An Illustrated History of the USA

Thanksgi ving

Evcr vyear 011 thefourthT hursdayinNovember

A merica ns celebrate a holiday called Thanks-

giv ing. Thefirst peopleto celebratethis {byWtT{'

thePilg rim s.InNovember.161 1.theysa tdow n

to cat togetherand to gi veth an ks to G o d fo r

ena bling them to survivethehard sh ipsofthei r

fi rstYt'JrIIIAmern-a.

-\I'U Il IT ,\ NNrwE ro;CLAro;1l

T hePilg rims werejoinedat theirfeas t bylocal

Amerindian s. T nt' Wam pan o ag and Pcquamid

pe opl e of the nearb y forestshadshared cornw ith

the Pilg rim sand shown rbcru the best p lacesto

catchfish. Laterth eA m eri n dianshadg ivenseed

com 10 th e En glish sett lersandsho w nthem ho w

to p lan t cro ps th at would grow well III th e

American soil, Witho ut them th erewou ld have

beenn o Thanksgiv ing ,

MinuitbuysManhattan

In the 161()s set tlers from Holland founded a
colonyrhcycalled New N ether lands alo ng the
b an ksofthe H udso nRive r.At themouthofth e
H ud so n liesMan hattanIsland. the presentsiteof
N ewYo rkC ity. AnAmerindia npeopl e called the
Shinncco ckusedrhc island fo r huntin g and fis hing,
althoughrhcv did no tlive on it.

In 1626 PeterMinuit.thefirs tDutchgO\TfIlOro f
th e N ewN etherlan ds."bought"M auhar ranfrom
theShmneco ck .H e paid themabouttw ent y-four
d oll ars' worth ofclorh. beads and o ther trade

goods. Like all Amerind ians, the Sh iunccock

believed that lan d belonged to all men. They

th oug ht that whatth eywereselling totheD utch

was therighttoshareMJl1h;l!l;l1lw ithth e mselves.

13 mthe Dut ch , like o the r European s, belie vedthat

buyi ng landmad eit theirsalone.

T hesedifferentbeliefsaboutland ownershi pwere

tobe am aj or causeofconflictbetweenEu ropean s

andA merind iansfor mallYyearsto come. An d

thebarg ain priceth atPeterM in uit paid lo r Mall-

harr anIsland becamepartofAmericanfolklo re.

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