Every November, America celebrates Thanksgiving as a holiday memorializing Indigenous Americas and showing the pilgrims how to feed themselves once they arrived in what is now the United States of America, more specifically Massachusetts. The concept of Thanksgiving didnt begin with the pilgrims. Indigenous Americans of the northeast, Wampanoags, had been celebrating their fall harvests long before the pilgrims arrived. The pilgrims landed in 620 but the first mention of a Thanksgiving didnt come till 7 years later in 637. On May 26th, 637, towards the end of the Pequot War, English colonizers and their allies set fire to a Pequot fort, burning almost 400 people alive, and shooting those who escaped. Women and children are estimated to make up 75 of those people. The day after the fire, Massachusetts Bays Governor William Bradford declared a ‘day of Thanksgiving kept in all the churches for our victories against the Pequots.’
On December 26th, 862 the United States, under President Abraham lincoln executed 38 Dakota men, the largest state-sanctioned execution. As were all tribes at
the time, the Dakota people were being forced by treaties to live on land that couldnt maintain them. In August 862, the US-Dakota war began. After 37 days of fighting the remaining Dakota people had left with their families and 2,000 had surrendered with promises from U.S. Colonel Henry H. Sibley that those who didnt attack settlers wouldnt be punished. Initially, 303 Dakotas were sentenced to death. Most did not speak English to understand the crimes they were being tried for. Since it was a military matter, Abraham Lincoln had the final decision on the executions. After reviewing the cases he decided to only execute those involved in civilian massacres, 38. The 38 didnt know that they were to die until December 22nd. There were 4,000 people, men, women, children approximated to be in the crowd at the hangings, some throwing bricks, and stones at the prisoners. It was less than a year later, on October 3, 863, that President Abraham Lincoln announces that the country will celebrate an official Thanksgiving holiday on November 26, 863, to show gratitude for the victory in Gettysburg.