The 400th Anniversary of the Pilgrims Landing on Plymouth Rock and the History of Thanksgiving

2020 marks the

400th

anniversary

of the historic

landing

of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. A ship called the Mayflower set sail from England and finally arrived at the port of Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. The Pilgrims originally attempted to sail to Virginia, which was already an established colony at that time. However, rough seas and storms diverted them from their course and they landed for the first time in the province of Cape Cod in November 1620, where they spent five weeks before moving to a more temperate climate in Plymouth. In December, the Pilgrims established a settlement in Plymouth and lived on the Mayflower until they could build their new community.

More than half of the settlers died that first season because their homes were inadequate for the harsh winter climate. Fortunately, the Pilgrims met Squanto, who became a liaison between the local Native Americans and the new settlers. He also taught the Pilgrims how to plant corn, where to fish, and hunt wildlife in the fall of 1691. Members of the Poconoco tribe shared a harvest feast with the Pilgrims, which is now considered the basis for the first Thanksgiving, Although historians report that the Pilgrims first landed on the shores of Cape Cod in 1741, Plymouth Rock was identified as the exact location where the Pilgrims landed, although modern historians are generally skeptical of this claim.

Plymouth Rock had quickly become a Widely recognized symbol of the beginning of freedom in America today Plymouth Rock is now encased in the shoreline as part of Plymouth Memorial State Park and can be visited year-round as it was moved and damaged so many times over the past 400 years that in reality only about a third of the original

rock

remains. More than a million visitors tour Plymouth Rock. Each year and for each visitor, the symbolic

rock

has a unique meaning.