Today I would like to tell you about an important event in the history of the United States: the First Thanksgiving. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay I chose this topic because I really like the Thanksgiving holiday and was interested in its history. In 1620, the Pilgrims left England because the king said that everyone must pray in the Church of England. The pilgrims wanted religious freedom and had their own church. They sailed to North America on their ship: the Mayflower. The journey was long and difficult for them because the weather was very cold and stormy. Many pilgrims fell ill and died. By the time they arrived in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the weather was growing colder every day. Because of this they could not plant any crops. They also didn't know how to hunt. They had very little food to eat and had no time to build houses before the cold winter and many pilgrims died. Finally, in the spring of 1621, they encountered Native Americans living near Plymouth. Native Americans shared their knowledge of hunting, fishing, and plant cultivation with the Pilgrims. The Pilgrims learned to survive in their new land. In November 1621, Native Americans helped the Pilgrims harvest the crops they had planted in the spring. The pilgrims were very grateful for their help. The Pilgrims threw a giant feast with the Native Americans to celebrate their first harvest. The celebration lasted 3 days, corn, barley, turkey, duck and deer meat was eaten. It wasn't until 1863 that Thanksgiving became a national holiday. President Abraham Lincoln declared the fourth Thursday of every November to be the Thanksgiving holiday. In 1939, President Franklin Roosevelt changed the annual Thanksgiving holiday to the third Thursday in November, but there was much opposition to the change instead. Two years later, he changed it again to the fourth Thursday of November. Today, on Thanksgiving Day each year, Americans give thanks for all the blessings. We remember the pilgrims' struggles to start a new life on a new continent. We also remember the importance of giving thanks for the good things in our lives. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay I am really looking forward to celebrating my first Thanksgiving holiday in the United States this coming November. Especially now I understand the significance of the first Thanksgiving in the history of this country. Works Cited Deetz, J. (1996). The Times of Their Lives: Life, Love, and Death in Plymouth Colony. W. H. Freeman. Philbrick, N. (2007). Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War. Penguin Books.Winslow, E. (2000). Mourt's Report: A Diary of the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Applewood Books.Bunker, North Carolina (2015). Hastening from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New History. Vintage.Heath, D.B. (2018). A Prehistory of Thanksgiving: Native Americans, Europeans, and the First American Thanksgiving Festival. University of Nebraska Press.Loewen, J. W. (2010). Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. The new press.Bradford, W. (2019). Of Plymouth Plantation. Yale University Press.Dolan, R. E. (2008). Thanksgiving: The Real Story. Simon & Schuster.Drake, S. (2000). The Plymouth Colony Archive Project. Retrieved from http://www.histarch.uiuc.edu/plymouth/Wood, G. (2009). The American Revolution: A History. Random house.