The First Thanksgiving

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The First Thanksgiving
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• A long time ago before Christopher Columbus,
  people lived in the land we now call America.
  They are the real first Americans. They are the
  Indians.

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• The first Americans were hunters who traveled
  from place to place to find food.

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• They traveled to America by walking over a land
  bridge made of ice.

The yellow star on the map shows where the land
bridge once was.
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• The Indians built their houses from what they
  could find around them. They made them from
  clay, trees, animal skins and even tall grass.

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The first Americans had to make their clothes and
shoes from animal skins. There were no stores to
buy things.

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• Most of the first Americans walked to get from
  one place to another.

Some made boats from trees. These boats were
called canoes.
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• While the Indians were in America some people in
  England were wanting to come to this place they
  called the New World.

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• They had heard about America from explorers like
  Christopher Columbus.

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• They came to America for different reasons. Some
  came for religious reasons.

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• Some came to make money. They were hired to find
  treasure and send it back to England.

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• England was far away from America. They had to
  travel by boat. It took them a long time to get
  there.

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• The English people looked very different from the
  Indians. Their clothes looked different and they
  did not speak the same language.

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The Indians were scared of the English when they
met them for the first time. They wondered who
these strange people were and why they had come
to their land.
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The Indians and the English wanted to learn about
one another, but they spoke different languages.
Therefore, it was hard for them to talk and
understand each other.
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The English were unfamiliar with the land so the
Native Americans helped them by showing them what
foods to eat and what crops to grow.
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Pocahontas was a Native American princess. She
was Chief Powhatans daughter. Pocahontas helped
the English people by bringing them food and
helping them to communicate and trade with the
Indians.
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• During the first year, the Indians taught the
  Pilgrims how to plant crops and hunt for animals.
  When harvest time came, the Pilgrims and the
  Indians decided to give thanks and celebrate
  together.

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• The Pilgrims and the Indians had a big meal
  called a feast. They ate turkey, deer meat,
  cornbread, and pumpkin pie. This was the first
  Thanksgiving.

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• Today, we celebrate Thanksgiving in November of
  each year. We give thanks for all the wonderful
  things we have.

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• Today we celebrate Thanksgiving with a feast.
  People eat turkey, sweet potatoes, beans, squash,
  and cornbread. For dessert, we sometimes eat
  pumpkin pie.

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• Thanksgiving is a time to give thanks for all we
  have.

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• Now its time to see what you have learned. Go
  to the next page and click on the best answer to
  the question.