The Pilgrim Thanksgiving
that happened in the fall of 1621 is the most popular reference to
the first Thanksgiving in the US. This is largely because of Sarah
Josepha Hale, author of the nursery rhyme “Mary Had a Little Lamb”
and one of the most influential women in American history.
She was particularly enamored with the Pilgrim event she had read
about in a passage by William Bradford in 'Of Plymouth Plantation'
as well as the particular Thanksgiving tradition which was somewhat
common in New England at the time. She tirelessly campaigned for
over 20 years to have Thanksgiving become a national holiday with a
set date.
Through her highly circulated editorials, she was largely
responsible for much of why we view the Pilgrim’s 1621 Thanksgiving
how we do and was also largely responsible for many of the
traditions we now tend to attribute to that Thanksgiving, even
though there are actually only two brief passages that record what
happened during the Thanksgiving celebration in 1621.
Things like the tradition of eating turkey, mashed potatoes,
stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving were all
popularized by her while it is unlikely that the Pilgrims ate any of
those things.