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The Weather of the Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving Day
The actual origins of Thanksgiving Day are probably lost to history. But most Americans contribute this event to the Pilgrims that first set foot on the shores of North America on November 19, 1620 via the infamous vessel the Mayflower.
William Bradford, the historian and later governor of Plymouth Plantation, related the weather events of the first Thanksgiving Day in America (although the tradition of the last Thursday of November celebrating such did not come to pass until years later).
William Bradford, seated at right, signing the ‘Mayflower’ Compact’ in 1620 as depicted by the artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1932. There appears to be no authenticated contemporary portrait of the real Bradford from his lifetime. Library of Congress.
The Pilgrims had the good luck of fair weather when they first made landfall at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod on November 19, 1620. They pushed off the beach and rounded the top of the cape and anchored at what is now called Provincetown on November 21st. This is where they actual spent the first ‘Thanksgiving Day’ on the shores of America
Map of Cape Cod illustrating the relevant locations of the Mayflower’s voyage. From David Ludlum’s ‘Early American Winters Vol. 1: 1604-1820, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1966.
Bradford relates, “Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by that which went before), they had now no friends to welcome then nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succour…and for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast.”
On December 16, 1620 the Mayflower set off for Cape Cod Bay and “in very cold and hard weather…the ground was now all covered with snow and hard frozen.” Six inches of snow had fallen on the Cape at Provincetown on December 7-8. On the “wild night” of December 18-19 the Pilgrims managed to approach the harbor at Plymouth. Bradford described the landing at Plymouth by skiff on December 18-19:
“After some hours sailing it began to snow and rain, and about the middle of the afternoon the wind increased and the sea became very rough, and they broke their rudder [the landing party in the skiff], and it was as much as two men could do to steer her with a couple of oars. But their pilot bade them be of good cheer for hew saw harbor; but the storm increasing, and night drawing on, they bore what sail they could to get in, while they could see. But therewith they broke their mast in three pieces and their sail fell overboard in a very grown sea, so they had like to have been cast away. Yet, by God’s mercy they recovered themselves, and having the flood [tide] with them, struck into the harbor…and though it was very dark and rained sore they, in the end, got under the lee of a small island and remained there all night in safety”.
David Ludlum writes, “More favorable conditions followed the storm and after two days drying out they found the ‘island’ to be in fact, a safe harbor and so, on December 21st, the celebrated landing at Plymouth took place (though by the small skiff and not the Mayflower itself). After reconnaissance by the 10 occupants aboard the skiff, the Mayflower itself sailed in and anchored on December 26th.
A fanciful drawing of the skiff of 10 passengers making landfall in Plymouth Harbor on December 21, 1620. The legend asserts that John Alden and Mary Chilton were the first to set foot on the rocky landscape following a harrowing and stormy journey from the Mayflower.
By luck that first winter of 1620-1621 was “a calm winter, such as was never seen since” Bradford reported.
It wasn’t until the following fall, that of 1621, that the famous ‘first’ Thanksgiving feast took place at the now established Plymouth Colony. There seems to be no mention of what the weather was like on that feast day.
Here is how Wikipedia describes the origins of Thanksgiving Day:
In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631. According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden. In later years, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.
Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution. During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress, each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their causes. As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God”.
”The First Thanksgiving”, a painting by J.L.G. Ferris produced in the early 20th century depicting the Plymouth Colony settlers and American Indians celebrating a bountiful harvest following the settlers first year at the Plymouth site. Most likely a fanciful depiction, but now a permanent part of American folklore. Ultimately, of course, the Native Americans didn’t end up so well after these first years of accommodation.
Just a sample of the ‘historical account’ of the origins of Thanksgiving and the weather associated with the initial landing in America by the Pilgrims.
Best wishes to all for your holiday. I will be away celebrating such with my family and be back posting a new blog on Monday, December 2nd.
REFERENCES: ‘Early American Winters Vol. 1: 1604-1820’ by David M. Ludlum, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1966.
Wikipedia for Thanksgiving historical origins references.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
The actual origins of Thanksgiving Day are probably lost to history. But most Americans contribute this event to the Pilgrims that first set foot on the shores of North America on November 19, 1620 via the infamous vessel the Mayflower.
William Bradford, the historian and later governor of Plymouth Plantation, related the weather events of the first Thanksgiving Day in America (although the tradition of the last Thursday of November celebrating such did not come to pass until years later).
William Bradford, seated at right, signing the ‘Mayflower’ Compact’ in 1620 as depicted by the artist Jean Leon Gerome Ferris in 1932. There appears to be no authenticated contemporary portrait of the real Bradford from his lifetime. Library of Congress.
The Pilgrims had the good luck of fair weather when they first made landfall at Nauset Beach on Cape Cod on November 19, 1620. They pushed off the beach and rounded the top of the cape and anchored at what is now called Provincetown on November 21st. This is where they actual spent the first ‘Thanksgiving Day’ on the shores of America
Map of Cape Cod illustrating the relevant locations of the Mayflower’s voyage. From David Ludlum’s ‘Early American Winters Vol. 1: 1604-1820, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1966.
