1621: The First Thanksgiving

• The first Thanksgiving feast was meant to encourage peace and cooperation between the Pilgrims and Native Americans. In November 1621, the two groups held a three-day celebration. There were several types of food present, and the event was most similar to a socially oriented "state dinner." There were no religious overtones to their feast, as the Pilgrims preferred to engage in religious practices in private. Instead, the Pilgrims and Native Americans spent the time eating and playing games.
  
  

1623: Religious Themes

• The Pilgrims at Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts held a different type of Thanksgiving celebration in June 1623. After a much-needed rainfall saved their crops from drought, the Pilgrims engaged in a day of thanksgiving and prayer. It was a solemn occasion, without feasting or celebration. This observance and the 1621 feast are the main components of the Thanksgiving we know today, combining both social and religious factors.
  
  

Foods at the First Thanksgiving

• Although ham, pie and cranberry sauce are modern staples of Thanksgiving dinner, the Pilgrims and Native Americans had a very different menu for their celebration in 1621. Foods specifically mentioned in accounts of the first Thanksgiving include deer, fowl, fish, barley, peas and corn. Due to limited resources, many traditional foods were likely absent from the feast. These include sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, popcorn and pumpkin pie.
  
  

The Modern History of the Holiday

• In 1863, Abraham Lincoln was the first to officially declare Thanksgiving a national holiday, designating the last Thursday in November for the occasion. The date remained the same until 1939, when Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the third Thursday in November. This was an effort to stimulate the economy by lengthening the Christmas shopping season. In 1941, Congress moved Thanksgiving to the fourth Thursday in November, where it remains today.