Thanksgiving: A National Holiday By: Caleb Tompkins By: Caleb Tompkins

What is “Thanksgiving”?  Thanksgiving day is a harvest festival. Traditionally it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and to express gratitude in general. It is a holiday celebrated primarily in Canada and the United States.

The First Thanksgiving  The first Thanksgiving was held in 1621 when the Plymouth Colonists and the Wampanoag Indians shared a harvest feast which is known as the first Thanksgiving day.

When is Thanksgiving celebrated?  Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November, which this year is November 27 in North America.

Seventeenth Century Table Manners  The pilgrims didn’t use forks; they used spoons, knives, and their fingers. They wiped their hands on large cloth napkins which they also used to pick up hot morsels of food. A person’s social standing determined what he/she ate.

Thanksgiving Symbols  Thanksgiving has 6 different symbols that consist of a pumpkin, turkey, corn, cranberry, a cornucopia, and beans.

What did the Pilgrims eat?  This is what was on the menu:  Seafood: cod, eel, clams, and lobster.  Fowl: turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and eagle.  Meat: venison and seal.  Vegetables: pumpkin, peas, beans, onions, lettuce, radish, and carrots.  Fruit: plum and grapes.  This is what was on the menu:  Seafood: cod, eel, clams, and lobster.  Fowl: turkey, goose, duck, crane, swan, partridge, and eagle.  Meat: venison and seal.  Vegetables: pumpkin, peas, beans, onions, lettuce, radish, and carrots.  Fruit: plum and grapes.

Fun Facts  The American Thanksgiving feast lasted between 3 and 7 days!!  In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October.  Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.  The American Thanksgiving feast lasted between 3 and 7 days!!  In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October.  Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members and friends.

Turkey fun facts  Did you know that if a turkey looks up while it’s raining it can drown?  Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop down dead.  Did you know that if a turkey looks up while it’s raining it can drown?  Turkeys have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys would drop down dead.

We gather together We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing, he chastens and hastens his will to make known; the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing: sing praise to his name, he forgets not his own. Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining maintaining his kingdom divine; so from the beginning the fight we were winning: thou, Lord wast at our side: all glory be thine! We gather together to ask the Lord’s blessing, he chastens and hastens his will to make known; the wicked oppressing now cease from distressing: sing praise to his name, he forgets not his own. Beside us to guide us, our God with us joining, ordaining maintaining his kingdom divine; so from the beginning the fight we were winning: thou, Lord wast at our side: all glory be thine!