As we approach the festivities of Thanksgiving Day let me run a little controversy by you. Where and when was the 1st English Thanksgiving in the New World?
The history books state it was in 1621 at Plymouth Mass. where the colonists and Native Americans celebrated the recent harvest.
This was a tradition that the Pilgrims had brought with them from the old country, England.
But there was also a thriving British colony in Virginia. Established in 1607 the early settlements built Jamestown and expanded up the James Rivers.
Berkeley Plantation, home of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the home of President William Henry Harrison, claims to have held the 1st official Thanksgiving feast in 1619. The site lays claim to America's first official Thanksgiving in 1619, when a group of British settlers knelt in prayer of thanks for a healthy arrival across the Atlantic.
Both are deserving of the honor, offer a great deal of history and are well worth a visit.
The history books state it was in 1621 at Plymouth Mass. where the colonists and Native Americans celebrated the recent harvest.
This was a tradition that the Pilgrims had brought with them from the old country, England.
But there was also a thriving British colony in Virginia. Established in 1607 the early settlements built Jamestown and expanded up the James Rivers.
Berkeley Plantation, home of Benjamin Harrison, a signer of the Declaration of Independence and the home of President William Henry Harrison, claims to have held the 1st official Thanksgiving feast in 1619. The site lays claim to America's first official Thanksgiving in 1619, when a group of British settlers knelt in prayer of thanks for a healthy arrival across the Atlantic.
Both are deserving of the honor, offer a great deal of history and are well worth a visit.
