The Wampanoag People Grade 3 - Unit 2 1
Unit Overview: This unit is designed to focus on teaching students about the Wampanoag way of life and their early interactions with the Pilgrims. Since the following unit focuses on colonial life, this unit prepares students to gain understanding of the Native American life and culture already in existence before the arrival of the Pilgrims. This unit also guides students to understand the reasoning begin the Pilgrims departure from England in search of religious freedom. The students are also familiar with the interactive social studies notebook which encourages a consistent lesson format with a quick preview activity, a whole class activity, and a processing activity completed independently for homework. Standards: History and Geography 2. Observe visual sources such as historic paintings, photographs, or illustrations that accompany historical narratives, and describe details such as clothing, setting, or action. (H) 3. Observe and describe local or regional historic artifacts and sites and generate questions about their function, construction, and significance. (H) New England and Massachusetts 3.2 Identify the Wampanoags and their leaders at the time the Pilgrims arrived, and describe their way of life. (H, G) 3.3 Identify who the Pilgrims were and explain why they left Europe to seek religious freedom; describe their journey and their early years in the Plymouth Colony. (H, G, C, E) A. the purpose of the Mayflower Compact and its principles of self-government B. challenges in settling in America C. events leading to the first Thanksgiving Cities and Towns of Massachusetts 3.12 Explain how objects or artifacts of everyday life in the past tell us how ordinary people lived and how everyday life has changed. Draw on the services of the local historical society and local museums as needed. (H, G, E) 2
Essential Questions: How do geography, climate, and natural resources affect the way people live and work? What causes change? Why do people move? How are people and nature connected? How does belief influence action? How and why do we celebrate holidays? What should we do when primary sources disagree? Learning Objectives: Students will be able to identify the location of the Wampanoag people on a map of Massachusetts. Students will be able to describe the seasonal activities of the Wampanoag people. Students will be able to describe the daily responsibilities for the Wampanoag men, women, and children. Students will be able to define the term sachem. Students will be able to identify different European explorers and their observations. Students will be able to analyze the impact European Explorers could have on the Wampanoag. Students will be able to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the Pilgrims leaving for North America. Students will be able to define the term religious freedom. Students will be able to summarize the Pilgrims journey on the Mayflower. Students will be able to explain the importance of the Mayflower Compact. Students will be able to interpret the importance of primary source documents to provide factual information surrounding historical events. 3
The Interactive Student Notebook The lessons in this unit are designed for the Interactive Student Notebook (ISN). Students do all of their social studies work throughout the year in the ISN, which serves as an artifact of student learning. The ISN follows a very specific format: Preview Question left side Activity right side Processing Activity This is a representation of the ISN. Each lesson begins with a Preview activity, which builds background knowledge, taps into prior knowledge, reviews the previous lesson, or introduces vocabulary. This is always at the top of the left-hand page. Next, the mini-lesson is taught. The content from the lesson is recorded on the Notes page, which is always the right-hand page. Finally, the lesson ends with a Processing activity, which asks students to apply the content and skills from the lesson and show mastery of the day s objective. This is always at the bottom of the left-hand page. Thus, the flow of the ISN is top left- right - bottom left. 4
The Wampanoag People Overview Lesson 1 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 2 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 3 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 4 Timeline: 1 Day Topic: Meet the Wampanoag Topic: Spring and Summer by the Sea Topic: Fall and Winter in the Forest Topic: Wampanoag Daily Chores Vocabulary Wampanoag, native, tribe, Vocabulary: shelter, mishoon, preserve, wetu Vocabulary: longhouse, legend Vocabulary: sinew, pottage, survive Preview: If you lived in a time without stores and electricity, what would you do to survive? Activity: Students will read pages 48-51 and define key vocabulary. Students will color and label the Wampanoag region on a map of Massachusetts. Processing Activity: How did the Wampanoag people get everything they need from nature? Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 48-51 Preview: Write 3 words to describe spring and summer. Activity: Students will describe the food, chores, and the shelter specific to the spring and summer seasons. Processing Activity: Students will create an image displaying life in the Wampanoag village during the spring and summer seasons. Extension: Make corn husk dolls with your students. http://www.beyondthechalk board.com/activities/cornhusk-dolls/ Preview: What happens when the season changes from summer to fall? Visual Discovery: Image of a Longhouse: How does this shelter look different than the wetu? Why do you think it is different Activity: Students will describe the food, chores, and the shelter specific to the fall and winter seasons. Processing Activity: Students will create an image or write a description displaying life in the Wampanoag village during the fall and winter seasons. Preview: What chores do you help with around the house? Activity: Students will complete a box-chart recording the different chores completed by men, women, boys, and girls. Processing Activity: Pretend you are learning the chores of a Wampanoag Boy or Girl, List 5 questions you might ask the person teaching you. Extension: Make a ring and pin game with your students. http://www.beyondthechalk board.com/activities/ringand-pin/ Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 52-55 Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 56-58 Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 59-61 5
Lesson 5 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 6 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 7 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 8 Timeline: 1 Day Topic: Leading the Wampanoag Tribe Topic: Explorers Topic: Trouble In Europe Topic: To Stay or To Leave Vocabulary: sachem, wampum, council, elders, barter, pniese Preview: How does the principal lead our school community? Activity: Students will explain how the leader of the Wampanoag tribe was connected to each key member of the community. Processing Activity: Why was it important for the Sachem to have a council to help him? Vocabulary: explorer, European, mainland, Preview: What do you think it means to explore? Activity: Students will break into small groups and complete a jigsaw activity focusing on the different European Explorers. Processing Activity: Select one explorer and write a journal entry describing how they could have felt during their adventure. Vocabulary: religion, pilgrim, worship, colony Preview: What do you think life was like in England before the Pilgrims left? Activity: Students will use a map of England as a graphic organizer to record notes on life in England during the 1600s. Processing Activity: Use words or illustrations to show how people were feeling in England during the 1600s. Vocabulary: religion, pilgrim, worship, colony Preview: What 3 words could you use to describe life in England during the early 1600s? Activity: Students will complete a box-chart identifying the advantages and disadvantages of Staying in England or Leaving for the New World. Processing Activity: Create a sign to convince people to either stay in England or to leave for America. Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 64-66 Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 67-71 Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 78-79 Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 78-79 Who were the Pilgrims? Passage from Plimoth Plantation Who were the Pilgrims? Passage from Plimoth Plantation 6
Lesson 9 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 10 Timeline: 1 Day Lesson 11 Timeline: 1-2 Days Lesson 12 Timeline: 1-2 Days Topic: Journey on the Mayflower Topic: The Mayflower Compact Topic: Learning from the Native Americans Topic: Celebrating the First Harvest Vocabulary: journey, navigate, conditions Preview: If you had a choice to stay in England or leave for the new world, which would you choose? Why? Visual Discovery: Image of the Mayflower. What do you notice about this ship? What do you think it was used for? How many people do you think would fit on it? Activity: Students will create a map showing the path and timeline of the Mayflower s journey. Processing Activity: Students will write a letter to their family describing their journey on the Mayflower. Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 82-83 An Incredible Journey (On the Mayflower) http://extension.umass.edu/nutrition/sit es/extension.umass.edu.nutrition/files/ nutrition-educationpub/incredible_journey_vol_1_09.pdf Vocabulary: government, agreement, compact Preview: Why are rules important to a community? Visual Discovery: (1) Image of the Mayflower Compact: What do you notice about this image? Who wrote it? (2) Painting depicting the signing of the Mayflower Compact. What do you notice about the painting? What do you think is happening in the picture? How are the people feeling? Activity: Students will read the Mayflower Compact and identify the importance of the document. Processing Activity: Write a script or draw a comic strip representing the discussion that could have occurred as the men were developing the Mayflower Compact. Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 80-83 Vocabulary: defend, interpreters Preview: What do you think the Native Americans could teach the Pilgrims? Activity: Students will decide as a class on a design to be used as a graphic organizer to record important information about what the Native Americans taught the Pilgrims. Processing Activity: Draw a simple representation of a Pilgrim and a Wampanoag, then list their thoughts and concerns as they met for the first time. Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 88 89 Vocabulary: harvest, primary source Preview: How do you celebrate Thanksgiving with your family? Activity: Students will identify the Who, What, Where, When, Why information surrounding the celebration of the First Harvest. Processing Activity: Using accurate information, create an image representing the celebration of the First Harvest. Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pages 90-91 What was on the menu for the First Thanksgiving? http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history- archaeology/ask-an- Expert-What-was-on-the- menu-at-the-first- Thanksgiving.html 7
