The teacher should prepare a chart on the board with these headings. The chart will be completed as the story unfolds. Here the chart is completed for the teacher.

DATE / CLAIM / PRIMARY SOURCE EVIDENCE / QUESTIONS OR OUTCOMES
1827 / Thanksgiving originated in New England. / Northwood by Sarah Josepha Hale / Thanksgiving is referred to as a Jewish tradition “Feast of the Weeks” and to traditional harvests, not the one we celebrate today. Why were so many conflicting stories told in her writings?
1800-1900 / Thanksgiving began after 1630. / Various newspaper articles / Boston was settled after 1630 so the 1621 account of the first Thanksgiving was not supported with these sources.
  • Cited 1623 (end of drought) or
  • 1631 (supply ship arrived)
  • One newspaper article stated the date 1623 but described the 1621 event.

1600-1700 / Indians were invited guests of the Pilgrims for the first Thanksgiving. / Edward Winslow’s letter in 1622 Mourt’s Relations /
  • Edward Winslow’s letter: suggests the Indians came after the feast began to see what the noise was
  • Numerous conflicts between Indians and European settlers

1800s / The 1621 first Thanksgiving involving the Pilgrim and Indian story was not supported. / The Youth’s Companion / No mention of Pilgrim and Indian Thanksgiving story
1898 / Pilgrims and Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving together as friends. / The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H.A. Guerber / Refers to Indians as “savages” and Massasoit as “dirty chief”
1901 / Pilgrim and Indians alike enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving. / New York Times / Indians were confined to reservations and Indian children were schooled in the ways of the “white people”; allows for the emergence of the “friendly” Pilgrim and Indian story
1906 / Indians portrayed as friendly guests of Pilgrims. / Washington Post / In accurate story becomes a familiar schoolroom classic
1910 / Indians wore full war bonnets to the Thanksgiving feast and introduced Pilgrims to popcorn. / Stories of the Pilgrims / Claims are inaccurate but tend to extend and support the “classic” story of the first Thanksgiving.
1920 / History textbooks begin to publish inaccuracies regarding the 1621 Pilgrim and Indian “first Thanksgiving.” / America in the Making; Colonial America / “Governor Bradford set aside a day of Thanksgiving as the President does today. Together with Indian guests, the Pilgrims feasted for a week on corn, squash, and pumpkin on wild fowl, and on deer.”
“When the winter’s supply of wood and food had been stored away, Governor Bradford appointed a day of Thanksgiving. All their Indian friends were invited to the feast. Everyone contributed and had a share in the good times. This was the first Thanksgiving ever celebrated in America.”
1940 / Newspapers begin to publish inaccuracies regarding the 1621 Pilgrim and Indian “first Thanksgiving.” / Washington Post / “practically every well-run school program features that perennial favorite..the First Thanksgiving… There are little boys in high cardboard hats and silver cardboard buckles. Little girls trip on long gray skirts. And the Indians in crepe paper say, majestically, ‘Me Massasoit, me great chief’, or less impressively, ‘Me Squanto, me friendly.’”
Inaccurate information portrayed in school pageants. / School Pageants / Usually more Pilgrims than Indians; opposite is true. Male Pilgrims are depicted as wearing black clothes and a high hat with a silver buckle. Pilgrim women wore black clothes and a white apron. Black was not the typical color of their clothes, nor were there any high hats with a silver buckle.
Women – red, brown, violet clothes; bonnet or hat.
Men- white, beige, and earthy green; felt hat or cap
Boys and girls wore dresses until about 8 years old. Wore many other colors—blue, yellow, red, brown
1900 / American culture embraces the 1621 First Thanksgiving story and accepts it as truth. / Immigrants were pressured to attend Americanization classes where they learned the 1621 Thanksgiving story
1970 / Pilgrim and Indians alike enjoy celebrating Thanksgiving. / Flyer / Frank James, leader of Wampanoag, was refused to give his speech at annual Thanksgiving dinner at Plymouth. Gave it instead at the statue of Massasoit and the tradition continues today.