The 1621 Pilgrim-Wampanoag peace treaty was the first of its kind

The Wampanoag collaborated with the Pilgrims in order to survive

Decades of violence and disease brought by European settlers had devastated local tribes. Up to 75% of the Wampanoag people had been eliminated, leading them to sign the peace treaty to preserve those who remained.

The Wampanoag Nation inhabited the northeastern coast of North America for 12,000 years before European contact killed an estimated two-thirds of their population in a single generation.

A map of Wampanoag territory in the 17th century

Around the time of the first Thanksgiving, the Wampanoag lived in a broad swath of New England, including Cape Cod and the islands ringing it. This map shows the historic territory of the tribe, complete with the native and contemporary names of towns and villages.

Oral history and artifacts suggest the Wampanoag inhabited the area for 12,000 years

By 1621, Native Americans had been interacting with European explorers along the coasts for hundreds of years. European adventurers, including Giovanni da Verrazzano, mapped the coastline as early as 1524, as this timeline from the National Museum of the American Indian explains.

Read the only surviving eyewitness account of the first Thanksgiving

Edward Winslow’s short 1621 letter offers the only firsthand account of the first Thanksgiving, describing celebratory gunfire that drew Wampanoag leader Massasoit and 90 men—initially fearing conflict—before the gathering turned into shared feasting.

Thanksgiving, explained

Thanksgiving may be synonymous with turkey and pie today, but its roots trace back to a 1621 feast between Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, who gathered to celebrate the settlers’ first successful harvest.

An estimated 40,000 Wampanoag populated 67 villages in the 1600s

For more than 10,000 years, native Wampanoag people have lived in and around Rhode Island and Massachusetts, especially in the islands known today as Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Roughly 5,000 dwell in the area today, after their numbers declined amid European migration.

A Thanksgiving meal was celebrated in Virginia in 1619

Although the Pilgrims' meal with the Wampanoag is often cited as "the first Thanksgiving," historians note a meal intended to mark "a day of thanksgiving to Almighty god" was celebrated by early settlers three years earlier. President John F. Kennedy acknowledged the day in his 1963 Thanksgiving proclamation.

King Philip's War devastated Native resistance in colonial New England.

The first Thanksgiving meal likely featured a venison stew called sobaheg

Agricultural knowledge was vital to the Pilgrims’ survival in a new, unknown land. Explore how to make sobaheg, a Wampanoag venison stew that would likely have been served at the first meal between the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims.

Squanto was a tragic character in the original Thanksgiving story

Tisquantum (also known as Squanto) played a crucial role in the survival of the Pilgrims. As an English speaker, Squanto assisted the Pilgrims in gathering food and communicating with other Native peoples. However, his story also involved being sold into slavery by an English sea captain and returning home to find his tribe decimated by disease during the Great Dying. Tisquantum met his end not long after that first Thanksgiving, with historians speculating he died either by disease or assassination.

Roger Williams founded the first American colony without an established church

Banished from Massachusetts in 1636 for preaching religious dissent, Williams founded Providence, Rhode Island—one of the earliest governments in the Western world to guarantee broad religious liberty. His phrase "wall of separation" between church and state directly influenced Jefferson and the Constitution's framers.

Pontiac's Rebellion prompted Britain to draw a line between colonists and Native lands in 1763

After the French and Indian War, a coalition of Indigenous nations—led by Odawa leader Pontiac—launched a major uprising against British forts. In response, Britain issued the Royal Proclamation of 1763, which reserved lands west of the Appalachian Mountains for Native peoples.

Many myths continue to circulate about the first Thanksgiving

The Thanksgiving myth didn’t really start in 1621, argues historian David Silverman in this interview with Smithsonian. Rather, it took hold over 200 years later. During the Civil War, Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln as a way to promote national unity. The tidy story of friendship between Native Americans and colonists was used to quell racial tensions of the late 19th century.

The 1783 peace treaty with Britain formally ended the Revolutionary War and nearly doubled the size of the United States.

Spanish colonists celebrated alongside the Seloy tribe in Florida in 1565

Long before the 1621 meal between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag, Pedro Menéndez de Avilés and 800 Spanish settlers founded the city of St. Augustine in Spanish la Florida. They celebrated the founding with a Mass of Thanksgiving with the Indigenous Seloy tribe.