Lesson 13 Timeline: 1-3 days Final Assessment: Writing a Letter Home to England Preview: What was the most interesting piece of information you learned about the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims? Activity: Students will pretend to be a Pilgrim living in Plymouth and write a letter home to their family in England. In the letter students should include details about the following topics: Reason for Leaving to the New World Journey on the Mayflower Learning from the Native Americans Celebrating the First Harvest Extensions: When publishing the letter students can create antique paper using the procedures attached. 8
Supplementary Resources Grade 3 Unit 2: The Wampanoag Books 1621 A New Look At Thanksgiving Catherine O Neill Grace Giving Thanks, A Native American Good Morning Message Chief Jake Swamp If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 Ann McGovern Molly s Pilgrim Barbara Cohen Samuel Eaton s Day Kate Waters Sarah Morton s Day Kate Waters Tapenum s Day Kate Waters Websites Beyond the Chalkboard (Hand-On Activities) http://www.beyondthechalkboard.com/ Caleb Johnson s Mayflower History.com http://mayflowerhistory.com/ Deconstructing History: The Mayflower (video) http://www.history.com/videos/deconstructing-history-mayflower Plimoth Plantation www.plimoth.org Thanksgiving Interactive: You are a Historian http://www.plimoth.org/media/olc/intro.html Thanksgiving Virtual Fieldtrip http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/thanksgiving-virtual-field-trip The First Thanksgiving: Journey on the Mayflower http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/voyage/ Travels & Tastes Through Time: An Incredible Journey (Journey on the Mayflower) http://extension.umass.edu/nutrition/sites/extension.umass.edu.nutrition/files/nutrition-educationpub/incredible_journey_vol_1_09.pdf Wampanoag Artifact Collections http://www.plimoth.org/learn/collections-archaeology/wampanoag-collections 9
What was on the menu for the First Thanksgiving? (Article) http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/ask-an-expert-what-was-on-the-menu-at-the-first- Thanksgiving.html Wôpanâak Language Reclamation Project http://wlrp.org/index.html Field Experiences Plimoth Plantation Group Sales Office 508-746-1622, ext 8358, or grouptours@plimoth.org 10
Lesson 1: The Wampanoag People Key Vocabulary Wampanoag: native: tribe: 11
Lesson 2: Spring and Summer by the Sea What food did the Wampanoag people eat or prepare? What chores did the Wampanoag people have to complete? Describe their shelter. Spring and Summer by the Sea Other interesting information 12
Lesson 3: Fall and Winter in the Forest Image Provided by 2dodges2go.blogspot.com 13
Fall and Winter in the Forest What food did the Wampanoag people eat or prepare? What chores did the Wampanoag people have to complete? Describe their shelter. Other interesting information 14
Lesson 4: Wampanoag Daily Chores What were the daily chores that each person was responsible for completing? Men Women Boys Girls 15
Lesson 5: Leading the Tribe Describe how the Sachem was connected to each of these important members of the Wampanoag Community. 16
Lesson 6: Explorers Lesson Topic Title: European Explorers Standards: New England and Massachusetts 3.2 Identify the Wampanoags and their leaders at the time the Pilgrims arrived, and describe their way of life. Learning Objective: Students will be able to identify different European explorers and their observations. Students will be able to analyze the impact European Explorers could have on the Wampanoag. Essential Question: Why do people move? Vocabulary: explorer, European, mainland Materials: Teacher Resources: Chart Paper Markers Student Resources: The Massachusetts Story Pgs. 68-70 Procedures: 1. Preview a. Students will complete the preview activity at their seats before coming to the rug for the minilesson or discuss the preview question prior to delving into the mini-lesson. i. Preview Question: What do you think it means to explore? 2. Mini-Lesson a. Connection: The teacher will review information about the Wampanoag and their way of life. i. Guiding Questions: Who were the Wampanoag? Where did they live? What were their daily responsibilities? How were the chores of men and women different than the children? b. Students turn and talk to discuss: What do you think it means to explore? 17
