Hey Tigers, since Thanksgiving is only a week away, this is a great opportunity to let you in on some Thanksgiving history that you may not have known.

A small ship called the Mayflower left Plymouth, England on September 1620 with the hope that they could seek religious freedom and the promise of land ownership in the new land.

About a month later they crossed the Massachusetts Bay, where the Pilgrims began setting up a village at Plymouth. Life was not easy since they had to face a brutal winter where they suffered many contagious diseases.

Only half of the Mayflower’s passengers lived and those half were able to meet an Abenaki Indian. He then later returned with Squanto who taught the Pilgrims how to grow crops and how to fish for food.

After the Pilgrims first successful corn harvest in November 1621, William Bradford organized a feast and then invited their Native American allies to celebrate.

Even though most Americans believe that English Pilgrims and Native Americans got together for Thanksgiving, their peace did not last. The two sides got caught up in a devastating war only a generation after the well known feast, which resulted in hatred between the groups.

Historians and schools teach young kids that Thanksgiving created long lasting peace between the Native Americans and colonists, but in reality the colonists would betray their alliance. It was bloody and devastating.

Today Thanksgiving is when families get together to feast on food and be thankful for everything that they have. There is more history behind Thanksgiving and how it came to be in depth since many people have different stories/perspectives of the holiday.

“Usually when I think about Thanksgiving, only the food and the parties come to mind, but I did learn about the history of it as well in the past,” Jenny Prado, (12) commented.

Have a great Thanksgiving Tigers and don’t forget about the history behind it.