The Wrights descended from English-born migrants to Boston in the 1630s

Samuel Wright was a Puritan who arrived in Massachusetts just two decades after the Pilgrims. His great-great-grandson Daniel Wright, born in Connecticut in 1757, fought in the Continental Army during the American Revolution, seeing action at the Battle of Saratoga.

See Harvard’s early history through Indigenous voices

Founded in 1636, Harvard University grew alongside English colonization in Wampanoag lands. In this online exhibit, the Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology highlights Indigenous voices, interpreting objects such as eel traps and grass baskets.

The Non‑Proliferation Treaty was designed to prevent new states from developing nuclear bombs

The Treaty on the Non‑Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (created in 1968, effective 1970) binds non-nuclear states to forgo nuclear weapons and commits nuclear powers to share peaceful technology and pursue disarmament—forming the core of the global non-proliferation regime.

America's first newspaper, 'Publick Occurrences Both Forreign and Domestick,' lasted only one issue.

Colonial Americans used tobacco, wampum, and land-backed notes to solve a chronic coin shortage

British coins rarely circulated in the colonies due to an unfavorable trade balance, forcing colonists to improvise. They traded in Spanish dollars, Native American shells, tobacco warehouse receipts, and eventually paper money backed by land rather than gold.

Native Americans developed pottery and religion, and experienced population growth during the Woodland period

Between 500 B.C.E. and 1100 C.E., Indigenous peoples produced pottery and practiced animism, a spiritual worldview in which animals, plants, and natural forces are believed to possess sacred power. They moved seasonally to make the most of available resources.

Explore early Thanksgiving documents, from recipes to early proclamations

History buffs will love this trove of original documents related to the Pilgrims and Thanksgiving, including 18th-century recipes, one of Sarah Josepha Hale’s appeals to President Lincoln to establish the national holiday, and a copy of Abraham Lincoln’s original 1863 Thanksgiving Day Proclamation. You can also find illustrations and photos of historical Thanksgiving celebrations over the years.

Europeans' arrival to America brought disease to Indigenous populations

Indigenous people lived in the Americas for centuries before the arrival of the first Europeans in the 15th century. Their arrival was disastrous for Native tribes; in addition to being enslaved and losing their land, they had no natural immunity to the diseases brought by colonists. Eventually, up to 95% of the Native American population was killed by illnesses including typhus, chickenpox, and cholera, an event now known as the Great Dying.

One Native leader tried to save his people's land by building a nation

As the US pushed westward in the 19th century, one leader of the Ojibwe people fought back not with arms but with politics, seeking to preserve his people's territory and way of life by building a formal Native nation capable of negotiating on equal footing with the US government.

The Stamp Act's real purpose was protecting colonists from Native Americans

The troops the act funded weren't left in America to guard against France, but to manage the aftermath of Pontiac's Rebellion and keep the peace between colonists and Indigenous nations. Some historians argue this means Native American resistance to British expansion indirectly triggered the tax that sparked the Revolution.

In 1639, Puritans in the Massachusetts Bay Colony banned toasting

Like the Anglo-Saxons and the ancient Greeks before them, the American colonists tended to party when they got to toasting. That led to a 1639 law banning the practice, which they viewed as excessive and superstitious. Alcohol remained legal, but the hope was that banning toasting might reduce excessive drinking.

Early Native Americans shifted from nomadic life to permanent settlements around 8500 B.C.E.

Around 8500-7900 B.C.E., many Indigenous groups began settling near rivers and lakes to harvest fish and hunt bison, moving away from a fully nomadic lifestyle. This shift toward semipermanent communities marks one of the earliest signs of organized settlement in North America.

A tense standoff with the Teton Sioux nearly ended the expedition

In 1804, the Teton Sioux seized a Corps of Discovery boat during a Missouri River meeting, sparking a dangerous standoff. The conflict eased only after careful diplomacy.

The Corps traded gifts with many native tribes as a sign of goodwill

They offered peace medals, beads, cloth, and mirrors, while receiving food, horses, furs, and guidance that helped them navigate and survive the western wilderness. This image collection showcases items the expedition collected.

The Napa Valley was originally inhabited by the Indigenous Wappo people, who built homes and villages throughout the region.