c. Teach: The teacher will connect the vocabulary word explorer to the Wampanoag people by explaining that Europeans gradually came over to America in search of new trade routes and instead, observed the land, goods, and people they found. i. The teacher will then display an anchor chart replicating the information on the students chart that they will be completing. ii. After discussing the information required on the charts, the teacher will divide students into 5 groups and assign an explorer. 1. Application a. Students will break into 5 expert groups to read and record information about 1 of the 5 explorers listed in The Massachusetts Story on Pages 68-70. b. After groups have completed the chart with the information pertaining to their explorer, each group will break apart to form new jigsaw groups. The new group will have one representative who is an expert on each explorer. NOTE: Another approach could have jigsaw groups report back to the whole class. c. Students are responsible for recording on their chart the important information that is reported by the expert student. 2. Extension: Students may identify the countries where the explorers originated from on a world map or a map of Europe. Students may also complete online research to gain more information about their explorer. 3. Share: As a whole group, the teacher will ask the students to share the information they learned about the various explorers and record the facts onto an anchor chart. Students will then share their thoughts about the jigsaw progress. a. Discussion: How do you think the discoveries of these explorers could have affected the Wampanoag? Informal Assessment: The teacher will observe student interactive notebooks for accurate detailed content. The teacher will also observe student interactions during group work to evaluate communication skills. Processing Activity: Select one explorer and write a journal entry describing how they could have felt during their adventure. (Processing activities may be completed as homework.) 18
Name of Explorer Where was the explorer from? What did the explorer observe? How could their observations affect the Wampanoag? 19
Lesson 7: Trouble in Europe 20
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Who Were the Pilgrims? Text Provided by Plimoth Plantation. The people we know as Pilgrims have become so surrounded by legend that we are tempted to forget that they were real people. Against great odds, they made the famous 1620 voyage aboard the ship Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony, but they were also ordinary English men and women. To understand them, it is important that we look beyond the legend. This story will help you get to know these people, now known as the Pilgrims, through their first years in New England. England was a Roman Catholic nation until 1534, when King Henry VIII (reigned 1509-1547) declared himself head of a new national church called the Church of England. Although he and his daughter, Queen Elizabeth I (reigned 1558-1603), changed some things that made the Church of England different from the Roman Catholic Church, a few people felt that the new Church retained too many practices of the Roman Church. They called for a return to a simpler faith and less structured forms of worship. In short, they wanted to return to worshipping in the way the early Christians had. Because these people wanted to purify the church, they came to be known as Puritans. Another group, considered very radical, went even further. They thought the new Church of England was beyond reform. Called Separatists, they demanded the formation of new, separate church congregations. This opinion was very dangerous; in England in the 1600s, it was illegal to be part of any church other than the Church of England. The Separatist church congregation that established Plymouth Colony in New England was originally centered around the town of Scrooby in Nottinghamshire, England. Members included the young William Bradford and William Brewster. Like others who refused to follow the Church of England s teachings, some of them were harassed, fined or even sent to jail. When they felt they could no longer suffer these difficulties in England, they chose to flee to the Dutch Netherlands. There, they could practice their own religion without fear of persecution from the English government or its church. The Pilgrims in Holland (the Netherlands) Although they had religious freedom, life in the Netherlands was not easy. The Separatists had to leave their homeland and friends to live in a foreign country without a clear idea of how they would support themselves. The congregation stayed briefly in Amsterdam and then moved to the city of Leiden. There they remained for the next 11 or 12 years. Most found work in the cloth trades, while others were carpenters, tailors and printers. Their lives required hard work. Even young children had to work. Some older children were tempted by the Dutch culture and left their families to become soldiers and sailors. Their parents feared that they would lose their identity as English people. To make matters worse, the congregation worried that another war might break out between the Dutch and Spanish. They decided to move again. 22