Bradford relates, “Being thus passed the vast ocean, and a sea of troubles before in their preparation (as may be remembered by that which went before), they had now no friends to welcome then nor inns to entertain or refresh their weather beaten bodies; no houses or much less towns to repair to, to seek for succour…and for the season it was winter, and they that know the winters of that country know them to be sharp and violent, and subject to cruel and fierce storms, dangerous to travel to known places, much more to search an unknown coast.”
On December 16, 1620 the Mayflower set off for Cape Cod Bay and “in very cold and hard weather…the ground was now all covered with snow and hard frozen.” Six inches of snow had fallen on the Cape at Provincetown on December 7-8. On the “wild night” of December 18-19 the Pilgrims managed to approach the harbor at Plymouth. Bradford described the landing at Plymouth by skiff on December 18-19:
“After some hours sailing it began to snow and rain, and about the middle of the afternoon the wind increased and the sea became very rough, and they broke their rudder [the landing party in the skiff], and it was as much as two men could do to steer her with a couple of oars. But their pilot bade them be of good cheer for hew saw harbor; but the storm increasing, and night drawing on, they bore what sail they could to get in, while they could see. But therewith they broke their mast in three pieces and their sail fell overboard in a very grown sea, so they had like to have been cast away. Yet, by God’s mercy they recovered themselves, and having the flood [tide] with them, struck into the harbor…and though it was very dark and rained sore they, in the end, got under the lee of a small island and remained there all night in safety”.
David Ludlum writes, “More favorable conditions followed the storm and after two days drying out they found the ‘island’ to be in fact, a safe harbor and so, on December 21st, the celebrated landing at Plymouth took place (though by the small skiff and not the Mayflower itself). After reconnaissance by the 10 occupants aboard the skiff, the Mayflower itself sailed in and anchored on December 26th.
A fanciful drawing of the skiff of 10 passengers making landfall in Plymouth Harbor on December 21, 1620. The legend asserts that John Alden and Mary Chilton were the first to set foot on the rocky landscape following a harrowing and stormy journey from the Mayflower.
By luck that first winter of 1620-1621 was “a calm winter, such as was never seen since” Bradford reported.
It wasn’t until the following fall, that of 1621, that the famous ‘first’ Thanksgiving feast took place at the now established Plymouth Colony. There seems to be no mention of what the weather was like on that feast day.
Here is how Wikipedia describes the origins of Thanksgiving Day:
In the United States, the modern Thanksgiving holiday tradition is commonly, but not universally, traced to a poorly documented 1621 celebration at Plymouth in present-day Massachusetts. The 1621 Plymouth feast and thanksgiving was prompted by a good harvest. Pilgrims and Puritans who began emigrating from England in the 1620s and 1630s carried the tradition of Days of Fasting and Days of Thanksgiving with them to New England. Several days of Thanksgiving were held in early New England history that have been identified as the "First Thanksgiving", including Pilgrim holidays in Plymouth in 1621 and 1623, and a Puritan holiday in Boston in 1631. According to historian Jeremy Bangs, director of the Leiden American Pilgrim Museum, the Pilgrims may have been influenced by watching the annual services of Thanksgiving for the relief of the siege of Leiden in 1574, while they were staying in Leiden. In later years, religious thanksgiving services were declared by civil leaders such as Governor Bradford, who planned a thanksgiving celebration and fast in 1623. The practice of holding an annual harvest festival did not become a regular affair in New England until the late 1660s.
Thanksgiving proclamations were made mostly by church leaders in New England up until 1682, and then by both state and church leaders until after the American Revolution. During the revolutionary period, political influences affected the issuance of Thanksgiving proclamations. Various proclamations were made by royal governors, John Hancock, General George Washington, and the Continental Congress, each giving thanks to God for events favorable to their causes. As President of the United States, George Washington proclaimed the first nation-wide thanksgiving celebration in America marking November 26, 1789, "as a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favours of Almighty God”.
”The First Thanksgiving”, a painting by J.L.G. Ferris produced in the early 20th century depicting the Plymouth Colony settlers and American Indians celebrating a bountiful harvest following the settlers first year at the Plymouth site. Most likely a fanciful depiction, but now a permanent part of American folklore. Ultimately, of course, the Native Americans didn’t end up so well after these first years of accommodation.
Just a sample of the ‘historical account’ of the origins of Thanksgiving and the weather associated with the initial landing in America by the Pilgrims.
Best wishes to all for your holiday. I will be away celebrating such with my family and be back posting a new blog on Monday, December 2nd.
REFERENCES: ‘Early American Winters Vol. 1: 1604-1820’ by David M. Ludlum, American Meteorological Society, Boston, 1966.
Wikipedia for Thanksgiving historical origins references.
Christopher C. Burt
Weather Historian
The views of the author are his/her own and do not necessarily represent the position of The Weather Company or its parent, IBM.