If the first Thanksgiving dinner had been held in Tennessee instead of Massachusetts, the actual dinner would have been very similar to those shared in New England, and both are a far cry from the ‘traditional’ Thanksgiving dinner items we have today, according to Troy Smith, associate professor of history at Tennessee Tech.
The traditional roasted turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are on almost every modern Thanksgiving menu, in some form or variation. This menu has evolved over time and continues to evolve today.
President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863. Since colonists had hunted wild turkeys for years it became the staple Thanksgiving meal meat.
In 1864 General Ulysses S. Grant declared that cranberry sauce was to be served to the Union troops for their Thanksgiving festival.
While pumpkin pie had been on the menu for well over a hundred years, it was not until 1929 when the Libby company began producing a line of canned pumpkin, simplifying the process for making the pie, did it become a Thanksgiving staple.
But according to the two only remaining historical records of the first Thanksgiving menu, that meal consisted of freshly killed deer, assorted wildfowl, cod, bass, and flint, and a native variety of corn harvested by the Native Americans, which was eaten as corn bread and porridge.
Smith, who teaches courses in Native American studies, said a first Thanksgiving dinner in Tennessee would be much the same as the original one in Massachusetts.
“The menu would in fact be very similar to that of the Wampanoags in New England. Deer and wild fowl, including turkeys, were common fare, as was fish - though not cod, more likely fish native to Appalachian rivers.”
While the Wampanoags would have had cod, bass and flint, the Cherokees would have had sunfish, gar, catfish, crappie, bass and bream.
Cherokees sometimes grew peanuts and sweet potatoes, according to Smith, and nuts and berries were plentiful.
“Like the Wampanoags, and most tribes, in most regions, Cherokees relied heavily on ‘The Three Sisters’- corn, beans, and squash. Corn would have been in the form of cornbread, or flat bread similar to corn tortillas, as well as in a type of thin porridge common among Southern tribes called sofkey. Sofkey could be eaten as a soup or sometimes drunk as a beverage.”
Meat would have been provided by all the animals common to the mountains, from turtles to rabbits and squirrels to bear.
“A particular delicacy was a type of sausage made of pounded groundhog meat. Most often, though, meals were large stews that might have had many of the ingredients listed above in them.”
Whether in Tennessee or in Massachusetts, that first Thanksgiving meal would have been quite alike, but the differences in that first meal and today’s “traditional” Thanksgiving meal are vast in comparison.
Return to News Room
FAQs
As was the custom in England, the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest with a festival. The 50 remaining colonists and roughly 90 Wampanoag tribesmen attended the "First Thanksgiving."
What is the meal that is shared on Thanksgiving? ›
The traditional roasted turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied yams, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie are on almost every modern Thanksgiving menu, in some form or variation.
What really happened at the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621? ›
Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat, different from today's traditional Thanksgiving feast. They played ball games, sang, and danced.
What was actually eaten at the first Thanksgiving? ›
So, to the question “What did the Pilgrims eat for Thanksgiving,” the answer is both surprising and expected. Turkey (probably), venison, seafood, and all of the vegetables that they had planted and harvested that year—onions, carrots, beans, spinach, lettuce, and other greens.
What president refused to declare Thanksgiving a holiday? ›
Thomas Jefferson was famously the only Founding Father and early president who refused to declare days of thanksgiving and fasting in the United States.
What is the dark history of Thanksgiving? ›
Others pinpoint 1637 as the true origin of Thanksgiving, since the Massachusetts Bay Colony's governor, John Winthrop, declared a day to celebrate colonial soldiers who had just slaughtered hundreds of Pequot men, women, and children in what is now Mystic, Connecticut.
What is a true Thanksgiving dinner? ›
Traditional Thanksgiving dinner includes turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes but the First Thanksgiving likely included wildfowl, corn, porridge and venison.
What is the farmers share of Thanksgiving dinner? ›
In most cases, Thanksgiving staples return cents on the dollar to farmers. Farmers received less than 15 cents for every dollar spent on food in 2022. That's according to the most recent data from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. It's slightly down from 2021, when farmers received about 15.2 cents.
What was not served at the Pilgrims Thanksgiving meal? ›
It is also worth noting what was not present at the first Thanksgiving feast. There were no cloudlike heaps of mashed potatoes, since white potatoes had not yet crossed over from South America. There was no gravy either, since the colonists didn't yet have mills to produce flour.
What is the real truth behind Thanksgiving? ›
In 1621, those Pilgrims did hold a three-day feast, which was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe. However, typically, when these settlers had what they referred to as "thanksgiving" observances, they actually fasted. So this feast and celebration was known as a "rejoicing," according to The New Yorker.
Potatoes. Whether mashed or roasted, white or sweet, potatoes had no place at the first Thanksgiving.
Did the Pilgrims and natives eat together? ›
Following a successful harvest in the autumn of 1621, the colonists decided to celebrate with a three-day festive of prayer. The 53 surviving are said to have eaten with 90 indigenous people in what became known as the first Thanksgiving.
Why do we eat turkey and not chicken on Thanksgiving? ›
While live cows and hens were useful as long as they were producing milk and eggs, respectively, turkeys were generally raised only for their meat and thus could be readily killed. Third, a single turkey was usually big enough to feed a family.
What did pilgrims drink? ›
Suggesting that the Pilgrims might have had a tipple at their first Thanksgiving, Mancall says that the Pilgrims came from more urban places in England, where beer or cider was always preferred over water because it was more sanitary.
What did the Pilgrims eat on the Mayflower? ›
During the Mayflower's voyage, the Pilgrims' main diet would have consisted primarily of a cracker-like biscuit ("hard tack"), salt pork, dried meats including cow tongue, various pickled foods, oatmeal and other cereal grains, and fish.
Did the Pilgrims and natives actually eat together? ›
According to The New York Times, the Mayflower did, in fact, bring settlers from England to land which they colonized and renamed Plymouth, MA. In 1621, those Pilgrims did hold a three-day feast, which was attended by members of the Wampanoag tribe.
Which two groups were at the first Thanksgiving meal? ›
In Plymouth, Massachusetts, colonists and Wampanoag Indians shared an autumn harvest feast in 1621 that is widely acknowledged to be one of the first Thanksgiving celebrations. But some historians argue that Florida, not Massachusetts, may have been the true site of the first Thanksgiving in North America.
Who started Thanksgiving dinner? ›
Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people.
Who hosted the first Thanksgiving? ›
Americans are told the first Thanksgiving took place in 1621, when the Pilgrim settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts, invited the Wampanoag to a harvest feast. The story goes the meal invite was to thank them for their help in planting crops, and that a warm friendship budded between the two people groups.
