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First Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Where?
Who celebrated it? It is true that there was a first Thanksgiving Day, but the one that is told was not. The first was a Spanish meal with the Seloy Indians in 1565
+ Hispanic Roots
Fortress of San Marcos
The impregnable Castillo de San Marcos in San Agustín, in the state of Florida (U.S). It was the nightmare of the English who never managed to conquer it, as the cannon shells bounced off its walls.
The celebration took place in today’s United States territories, in an area that is already Spanish and in the Spanish language. This meal of fraternity with the indigenous tribe of the area, created the best environment for good relations with the indigenous people. Soon there were Spanish missions that spread northward, even as far as Virginia.
Americans celebrate and have propagated only part of history, the later arrival of the English colonists. It was really the Spaniards, arriving long before the shores of North America, who performed this ceremony. In English literature only that made by the English is discussed.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés with 800 Spanish settlers and the indigenous people of the area, got together in San Agustín (Florida) for a mass and a brotherhood meal.
St. Augustine in Florida, the oldest in the U.S
This Spanish population has maintained inhabitants continuously since its foundation. Although it was attacked several times, it was rebuilt and fortified. He created a fabulous Spanish military construction, which was never conquered by any army, to the despair of the invaders, who saw how their cannon shells bounced against their walls built with coquina.
The First Day, it was Hispanic
The Spanish celebrated it with the Native Americans, 50 years before the arrival of the English.
And it was in St. Augustine in Florida. The first European colony with a permanent population in the U.S.
Celebrated by Spanish settlers
Spaniards in Florida, today the territory of the United States, on September 8, 1565
The day is celebrated in the United States according to the arrival of the English, but it was not the first. In San Agustín, the Spanish settlers celebrated Thanksgiving Day, when they finished building the town with the help of the indigenous people of the territory. This first fellowship meal was celebrated after a mass.
Pedro Menéndez de Avilés
This Spanish leader made an alliance with the indigenous people of the area and founded San Agustín in Florida. This would be the permanent European settlement of the United States.
There were several Spanish Thanksgiving Days
1st Celebration in Florida (1565)
It was held 56 years before the arrival of the English
More than 800 settlers celebrated mass and food with the Indians of the area, who participated in the party, with food and mass
The celebration was something special, a meal in which the Seloy Indians participated. The Indians made an invitation to their allies to participate in a Thanksgiving meal, to which they agreed.
It is probable that the indigenous people brought turkey, venison, corn and even turtle. This was the most festive meal of the natives of the area.
The Spanish would have a broth with pork meat, seasoned with garlic. The normal thing at the time was for them to accompany it with wine and bread, if they had them.
2nd-Celebration in Texas (1598)
It was held 23 years before the arrival of the English
On April 20, 1598, 23 years before the arrival of the ship with English settlers (Mayflower).
This ceremony was carried out by an expedition of about 600 Spanish settlers, led by the Adelantado Juan de Oñate, they held a meal to celebrate and thank them for having overcome the hardships they had to go through when crossing the Chihuahua desert in Mexico. The difficulties to find water in good condition, for so many people, almost left many victims. They held a mass attended by the natives, as well as the subsequent meal. They celebrated it in El Paso (Texas). This day, Texas Thanksgiving Day, is recognized by the State of Texas as one of the main events in its history.
English celebration 50 years later
The pilgrims who arrived from England also celebrated a day but it is not the first
The first day of Thanksgiving in the New World was celebrated in St. Augustine (Florida) in the year 1565. The English celebrated it in 1621 for having a good harvest that would allow them to endure another year. The tribe that fed them that first year were the Wampanoag
Lack of interest from Spain
Finding no precious metal mines in North America, he allowed England to settle there
The American celebrations are the English customs, which was the main European group that emigrated to North America. And the story that is disclosed is fundamentally the one that occurred after their arrival, and not all of it.
The citizens of the Spanish Empire of the time, Spain, Portugal (60 years), South Italy, Flanders, Sardinia, Sicily, etc., settled in the best places in the New World, due to the climate, the largest cities, the greatest wealth, etc.
The English, French and other Europeans had to emigrate to the cold places of North America and Canada. Places where hurricanes were frequent, more bellicose Indian tribes, fewer crops, etc. The French were expelled from their attempt to settle in South Carolina. Seeing the difficulties they had had in the area trying to colonize, they left the English thinking that they would fail at Jamestown, just as they had at Roanoke.
The victory of these Europeans in North America has made their history written and fundamentally English customs celebrated.