The Iroquois Confederacy's political structure may have shaped the US Constitution

Centuries before the US existed, six Indigenous nations—the Mohawk, Oneida, Onondaga, Cayuga, Seneca, and Tuscarora—united under a shared constitution known as the Great Law of Peace. Some historians argue that the framework of federalism and representative councils influenced the American founders.

The Stamp Act of 1765 was a key stepping stone toward the American Revolution, igniting colonial resistance to British taxation.

The reaction to the first direct tax on colonists prompted the second-ever colonial congress and a broad boycott of British goods. It also gave birth to the Declaration of Rights and Grievances, the congress's document articulating the "no taxation without representation" stance. The act's passage was a major stepping stone to revolution.

Native Americans were not granted US citizenship until 1924

The Indian Citizenship Act granted citizenship to all Native Americans born in the US, more than 130 years after the Constitution's ratification. Even then, some states continued to deny Native Americans the right to vote for decades.

Revolutionary War reenactments have taken place for centuries

The first known reenactment of the war occurred in 1778, while the war was still ongoing. A journal entry from a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army remarked that soldiers had commemorated a “Glorious victory obtained over the British” at Saratoga with “a Grand sham fight.”

A timeline of colonial settlement

An overview of early American settlement, beginning with the London Company's expedition to Virginia. Source includes a number of citations for further reading.

The Tariff Act of 1789 was one of America's first acts.

The Revolution split the Iroquois Confederacy, as members allied with different sides.

Native religious practices were suppressed for centuries before receiving federal protection in 1978

During the first two centuries of American history, the government frequently banned Native ceremonial dances, took sacred sites, and enrolled children in boarding schools where they were prevented from practicing their faith. The American Indian Religious Freedom Act of 1978 committed the federal government to safeguarding Native spiritual practices.

The first Americans arrived between 14,000 and 40,000 years ago

Early peoples migrated to the Americas via the Bering Land Bridge or coastal routes, spreading across the continent as hunter-gatherers. Archaeological sites in present-day New Mexico containing stone tools and animal bones mark some of the earliest confirmed evidence of human life in North America.

Some colonies were centuries-old before they broke from Britain

The revolution did not happen overnight, but was a culmination of centuries of settlement, policies, and war in North America. This timeline provides key, fascinating events from the 1600s through the Revolution in a smooth, easy-to-read interface.

Americans celebrated the end of the Revolutionary War with nationwide toasts

In 1783, citizens celebrated the signing of the Preliminary Articles of Peace with nationwide parties. Across the new country, many made 13 toasts to the 13 states. They also drank to George Washington. One poet in Boston wrote, “Health to his honor I’d freely drink, Had I a glass of wine; And whosoever with me shall think, May mix their toast with mine.”

The federal government's decision to pay off the states' Revolutionary War debts required a new tax, which sparked an armed rebellion. 

The annual 'turkey pardon' officially began in 1989

President George HW Bush oversaw the first official pardon, but the tradition began years before that. This short video from PBS News explores the history of presidential pardons for the lucky birds. There’s no “fowl” language, but there are plenty of puns!

The Archaic period marked Native Americans' shift from big-game hunting to foraging

Beginning around 8000 B.C.E., Indigenous peoples began relying on diverse food sources—including wild game, plants, seeds, and fish—and moved away from large-mammal hunting. Archaeological findings from this era suggest some communities began cultivating crops and establishing irrigation systems, indicating a shift toward less-nomadic lifestyles.

Yellowstone was the world's first national park

Before it was designated as such, it was home to 27 Indigenous tribes, including the Blackfeet, Crow, and Nez Perce. European trappers and traders traveling west were entranced by the area’s stunning beauty and natural resources, fueling a push for the government to preserve the land for future generations.

The oldest restaurants in the US

This list features several establishments that have been around since before the Declaration of Independence, including the White Horse Tavern, in Newport, Rhode Island, and New York's Fraunces Tavern, where George Washington dismissed his troops at the end of the Revolutionary War.

Weeks before the Battle of Lexington, colonists resisted a British raid in Salem, MA, that nearly escalated into the first battle of the Revolution.

The Articles of Confederation were the first governing documents of the United States

Drafted in 1777 and ratified in 1781, the articles created a weak national government without the ability to tax or regulate commerce. This led to problems for the new nation, necessitating the Constitutional Convention in 1787.

Tourists flock to Walden Pond, the namesake for Henry David Thoreau's book 'Walden,' from across the globe.