The Move to America After careful thought, the congregation decided to leave Holland to establish a farming village in the northern part of the Virginia Colony. At that time, Virginia extended from Jamestown in the south to the mouth of the Hudson River in the north, so the Pilgrims planned to settle near present-day New York City. There they hoped to live under the English government, but they would worship in their own, separate church. Because their own money wasn t enough to establish their village, they entered into an agreement with financial investors. The company of investors would provide passage for the colonists and supply them with tools, clothing and other supplies. The colonists in turn would work for the company, sending natural resources such as fish, timber and furs back to England. All assets, including the land and the Pilgrims houses, would belong to the company until the end of seven years when all of it would be divided among each of the investors and colonists. The colonists and investors had many disagreements, but eventually the Pilgrims were able to leave Europe for America. The entire congregation could not come to America together. Those who could settle their affairs in Leiden went first while the greater number, including their pastor John Robinson, remained behind. The congregation purchased a small ship, Speedwell, to transport them across the sea and to use for fishing and trading in America. At Southampton, a port in England, they were joined by a group of English colonists who had been gathered by the investors. Speedwell and Mayflower a ship rented by the investors departed for America together. After twice turning back to England because Speedwell leaked, they were forced to leave the ship. As a result, many families were divided when some passengers had to be turned back for lack of space. A month after first leaving England, on September 6, 1620, Mayflower set out alone with 102 passengers. For more information on the voyage of Mayflower and the Mayflower Compact, please visit Mayflower: The Journey, the People, the Ship and the Mayflower Compact. http://www.plimoth.org/learn/just-kids/homework-help/who-were-pilgrims 23
Map of England Map provided by http://learnhistory.org.uk 24
Lesson 8: To Stay or To Leave Name: Date: To Stay or To Leave To Stay in England To Leave for the New World Disadvantages Advantages 25
Lesson 9: Journey on the Mayflower 26
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Lesson 10: The Mayflower Compact The above is an image of the original handwritten page of Governor William Bradford's history Of Plymouth Plantation. Image provided by http://mayflowerhistory.com/mayflower-compact/ Signers of the Mayflower Compact John Carver Edward Tilly Digery Priest William Bradford John Tilly Thomas Williams Edward Winslow Francis Cooke Gilbert Winslow William Brewster Thomas Rogers Edmund Margeson Isaac Allerton Thomas Tinker Peter Brown Miles Standish John Rigdale Richard Bitteridge John Alden Edward Fuller George Soule Christopher Martin Francis Eaton Richard Gardiner William Mullins James Chilton John Allerton William White John Craxton Thomas English Richard Warren John Billington Edward Doten John Howland Moses Fletcher Edward Leister Stephen Hopkins John Goodman 31
Signing of the Mayflower Compact Image provided by www.news.rapgenius.com 32
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Lesson 11: Learning from the Native Americans 34
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Lesson 12: Celebrating the First Harvest What Was on the Menu at the First Thanksgiving? The history of the holiday meal tells us that a tasty bird was always the centerpiece, but other courses have since disappeared from the table By Megan Gambino Smithsonian.com, November 21, 2011, Today, the traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes any number of dishes: turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. But if one were to create a historically accurate feast, consisting of only those foods that historians are certain were served at the so-called first Thanksgiving, there would be slimmer pickings. Wildfowl was there. Corn, in grain form for bread or for porridge, was there. Venison was there, says Kathleen Wall. These are absolutes. Two primary sources the only surviving documents that reference the meal confirm that these staples were part of the harvest celebration shared by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag at Plymouth Colony in 1621. Edward Winslow, an English leader who attended, wrote home to a friend: Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together after we had gathered the fruit of our labors. They four in one day killed as much fowl as, with a little help beside, served the company almost a week. At which time, amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and among the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our governor, and upon the captain and others. William Bradford, the governor Winslow mentions, also described the autumn of 1621, adding, And besides waterfowl there was great store of wild turkeys, of which they took many, besides venison, etc. Besides, they had about a peck a meal a week to a person, or now since harvest, Indian corn to that proportion. But determining what else the colonists and Wampanoag might have eaten at the 17th-century feast takes some digging. To form educated guesses, Wall, a foodways culinarian at Plimoth Plantation, a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, studies cookbooks and descriptions of gardens from the period, archaeological remains such as pollen samples that might clue her in to what the colonists were growing. Our discussion begins with the bird. Turkey was not the centerpiece of the meal, as it is today, explains Wall. Though it is possible the colonists and American Indians cooked wild turkey, she suspects that goose or duck was the wildfowl of choice. In her research, she has found that swan and passenger pigeons would have been available as well. Passenger pigeons extinct in the wild for over a century now were so thick in the 1620s, they said you could hear them a quarter-hour before you saw them, says Wall. They say a man could shoot at the birds in flight and bring down 200. 36
