The First Thanksgiving? If the meal the English shared with the
Wampanoag in the fall of 1621 wasnt the first Thanksgiving held
on these shores (or wasnt even a Thanksgiving at all), then what
was it? It surely took place long before Europeans came to
America, when Native people held ceremonies to give thanks for
the sun and stars, the wind and rain, the animals and the gift
of life. Claims for the first Thanksgiving in America celebrated
by Europeans include one held by Ponce de León in Florida back
in 1513, and another by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado in the
Texas Panhandle in 1541. Others make claims for first
Thanksgivings in Newfoundland, El Paso, Maine, and Jamestown.
The first national day of Thanksgiving, declared by the
Continental Congress, was on Thursday, December 18, 1777. In
October of 1863, though in the midst of a civil war of unequaled
magnitude and severity, President Abraham Lincoln still felt
there was much the nation should be grateful for. He declared a
national day of Thanksgiving to be