In September 1620, a group of English people called the Pilgrim Fathers sailed from Plymouth, England across the Atlantic Ocean, in a ship called the Mayflower, to Cape Cod in North America. They went away from England because they did not agree with the religion in England. They wanted to make a new life in a new country.
They sailed for sixty-six dangerous days across the Atlantic Ocean. When they arrived, they called their new home New England, but they were not the first people to live there. The Wampanoag were the first people. Sometimes the Pilgrim Fathers fought with the Wampanoag, but they also learned a lot from them. The Wampanoag taught them to live from their new land, and to grow and cook new kinds of fruit and vegetables.
The first winter was difficult. Many of the Pilgrim Fathers died because it was very cold and they had little food. In the spring they started to grow food, with the help of some friendly Wampanoag, and in the autumn of 1621 they celebrated their first harvest. They gave thanks, not only for the harvest, but for their new home, new life and new friends.
Thanksgiving Day is the fourth Thursday in November. Canada is north of the USA, so the winter is longer and the harvest is earlier there. The date of Thanksgiving Day there is the second Monday in October. Most American and Canadian families still have a Thanksgiving Day dinner together. They have turkey and autumn vegetables, and then pumpkin pie.
In the USA, it is an important day for American football. Many people go to watch football or stay at home and watch it on television.
