How the Plymouth Pilgrims took over Thanksgiving – and who history left behind

By: Thomas Tweed, University of Notre Dame, The Conversation

Outlets: The Conversation

Published: November 13, 2025

Words: 1,587

Last Updated: 1 week, 4 days ago

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By Thomas Tweed, University of Notre Dame

Nine in 10 Americans gather around a table to share food on Thanksgiving. At this polarizing moment, anything that promises to bring Americans together warrants our attention.

But as a historian of religion, I feel obliged to recount how popular interpretations of Thanksgiving also have pulled us apart.

Communal rituals of giving thanks have a longer history in North America, and it was only around the …

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