“Although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want.”
These words, written by Pilgrim Edward Winslow, are part of one of the sole primary source accounts of the first Thanksgiving in 1621.
The Pilgrims hadn’t set out for the New World aboard the Mayflower in search of riches or because they were merely looking for an adventure. They were reluctant settlers, opting to sail for America only after spending a decade trying to establish a home for themselves in Holland.

They had left their native England in the 1600s because they were unwilling to let their worship of God be subject to the whims of the English …