The America's Hometown Thanksgiving Parade is an annual parade held in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The parade, which began in 1996, is traditionally held the weekend before Thanksgiving and draws its name from the fact that Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony

Plymouth Colony was an English colonial venture in North America from 1620 to 1691. The first settlement of the Plymouth Colony was at New Plymouth, a location previously surveyed and named by Captain John Smith. The settlement, which served as the capital of the colony, is today the modern town...

 was the landing point of the Pilgrims

Pilgrims

Pilgrims , or Pilgrim Fathers , is a name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, United States...

 involved in the traditional "First Thanksgiving" in the early 1620s. Unlike most Thanksgiving parades, which include giant balloons of popular characters, the America's Hometown parade has a strict theme. Each element in the parade is based on the history of the United States

History of the United States

The history of the United States traditionally starts with the Declaration of Independence in the year 1776, although its territory was inhabited by Native Americans since prehistoric times and then by European colonists who followed the voyages of Christopher Columbus starting in 1492. The...

 and arranged in chronological order, with five divisions separated by century: the colonial period

British colonization of the Americas

British colonization of the Americas began in 1607 in Jamestown, Virginia and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas...

 of the 1600s, the Revolutionary period

American Revolutionary War

The American Revolutionary War , the American War of Independence, or simply the Revolutionary War, began as a war between the Kingdom of Great Britain and thirteen British colonies in North America, and ended in a global war between several European great powers.The war was the result of the...

 of the 1700s, the Civil War

American Civil War

The American Civil War was a civil war fought in the United States of America. In response to the election of Abraham Lincoln as President of the United States, 11 southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America ; the other 25...

 and pioneer periods of the 1800s, military and automotive showcases from 1900s and 2000s, and the closing division, the last of which includes the traditional Santa Claus

Santa Claus

Santa Claus is a folklore figure in various cultures who distributes gifts to children, normally on Christmas Eve. Each name is a variation of Saint Nicholas, but refers to Santa Claus...

float.