Folklore of the United States memorialized on the shore of Plymouth Harbor in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The holiday of Thanksgiving is said to have begun with the Pilgrims in 1621. They had come to America to escape religious persecution, but then nearly starved to death. Some friendly Native Americans (including Squanto) helped the Pilgrims survive through the first winter. The perseverance of the Pilgrims is celebrated during the annual Thanksgiving festival. George Washington (February 22, 1732 – December 14, 1799), the country's first president, is often said to be the father of his country. Apocryphal stories about Washington's childhood include a claim that he skipped a
History of slavery in Iowa History of slavery in Iowa During the early exploration, the area of what is now Iowa was part of New France and, as such, was governed by its slavery laws. French settlers first brought African slaves into the Upper Louisiana from Saint-Domingue around 1720 under the legal terms of the Code Noir, which defined the conditions of slavery in the French empire and restricted the activities of free Black persons. At the time, nine hundred slaves lived in the territory, as well as at least three hundred slaves the French took with them as they left for the lands west