THE FIRST THANKSGIVING

A long time ago, there were a group of people called Puritans who lived in England. They had their own beliefs and ways to pray to God.

There was a king of England who thought everyone should go to his church.

As Pilgrims did not accept, the king threatened them with going to jail.

The Pilgrims then asked the king to allow them to leave the country.

So the pilgrims set sail for America on a ship called the “Mayflower.”

The trip to America was long and hard. There were storms and the ship was really crowded.

When they got to America, it was winter and there were no food or houses. Many of the pilgrims died from sickness, starvation and freezing to death.

The Pilgrims found some people living in the new land. They called them Indians. They saw the Pilgrims suffering and they decided to help them.

They showed them how to hunt and fish.

They showed them how to grow corn and pumpkins.

The Indians also helped them build houses out of the trees.

When winter came again, the Pilgrims had plenty of food and a place to live.

The Pilgrims were so happy that they began to celebrate and then invited their friends , the Indians and shared everything in a big feast.

The feast lasted for a whole week and they ate turkey, fish, deer, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin.

But the first thing they did was to say a prayer to thank God for giving them friends, food, houses and a place to live where they could go to any church they wanted.

Thanksgiving is still celebrated in all the USA territory as a remembrance of that special gathering on November 26, 1861

Thank you and…

JORGE IGNACIO MOLINA HERNÁNDEZ

Fundación Universitaria Luis Amigó

English History and Culture

2010

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