Thanksgiving By Isabel Ramos

Thanksgiving started in November 1620 because that day the Pilgrims landed in America. They came to America by ship .The name of the ship was the Mayflower.It took 65 days from England to America,102 passengers were boarded in the Mayflower.32 young children were boarded in the ship and 2 passengers died across the Atlantic ocean,2 children were born on the Mayflower ship.41 men signed the Mayflower ship compact establishing laws in the new world.In 1621 Samoset, an Abnaki Indian from main, walked onto the Pilgrims' village shouting welcome Englishman. he has learn broken English from previous contact with fisherman and traders.Through Samoset the Pilgrims met Squanto who taught them to use fish as fertilizer when planting corn,pumpkins and beans, and established friendly relations with the local Wampoanoag trib.The Wampoanoag had organized government and region and were able farmers,fisherman,hunters and gatherers so the terrible ample and varied food.What foods topped the table at the first harvest feast? Historians aren't completely certain about the full bounty, but it's safe to say the pilgrims weren't gobbling up pumpkin pie or playing with their mashed potatoes. Following is a list of the foods that were available to the colonists at the time of the 1621 feast. However, the only two items that historians know for sure were on the menu are venison and wild fowl, which are mentioned in primary sources. The most detailed description of the "First Thanksgiving" comes from Edward Winslow from A Journal of the Pilgrims at Plymouth, in 1621:

The pilgrims didn't use forks; they ate with spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. Salt would have been on the table at the harvest feast, and people would have sprinkled it on their food. Pepper, however, was something that they used for cooking but wasn't available on the table.
In the seventeenth century, a person's social standing determined what he or she ate. The best food was placed next to the most important people. People didn't tend to sample everything that was on the table (as we do today), they just ate what was closest to them.
Serving in the seventeenth century was very different from serving today. People weren't served their meals individually. Foods were served onto the table and then people took the food from the table and ate it. All the servers had to do was move the food from the place where it was cooked onto the table.
Pilgrims didn't eat in courses as we do today. All of the different types of foods were placed on the table at the same time and people ate in any order they chose. Sometimes there were two courses, but each of them would contain both meat dishes, puddings, and sweets