The first Thanksgiving is a key chapter in America's origin story – but what happened in Virginia four months later mattered much more
- Written by Peter C. Mancall, Andrew W. Mellon Professor of the Humanities, USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences
In the 19th century, there was a campaign to link the Thanksgiving holiday to the Pilgrims.Bettman/Getty ImagesThis year marks the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving in New England. Remembered and retold as an allegory for perseverance and cooperation, the story of that first Thanksgiving has become an important part of how Americans...