Thanksgiving Facts
Thursday November 22, 2007
Happy Thanksgiving! Abraham Lincoln officially made this an American holiday during his term in office. At this time, it is always important to remember how thankful we are for our family and our freedom. Read these thanksgiving facts to learn more about this American holiday.
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First Thanksgiving
The First Thanksgiving was Celebrated in Virginia at Berkeley Plantation where English colonists first held a thanksgiving celebration, one year and 17 days prior to the landing of the Pilgrims in Massachusetts!
They Gave Thanks for Their Safe Arrival in the New World. Thirty-eight men from Berkeley Parrish in England prayed thanks for their safe arrival to the New World and proclaimed Dec. 4, 1619
as a day of Thanksgiving to be celebrated every year thereafter.
The first Thanksgiving occurred when Captain John Woodlief led the newly arrived English colonists to a grassy slope along the James River and instructed them to drop to their knees and pray in thanks for a safe arrival to the New World.
On this day, Dec. 4, 1619, these 38 men from Berkeley Parish in England were given the instructions:
“Wee ordaine that the day of our ships arrivall at the place assigned for plantacon in the land of Virginia shall be yearly and perpetually keept holy as a day of Thanksgiving to Almighty God.”
This saying is now carved on a brick gazebo, where it is believed that Woodlief knelt down beside the James River.
Visit Berkeley Plantation and tour the grounds, gardens and three-story manor house built in 1776. See this birthplace of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, and of his son, the ninth U.S. President William Henry Harrison. Harrison’s grandson, another Benjamin Harrison, became the 23rd U.S. president.
Emily…. thank you so much for the “rest of the story”! Leaving God out of out history seems to be the goal these days. Thank you for your entry and Happy Thanksgiving. God Bless America