Bigger Picture Moments: The First Thanksgiving

The last few days before Thanksgiving break, I incorporated some fun Thanksgiving related lessons in the classroom I was subbing in. 

It got me thinking about the first thanksgiving and what it was really all about.

Because, today, when I go visit family, we will count our blessings and feast on turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, and pumpkin pie.  But, I wonder if the meaning of thanksgiving - why it was celebrated to begin with - has gotten lost over the years. 

The Pilgrims came to this new land after suffering persecution for their disagreements with the Church of England.

"They knew they were pilgrims, and looked not much on those things, but lifted up their eyes to the heavens, their dearest country."  (William Bradford)

They came for religious freedom, but that first winter was both long and hard.  Many died from lack of shelter and food as well as illness. Only 53 of the 100 original settlers survived that first winter.

The next year, the Pilgrims were grateful for a successful harvest and for the Wampanoag natives who helped them learn to grow crops in this new land. 

To celebrate, they held a celebration meal, a way to give thanks to the Wampanoag for their help and to thank God for protecting them through the first winter and providing for the coming winter through a bountiful harvest. 

"Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together." (Edward Winslow)

The name Thanksgiving, to the Pilgrims, actually meant a day to give thanks to God, not the elaborate feast we know today.  The first thanksgiving meal was probably called a harvest festival.  It wasn't until years later that the two celebrations were joined as one - a day to celebrate a succesful harvest with a delicious meal and a day set aside to give thanks to the One who has blessed us with so much. 

So, this year, as I get ready to join my family for our traditional Thanksgiving meal, I will be thinking of that first thanksgiving, the hardships the Pilgrims endured, and the God who brought them through that first winter. 

And I am thankful for the freedoms we have in this land - to worship the God who made us, to thank the God who blesses us, and to honor the God who loves us. 

Because, really, thanksgiving is about giving thanks to the One who has already given us much more than we deserve. 

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.



Worship the LORD with gladness;


come before him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.


It is he who made us, and we are his;


we are his people, the sheep of his pasture.


Enter his gates with thanksgiving


and his courts with praise;


give thanks to him and praise his name.


For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;


his faithfulness continues through all generations.


(Psalm 100)

Linking up with Bigger Picture Blogs for an I Am Thankful Bigger Picture Moment today.

 Sources for the history I researched for this post:

The First Thanksgiving

Pilgrim Hall Museum

Thanksgiving Theme Units