"Pilgrim Party" by Point Pleasant 5th Grader Sarah Quiggly Wins Our Thanksgiving Essay Contest

Today we are featuring the winning entry in our essay contest for elementary school students. The topic was: The Story of Thanksgiving and What it Means to Me. We received hundreds of entries and (sadly) this one by ten year old Sarah Quiggly of Point Pleasant was the best.

Pilgrim Party: the Story of Thanksgiving by Sarah Quiggly

Back in Olden Times, people didn't always have religious freedom like we do now. One group that didn't have religious freedom was the Pilgrims because the mean king said the religion of Pilgrimage was bad. They decided that they should go someplace where they could practice Pilgriming in peace. So they wanted to go to America where there was lots of freedom and corn.

The Pilgrims set sail in 1492 aboard the Nina, the Pinta, and the Mayflower. Their leader, Myles Standish, promised he would bring the Pilgrims to a land of plenty and also prove the world was round. The journey wasn't easy. The evil king tried to stop them by sending his U-Boats after them, but Myles Standish put his boats in a convoy to be safe.

Lots of other hardships happened to the Pilgrims as they crossed the ocean blue. There were storms and whales and no good water. They had to drink sea water which is salty because back then they didn't know it was bad for your blood pressure. The food was terrible. They didn't have buffets like we did on our Disney cruise. Everyone couldn't wait to get to America to try the corn they had heard so much about.

Just when it seemed like they would never make it, they landed on Plymouth Rock in 1620. They decided to stop and make some laws when they got there and wrote the Mayflower Compact. Unfortunately the Nina and Pinta Compacts have been lost to history. It was called the Compact because Pilgrim John Alden could write very small and fit all the laws on one page so you could fold it up and carry it around with you.

Next the Pilgrims had to build a colony. They built houses and churches and schools and barns and shops and places to store all that corn they had heard so much about. They also had their first encounters with Indians. They called the native people Indians because they wrongly assumed they came from Cleveland. Luckily the Indians they met were friendly. Squanto and Sacagawea were some of the natives who helped the Pilgrims. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn. Sacagawea showed the Pilgrims the northwest passage. In return, the Pilgrims promised that all settlers from Europe would always treat the Indians fairly when they stole their land.

Thanks to the help of their new Indian friends, the Pilgrims had a great harvest. They decided to have a big feast to give thanks for all their success. They were especially thankful that they were in the half of the Pilgrims who hadn't died already. They were also thankful that the Indians hadn't invented gunpowder yet. The Pilgrims invited the Indians to join them for their dinner. They served turkey, mashed potatoes, ambrosia salad, cranberry sauce, stove top stuffing, and corn that they had heard so much about. The Indians brought dessert. Everyone had a great time and started an American tradition. 

Today we still celebrate Thanksgiving. For me it is a time to be thankful for family and friends and Nintendo. We eat turkey and potatoes and stuffing and more turkey and then have lots of dessert. Then the men in the family fall asleep while they watch football. The next day everyone starts Christmas shopping on Black Friday which my mom says should be called Black and Blue Friday because everyone is fighting for bargains. 

I love Thanksgiving and I'm very thankful that the Pilgrims and Indians decided to start it. I think if they could see Thanksgiving today, they would be very happy. At least the Pilgrims would be. Maybe the Indians not so much.


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