Thanksgiving is probably the most favorite American holiday. The history of the holiday started in colonial time. In 1. _____________ a group of English people who were unhappy with the way the Church of 2. _____________ was organized set sail from Plymouth on a ship called the 3. _____________. They wanted to found a new church in America.
After six weeks at sea, the 4. _____________ landed at what is now Plymouth Rock, 5.______. They had a hard winter and nearly half of them died. But the local Indians provided seeds for the corn, which the Europeans had never seen before. They also helped the English settlers to hunt and fish.
Fortunately the first year’s harvest was good. The English settlers wanted to thank both God and also the Indians. So the governor declared a feast and invited the Indians to join in. About ninety Indians brought along fish, deer meat, 6. _____________, corn and pumpkin. They feasted with the English settlers for three days.
The next year no Thanksgiving celebrations were held, and it didn’t become an annual event until the 1780s. It was made a national holiday in 1863 by President 7. _____________. At that time the country was in the middle of 8. _____________, and the president thought that the establishment of a national holiday would help to unite American people.
Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth 9. _____________ of 10. ________ with much of the same food as had been eaten at the first Thanksgiving.