Origins Of Thanksgiving
Origins
Harvest festivals and thanksgiving celebrations have been part of people's lives for centuries.
The ancient Greeks, the Romans, the Hebrews, the Chinese, and the Egyptians all marked their harvests with ceremony and celebration.
Long before formal religions established themselves, farmers believed that their crops contained spirits, which could control whether the crops would grow or die.
Many believed that these spirits would be released when the crops were harvested and they had to be destroyed or they would take revenge on the farmers who harvested them.
Some of the harvest festivals celebrated the defeat of these spirits, and the success of the harvest.
In 1621, after a very hard first year in the New World the Pilgrim's autumn harvest was generous and plentiful. They had more than enough food to put away for the winter.
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