From Staff Reports and history.com
In Summary:
Spanish colonists and the Timucua people in St. Augustine shared a thanksgiving mass and communal meal in 1565, more than 50 years before the Pilgrims’ celebration in Plymouth. Other contenders include French Huguenots at Fort Caroline and Spanish explorers in Texas, though none of these ceremonies shaped the modern holiday. Historians argue there was no single “first Thanksgiving,” but rather many early acts of gratitude that existed long before the tradition evolved into a national celebration.
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Long before the Pilgrims gathered with the Wampanoag in 1621, Spanish colonists landing on the shores of St. Augustine organized what some historians argue was the true first Thanksgiving. When Admiral Pedro Menéndez de Avilés arrived on September 8, 1565, he waded ashore to the sound of trumpets and artillery, kissed a cross held by Father Francisco Lopez, and claimed Florida for Spain. That same day, Father Lopez held a Catholic mass of thanksgiving—an act of gratitude marking the colonists’ safe arrival—before Menéndez invited members of the local Timucua tribe to join them for a communal meal.
Related: Don’t stress out about overeating during the holidays – a dietitian explains how a day of indulgence won’t harm your overall health.
University of Florida historian Michael Gannon once described this gathering as “the first community act of religion and thanksgiving in the first permanent settlement in the land.” The food reflected both necessity and cultural traditions. The Spanish colonists survived on provisions that endured their trans-Atlantic crossing: hard biscuits and cocido, a hearty garbanzo-based stew with pork, saffron, garlic, and cabbage, all washed down with red wine. The Timucua likely contributed foods native to the region—wild turkey, venison, alligator, shellfish, and possibly even shark—according to research cited by author Robyn Gioia.
Yet this St. Augustine feast is only one of several early thanksgiving ceremonies recorded in Florida. Some historians point to another contender: a 1564 celebration held by French Huguenots at Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville. Explorer René Goulaine de Laudonnière wrote that the colonists sang a psalm of thanksgiving upon establishing their settlement and shared a meal with the Timucua. Their moment of gratitude, however, was overshadowed by tragedy; in 1565, Menéndez’s forces attacked Fort Caroline, killing 130 Huguenots and later massacring survivors at a site forever marked by the name “Matanzas”—Spanish for “slaughters.”
Florida is not alone in claiming the title. Texas cites a 1541 thanksgiving service by Father Juan de Padilla for Coronado’s expedition. Virginia and Maine also argue they hosted early ceremonies of giving thanks before the Pilgrims’ arrival. But as historian James W. Baker, author of Thanksgiving: The Biography of an American Holiday, notes, these events—Spanish masses, Huguenot psalms, and explorers’ prayers—were isolated expressions of gratitude, not traditions that continued or influenced the American holiday.
Baker emphasizes that even Plymouth’s 1621 feast was not originally described as “the first Thanksgiving.” That label did not appear until 1841, more than two centuries later. While European explorers routinely gave thanks upon landfall, these one-off observances did not evolve into the national holiday celebrated every fourth Thursday in November. The modern Thanksgiving traces its roots to New England’s Puritan traditions and to later political proclamations, not to a single, definitive feast.
In the end, debates about the “true” first Thanksgiving may miss the larger point. Numerous cultures and communities—Indigenous, Spanish, French, English—held ceremonies of gratitude on this continent long before the United States existed. They represent not a competition, but a layered history of thankfulness woven through centuries of North American settlement.
Key Points:
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Spanish colonists in St. Augustine held a thanksgiving mass and feast with the Timucua in 1565, often cited as America’s earliest Thanksgiving.
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The Spanish meal likely included hard biscuits, garbanzo stew, and wine, while the Timucua contributed local game and seafood.
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French Huguenots at Fort Caroline held a thanksgiving event with the Timucua in 1564, a year before St. Augustine’s feast.
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Texas, Virginia, and Maine also claim early thanksgiving ceremonies predating the Pilgrims’ 1621 gathering.
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Historians note that none of these early events—including Plymouth’s—established a tradition that led to the modern American Thanksgiving holiday.
Adapted from an article by Christopher Klein, originally published on History.com. Read the original at: https://www.history.com/news/first-thanksgiving-florida-st-augustine
