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 Thanksgiving
Day is a legal holiday in the U.S. first celebrated in early
colonial times in New England. The actual origin, however,
is probably the harvest festivals that are traditional in
many parts of the festivals and feasts. After the Plymouth
colonists completed the first harvest in 1621, Governor William
Bradford proclaimed a day of thanksgiving and prayer, shared
by all the colonists and neighbouring Native Americans. The
Pilgrims of Plymouth Rock held their Thanksgiving in 1621
as a three-day "thank you" celebration to the leaders
of the Wampanoag Indian tribe and their families for teaching
them the survival skills they needed to make it in the New
World. It was their good fortune that the tradition of the
Wampanoags was to treat any visitor to their homes with a
share of whatever food the family had, even if supplies were
low.
After the first New England Thanksgiving the custom spread
throughout the colonies, but each region chose its own date.
In 1789 George Washington, the first president of the United
States, proclaimed November 26 a day of Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving
day continued to be celebrated in the United States on different
days in different states until Mrs. Sarah Josepha Hale, editor
of Godey's Lady's Book, decided to do something about it.
For more than 30 years she wrote letters to the governors
and presidents asking them to make Thanksgiving Day a national
holiday.
An English explorer, Martin Frobisher, who attempted to establish
an English settlement on Baffin Island, after failing to discover
a northern passage to the Orient in 1576, held the first formal
celebration of Thanksgiving in North America. Canada established
the second Monday in October as a national holiday, "a
day of general thanksgiving," in 1957. In 1817 New York
State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the
middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated
a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed
a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president
has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating
the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
The American traditions of Thanksgiving revolve around a
huge and lavish meal, usually with Turkey as the centerpiece.
For those who do not like Turkey, a Roast or Prime Rib is
common. As tradition has it in most families, a special prayer
of thanks precedes the meal. In many homes, family members
will each mention something they are very thankful for. Thanksgiving
is a time for families to create traditions and memories that
last a lifetime.
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