Small birds were often spit-roasted, while larger birds were boiled. I also think some birds in a lot of recipes you see this were boiled first, then roasted to finish them off. Or things are roasted first and then boiled, says Wall. The early roasting gives them nicer flavor, sort of caramelizes them on the outside and makes the broth darker. It is possible that the birds were stuffed, though probably not with bread. (Bread, made from maize not wheat, was likely a part of the meal, but exactly how it was made is unknown.) The Pilgrims instead stuffed birds with chunks of onion and herbs. There is a wonderful stuffing for goose in the 17th-century that is just shelled chestnuts, says Wall. I am thinking of that right now, and it is sounding very nice. Since the first Thanksgiving was a three-day celebration, she adds, I have no doubt whatsoever that birds that are roasted one day, the remains of them are all thrown in a pot and boiled up to make broth the next day. That broth thickened with grain to make a pottage. In addition to wildfowl and deer, the colonists and Wampanoag probably ate eels and shellfish, such as lobster, clams and mussels. They were drying shellfish and smoking other sorts of fish, says Wall. According to the culinarian, the Wampanoag, like most eastern woodlands people, had a varied and extremely good diet. The forest provided chestnuts, walnuts and beechnuts. They grew flint corn (multicolored Indian corn), and that was their staple. They grew beans, which they used from when they were small and green until when they were mature, says Wall. They also had different sorts of pumpkins or squashes. As we are taught in school, the Indians showed the colonists how to plant native crops. The English colonists plant gardens in March of 1620 and 1621, says Wall. We don t know exactly what s in those gardens. But in later sources, they talk about turnips, carrots, onions, garlic and pumpkins as the sorts of things that they were growing. Of course, to some extent, the exercise of reimagining the spread of food at the 1621 celebration becomes a process of elimination. You look at what an English celebration in England is at this time. What are the things on the table? You see lots of pies in the first course and in the second course, meat and fish pies. To cook a turkey in a pie was not terribly uncommon, says Wall. But it is like, no, the pastry isn t there. The colonists did not have butter and wheat flour to make crusts for pies and tarts. (That s right: No pumpkin pie!) That is a blank in the table, for an English eye. So what are they putting on instead? I think meat, meat and more meat, says Wall. Meat without potatoes, that is. White potatoes, originating in South America, and sweet potatoes, from the Caribbean, had yet to infiltrate North America. Also, there would have been no cranberry sauce. It would be another 50 years before an Englishman wrote about boiling cranberries and sugar into a Sauce to eat with....meat. Says Wall: If there was beer, there were only a couple of gallons for 150 people for three days. She thinks that to wash it all down the English and Wampanoag drank water. 37
All this, naturally, begs a follow-up question. So how did the Thanksgiving menu evolve into what it is today? Wall explains that the Thanksgiving holiday, as we know it, took root in the mid-19th century. At this time, Edward Winslow s letter, printed in a pamphlet called Mourt s Relation, and Governor Bradford s manuscript, titled Of Plimoth Plantation, were rediscovered and published. Boston clergyman Alexander Young printed Winslow s letter in his Chronicles of the Pilgrim Fathers, and in the footnotes to the resurrected letter, he somewhat arbitrarily declared the feast the first Thanksgiving. (Wall and others at Plimoth Plantation prefer to call it the harvest celebration in 1621. ) There was nostalgia for colonial times, and by the 1850s, most states and territories were celebrating Thanksgiving. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor of the popular women s magazine Godey s Lady s Book,, a real trendsetter for running a household, was a leading voice in establishing Thanksgiving as an annual event. Beginning in 1827, Hale petitioned 13 presidents, the last of whom was Abraham Lincoln. She pitched her idea to President Lincoln as a way to unite the country in the midst of the Civil War, and, in 1863, he made Thanksgiving a national holiday. Throughout her campaign, Hale printed Thanksgiving recipes and menus in Godey s Lady s Book. She also published close to a dozen cookbooks. She is really planting this idea in the heads of lots of women that this is something they should want to do, says Wall. So when there finally is a national day of Thanksgiving, there is a whole body of women who are ready for it, who know what to do because she told them. A lot of the food that we think of roast turkey with sage dressing, creamed onions, mashed turnips, even some of the mashed potato dishes, which were kind of exotic then are there. Find this article at: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/ask-an-expert-what-was-on-the-menu-at-thefirst-thanksgiving.html 38
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Name: Date: Celebrating the First Harvest Who? What? When? Where? Why? 41