Thanksgiving An American holiday

What is Thanksgiving? Celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November in the U.S.A. Day to give thanks for family, friends, and life’s blessings in general One of two major state (non-religious) holidays in the U.S.A The other one is Independence Day (The 4th of July)

The First Thanksgiving

The First Thanksgiving In September 1620, 102 colonists (called Pilgrims) left England and sailed to America, where they settled near Cape Cod, Massachusetts. The Pilgrims were not very well prepared to settle a new land, and the winter that year was very, very bad. By spring, only half of the original 102 Pilgrims were still alive. The Pilgrims received help from a Pawtuxet Indian (Native American) named Squanto, who taught them how to grow crops, catch fish, etc. and helped them forge an alliance with the Wampanoag tribe they lived next to. After a successful harvest in the fall of 1621, the Governor of the colony planned a celebration feast and invited the Wampanoag tribe. This is believed to be the first Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Becomes a National Holiday For over a century, each individual colony (eventually states) had their own, separate Thanksgiving holidays. During the mid-1800s, author Sarah Josepha Hale launched a 36-year-long campaign to establish Thanksgiving as a national holiday. She sent countless letters to governors, senators, presidents and other politicians, and she wrote many editorials for newspapers. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday partly in an attempt to “heal the wounds of the nation” from the suffering of the Civil War. Lincoln scheduled Thanksgiving for the final Thursday in November, but it was moved to the 4th Thursday in November in 1941 by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in an attempt to increase retail sales to help with recovery from the Great Depression.

Celebration

Thanksgiving Dinner The main component of Thanksgiving is an elaborate dinner 90% of Americans eat turkey Traditional sides include mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce Green bean casserole and sweet potatoes are also common side dishes Dessert is traditionally pumpkin pie

Celebration Macy’s has held an annual Thanksgiving Day parade on the streets of New York City every year since 1924. It is televised nationally. Many other cities, including Houston, also holds large Thanksgiving Day parades. Besides dinner, many families celebrate Thanksgiving by either watching football on TV or playing a game of football with family and friends Many families also go through newspaper ads on Thanksgiving looking for “Black Friday” retail sales Some will even spend part of their Thanksgiving camped in front of large retailers waiting for the stores to open for their Black Friday events

Importance to American Culture

Modern Significance of Thanksgiving Most Americans know that the story of the first Thanksgiving probably isn’t very historically accurate Over the years, the holiday has become very commercialized (but, then, so is American culture in general) Today, Thanksgiving has lost its original religious significance and is primarily seen as an opportunity to put work aside for a day and spend time with family and friends