Tradition says the Pilgrims celebrated the first Thanksgiving in 1621. The pilgrims were religious dissidents who fled oppression in England. First, they went to the Netherlands, then left to establish a colony in North America. They arrived at what later became known as Plymouth, Massachussets. Their trip across the Atlantic Ocean and their first months were difficult. About one hundred pilgrims arrived just as autumn was turning to winter, about half of them died during the cold months that followed.
As the story goes, when spring came the pilgrims planted crops with the help of an American Indian named Squanto. By the end of summer, there was a good harvest of corn and barley. There was enough food to last through the winter.
The pilgrims held a celebration of thanks for their harvest. An Indian tribe of Indians who lived nearby, the Wampanoag took part and the feast lasted three days.