Describes what is known about the history of Thanksgiving and of the first Thanksgiving held by the Pilgrims in 1621.

Discusses the history of Thanksgiving, food traditions, Thanksgiving art and artists, lesson suggestions from teachers, and presents links to Thanksgiving resources.

This self-paced lesson provides historical context for Thanksgiving and presents students with writing-based activities.

A detailed overview of the first Thanksgiving and the menu that the Pilgrims served which was quite different than the modern Thanksgiving meal. Features videos, a photo gallery, and links to many related articles and topics.

The retail bonanza known as Black Friday is now an integral part of many Thanksgiving celebrations, but this holiday tradition has darker roots than you might imagine. This article discusses several myths as to the term Black Friday....

Sarah Josepha Hale is best known for creating the nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb." Her influence can also be seen in historic sites and in the creation of Thanksgiving as a national holiday.

Students may be surprised to find out that some ideas they have about the history of Thanksgiving are actually myths. In this lesson students become a true "Thanksgiving historian" by completing a Venn diagram about the Wampanoag people...

This is a collection of 27 Grade-Leveled texts (4-12) on the topic Native American History. Before European settlers came to North America, millions of native people lived in many unique societies. Explore the history of Native Americans...

What did they eat at the first Thanksgiving? Which president made Thanksgiving a federal holiday? Get Thanksgiving trivia to share around the table. Over the centuries, that briefly-mentioned feast week has taken on a life of its own,...

Teaching guide that uses primary sources to cover the history, traditions, and events of the American holiday of Thanksgiving. Provides additional online resources.

From the National Archives, an essay on the establishment of the American holiday of Thanksgiving as a legal holiday starting with the original proclamation in 1789 celebrating it on different days or months up to the 1941 resolution...

[Free Registration/Login Required] This history assessment measures students' ability to source a document, in this case a painting of the first Thanksgiving celebration. When historians interpret a document, they look at who wrote it...

[Free Registration/Login Required] Thanksgiving Day is a national holiday in the United States. In 1621, the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Native Americans shared an autumn harvest feast that is acknowledged today as one of the first...

Learn about the history of how Thanksgiving got its official date.

[Free Registration/Login Required] In this lesson, students will learn about Pilgrims, the Mayflower Compact and basic facts about this early colony in the New Land. Students will also explore the history of Thanksgiving. A five question...

Most recipes for Thanksgiving pumpkin pies call for clove and nutmeg - two distinct spices that come from two nearly identical molecules: eugenol and isoeugenol. "The Chemical Bond Between Cloves and Nutmeg" explains how the strength and...

The story of how Plymouth Colony came to be. Looks at the Puritan movement with its roots in England, the sailing of the Mayflower, and the progress of the settlers in their first years in New England. Describes their first encounters...

This site provides an extensive timeline of the life and work of Abraham Lincoln. Throughout the timeline there are photos that can be enlarged and many, many links to speeches, papers, letters of Lincoln's. The site is very easy to...

Young scholars explore different aspects of the cultures of the First Americans in this lesson plan. Stereotypes are often associated with Native Americans through movies and in the context of the Thanksgiving holiday. Specific...

Everything you would want to know if you are planning a trip to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. There is a photo tour of the parade, a route map, parade history, and hotel and dining information.

This website from the Pilgrim Hall Museum contains a collection of various history paintings depicting the pilgrims. Each image is annotated with a brief summary of what event the painting is depicting and general information about the...

This site, developed by Plimoth Plantation, offers visitors the chance to use the skills of historians to peel away the layers of myth and misconception surrounding "The First Thanksgiving" and discover what might really have happened...

How the First Thanksgiving College Football Game Kicked Off a Holiday Tradition. In 1876, Yale beat Princeton before a sparse crowd, but by the mid-1880s, their annual contest was a major social event that attracted thousands of fans in...

According to this account (elements of which continue to be debated by historians, especially regarding the presence and role of Native Americans), the historic event didn't happen on the fourth Thursday in November, as it does today,...