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=The First Thanksgiving=

In September 1620, a small ship called the **Mayflower** left Plymouth, England, carrying 102 passengers seeking a new home where they could worship freely, along with those who wanted to own land and make their fortune in the New World. Crossing the Atlantic Ocean was dangerous and lasted two months. They finally landed near the tip of Cape Cod, far north of their intended destination.

During their first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from extreme cold and contagious diseases. Only half of the Mayflower’s original passengers and crew lived to see the spring. In March, the surviving **Pilgrims** moved ashore, and began the hard work of building a village at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They met a Native American named Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, catch fish, and avoid poisonous plants. He also helped the settlers befriend the **Wampanoag**, a local tribe of Native American people

In November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first successful corn **harvest**, Governor William Bradford decided they should have a feast to celebrate and invited the Wampanoag tribe including their chief, Massasoit. That first Thanksgiving festival lasted for three days, where they ate duck, seafood, corn, and squash along with **venison**, or deer meat, brought by the Wampanoag tribe. No desserts like pumpkin pie were served because sugar was scarce.

Mayflower, Pilgrims, Wampanoag, harvest, and venison
For more information on the first Thanksgiving and Plimoth Plantation, a living historical museum, visit the following link: []