Thanksgiving: Forefathers’ Day, the Pilgrims, and the “First Thanksgiving.”

Many influences contributed to transforming Thanksgiving from a mainly New England celebration into a national holiday. One major influence was migration. New Englanders migrated to other parts of the country in search of better farmland. The central valley of New York, for example, was largely settled by New Englanders, as was much of the Midwest. Transplanted New Englanders kept the Thanksgiving holiday alive in their new homes and urged their newly adopted communities to celebrate it as well.