and the Speedwell, to take them across the ocean. On the day of the voyage, Ann’s family boarded the Speedwell. Ann was very excited to see this new land! It seemed like as soon as they got out into the ocean, though, they were turning around! Ann was very confused! She ran to ask her father what had happened and he said that the ship was not strong enough to take them all the way across the ocean, so they had to turn back. Luckily, the Mayflower also
turned around and Ann’s family was able to board the Mayflower instead. It was time to go! The mayflower set out across the ocean, all alone. “How many people are on this ship?” asked Ann. “One hundred, dear,” said Ann’s mother. “How do that many people fit on one ship, Mother?” asked Ann. “Very carefully!” said Ann’s mother. Ann looked around for friends to play with. She found a girl named Mary. Mary did not have any brothers or sisters, but was about to become a big sister! Mary’s mother was pregnant! The girls played together as much as they could, but it was very cold and uncomfortable on the boat. The sea was rough and rocked the boat for two months while crossing the ocean on the way to America. Ann and Mary often cried and wished they had never come on the ship. T hey couldn’t play because the ship rocked so hard. It was even hard to sleep! In the middle of the trip, the girls found something to amuse them: Mary’s mother had the baby! Mary was now a big sister. Her brother’s name was Oceanus, because he was born on the ocean. Ann and Mary were always happier after playing with Oceanus. Finally, the Mayflower arrived in America! It was November and it was very cold. Ann was excited to see all of the trees, flowers, and butterflies that she had imagined would be in America. She was very disappointed to see nothing but hard ground and rocks. Because the winter was so cold, there
were no flowers or butterflies and all of the trees had lost their leaves! Ann’s father went off of the boat with some of the other Pilgrim men while the women and children waited on the boat. The men were looking for homes or white people, but all they found were Indians who ran away from them. They did find some Indian huts and some corn buried in holes in the ground, but no white people or houses! The men returned to the ship and told the women and children that they had to keep looking. Ann’s father left the ship and returned two more times before he finally told them they could leave the ship! They had finally found a pretty place to live, where there were fields and streams. Ann and Mary left the ship with their families. We now call the place where they landed “Plymouth Rock.” The families began building homes on Christmas day! The weather was very cold and snowy and many people were very sick. The wind was ice and Ann’s father had no one to help him cut down the trees to build their home. Ann’s mother tried to help, but she was tired, cold, and hungry too. No one had enough food. Mary became very ill because she was so cold and did not have food. Mary’s mother became very sick as well. Ann and her mother went to take care of Oceanus while Mary and her mother were in bed sick, but then Ann and her mother got sick too! Before long, many of the Pilgrims were very ill because there was not enough food and it was so cold! Some soldiers who worked for Captain Myles Standish tried to help them, but there wasn’t much that they could do. In January, Ann’s friend Mary died. Ann began to get better, but many people were still sick. Ann’s mother died in February. Before winter was over, nearly half of the Pilgrims had died. Some friendly Indians had visited the Pilgrims during the winter and Captain Myles Standish decided to return the visit with several of his soldiers when spring came. One of t he Indians, named Squanto, had come to live with the Pilgrims when he saw that they had no food. He showed them how to plant their corn, peas, wheat, and barley. Soon, the summer came and Ann was able to play outside with her brother
Edmund. Ann began to see the flowers that she had imagined. There hundreds of butterflies in the flower fields by Ann’s house! She was so happy! She made more friends with the children who lived nearby and played in the fields for hours at a time! In the fall, Ann’s father would spend his days gathering barley, wheat, and corn. They knew that this winter they would have enough food. One fall night, when Ann’s family gathered around the dinner table, Ann’s father said “Let us thank God for it all! It is he who has and the sun shine and the rain fall and the corn grow!” So Ann, Edmund, and Father prayed to thank God for all He had given to them. Because Ann’s mother had died that winter, Ann made dinner for her father and brother and was in charge of cleaning the house and doing the laundry. One day, Mary’s mother came to visit and said “Ann, we are going to have a party to show our thankfulness. We will invite the friendly Indians and rejoice together. We will call it a thanksgiving party! Will you help me?” Ann was very excited! She had never helped to plan a party before! She agreed to help Mary’s mother with the celebration. The day of the party came and it was fantastic! Four of the men from the town went hunting and brought back so many wild ducks, geese, deer, and turkeys that there was enough food for nearly a week! Ann, Mary, and some of the other women in the town prepared the food. The used the wheat and barley to make cakes and bread and prepared the corn that had been grown in the fields. Edmund and some of the other boys brought fish and clams to Ann to prepare for the big feast. Soon, the friendly Indians arrived with their leader, Chief Massasoit. Everyone who was invited came. All together, there were 90 people at the party! The Indians brought five dear with them and presented them to Ann and to Mary’s mother. The Indians were very nice and stayed to celebrate with the Pilgrims for three days!
Ann loved to celebrate with the Indians and liked to look at their clothing, art, and hair. They all had their faces painted in very strange ways that she had never seen before. They also had feathers in their hair and wore animal skins. They all wore their very best outfits for the celebration! Their skin was very different than hers! Not everyone loved the Indians, though. Remember Oceanus, the baby born on the ship? He was now one year old and would cry every time an Indian came near. This made Ann giggle because she knew Oceanus was just confused. Before each meal the Indians and the Pilgrims prayed together to thank God for all that he had given to them. Ann and Edmund loved to play and dance with the Indians. Every day, the Indians played games with the children and every night they gathered around a fire to sing and dance. The entire three days was wonderful! Ann had been so sad since they got to America and had worked so h ard that she hadn’t had time for fun! She was sad to lose her mother and her friend, and had been sick herself for some time. She tried to forget all of this, though, while she celebrated. This was the first time that Ann had had fun since she got to America! All of the people had so much fun that they decided to have this celebration to thank God every year! As Ann grew older, she got married and had children of her own. She taught her children about Thanksgiving, and they taught their children, and their children taught their children, and so on until today. As you celebrate with your family this year, what will you be thankful for?