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USA Customs and Institutions

The Pilgrims wanted to come to America for religious freedom after facing persecution in England and threats of war in Holland. They believed the New World would allow them to freely practice Christianity without interference. The first Thanksgiving was established by Governor William Bradford in 1621 to celebrate the Pilgrims' good harvest and strengthen their friendship with the Wampanoag tribe, who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first difficult years in America by teaching them how to farm local foods. Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November by gathering with family and friends for a meal including turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin pie to give thanks for their blessings.

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142 views2 pages

USA Customs and Institutions

The Pilgrims wanted to come to America for religious freedom after facing persecution in England and threats of war in Holland. They believed the New World would allow them to freely practice Christianity without interference. The first Thanksgiving was established by Governor William Bradford in 1621 to celebrate the Pilgrims' good harvest and strengthen their friendship with the Wampanoag tribe, who had helped the Pilgrims survive their first difficult years in America by teaching them how to farm local foods. Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November by gathering with family and friends for a meal including turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin pie to give thanks for their blessings.

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1. Why did the Pilgrims want to come to America?

In their native land, the people of Plymouth had been called Puritans. Several years later, after fled to
Holland because English officials began to persecute them, they had been threatened by religious
persecution and by war. The Puritans were upset that their children were speaking Dutch instead of
English. They believed America, an unsettled land, would give them freedom to live and bring
Christianity to the New World. The Puritans began to call themselves Pilgrims because of their
wandering in search of religious freedom and set sail to America.

2. What were the two main purposes of the first Thanksgiving?

In the early day, the Pilgrims were not adapted with life in the wilderness. They had to struggled with
weather which were terribly cold, diseases, hard work and lack of foods. They had lost a half of
Pilgrims colonists before an Indian walked into their village and brought the Indians chief, Massasoit.
Massasoit’s tribe taught them how to hunt, fish and grow food. Governor of the Pilgrims, William
Bradford establish a day of thanksgiving to God in the fall of 1621. He decides to use this religious
occasion to celebrate a good harvest and strengthen the friendship between the Pilgrims and their
Indian neighbors.

3. How do Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today?

In modern day, Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday and celebrated on the fourth Thursday of
November. Many of the traditions of the modern American Thanksgiving come from the first
Thanksgiving celebration. Families and friends get together for a meal, which traditionally includes a
roast turkey, stuffing, potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce, gravy, and pumpkin pie to give thanks for
what they have.

4. What are some of the American Indian influences on American words, foods, and clothing?

The most valuable gifts to the settlers from the Indian was foods. The Indian’s tribe not only taught
them how to hunt and fish but also how to grow crops, such as corn and white potatoes which had
become two of the most important crops in the world, sweet potatoes, pumpkin, banana, pineapple,
avocado and many others. The Indian also showed them how to making used of unfamiliar plants.
Many of the drugs extracted from those plants (such as cocaine, a pain reliever) are still being used
today.

Native American introduced to the settlers their daily utensils, clothing, helped the Pilgrims to confront
severe weather like hammocks, snowshoes, moccasins, parkas and ponchos.

American English was still influenced by Indian cultures, many places were named after Indian names:
Chicago, Mexico, Peru, Nicaragua, etc. Indian words in the English language include moose, tobacco,
squash, and hundreds of others.

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