English · Lycée général (C1 to C2), Bac pro (B1 to B2)

Session 5: From harvest to holiday: how Thanksgiving was made

Recap check
  1. What did Locke say about America?
  2. What was the Walking Purchase?
  3. Name the three types of colonies.
Answer key
  1. That it was the example of land in a natural state.
  2. A 1737 deal by which Penn's sons took Lenape land.
  3. Charter, proprietary, royal.
Question: How did a harvest gathering in 1621 become a national holiday?

Objectives

Documents

Key document

“Our harvest being gotten in, our Governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a more special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labours. [...] many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king, Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted.” Edward Winslow, letter of 11 December 1621.

Read the source: Pilgrim Hall Museum, the First Thanksgiving · NMAI, Harvest Ceremony study guide · Lincoln's proclamation, 1863

"set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise"
Abraham Lincoln, proclamation of 3 October 1863
Another viewpoint

The Pilgrim Hall Museum describes the 1621 gathering as a diplomatic event: the English needed to keep the alliance made a few months earlier with the Wampanoag sachem Ousamequin, the Massasoit. Winslow's account says the Wampanoag brought five deer. In 1863, in the middle of the Civil War, Lincoln proclaimed a national day of Thanksgiving. In 1941, Congress fixed it on the fourth Thursday of November.

Abraham Lincoln, photographed in November 1863. Via Wikimedia Commons.
Abraham Lincoln, photographed in November 1863. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Activities

  1. Read Winslow: what is celebrated? Who is the host? Who are the guests?
  2. Notice what the text does not say: no turkey, no pumpkin pie, no word Thanksgiving.
  3. Timeline: 1621, 1863, 1941. Why would a president at war create a day of unity?
  4. Summary: Thanksgiving is partly an invented tradition, built in the nineteenth century as a story of national unity.

Exercise

Rewrite with the structure given: 1. People say the Pilgrims ate turkey. (The Pilgrims...) 2. Historians believe the feast lasted three days. (The feast...)
Answer key1. The Pilgrims are said to have eaten turkey. 2. The feast is believed to have lasted three days.

Gap-fill worksheet

Word bank: harvest, Massasoit, ninety, 1863, alliance

  1. In 1621, the settlers celebrated their ______.
  2. The Wampanoag leader was ______.
  3. He came with some ______ men.
  4. Lincoln proclaimed the holiday in ______.
  5. The gathering was also a way to keep an ______.
Answer key
  1. harvest
  2. Massasoit
  3. ninety
  4. 1863
  5. alliance

Homework

Write five sentences about 1621 using is said to have, is believed to have, or it is thought that. Mark each as myth or fact.
Answer keyModel answer: The Pilgrims are said to have eaten turkey (not stated by Winslow). Massasoit is known to have come with some ninety men (fact, Winslow). The feast is believed to have lasted three days (fact, Winslow). It is often thought that it was called Thanksgiving (myth). The Wampanoag are known to have brought five deer (fact).

Levels

LevelAdjustment
PremièreRead the quotation with a glossary.
TerminaleCompare Winslow and Lincoln: aims and audience.
C1/C2 extensionDiscuss invented traditions (Hobsbawm) and national myths.
Bac proPresent a three-date timeline orally.