Why Is Thanksgiving Celebrated?
Thanksgiving Day, annual national holiday in the United States and Canada celebrating the harvest and other blessings of the past year. Americans generally believe that their Thanksgiving is modeled on a 1621 harvest feast shared by the English colonists (Pilgrims) of Plymouth and the Wampanoag people. It originated as a day of thanksgiving and harvest festival, with the theme of the holiday revolving around giving thanks and the centerpiece of Thanksgiving celebrations remaining a Thanksgiving dinner.
What’s the Meaning of Thanksgiving?
The word thanksgiving means the act of expressing or feeling thankfulness. In other words, it’s the act of giving thanks for what you’re grateful for. This sense of the word is often used in a religious context. For example, a prayer of thanksgiving involves praying to express gratitude for the blessings in one’s life.
What Is the True Thanksgiving Story?
Others pinpoint 1637 as the true origin of Thanksgiving, since the Massachusetts Bay Colony’s governor, John Winthrop, declared a day to celebrate colonial soldiers who had just slaughtered hundreds of Pequot men, women, and children in what is now Mystic, Connecticut.
What Is the Real Reason Thanksgiving Started?
The formation of Thanksgiving as an official, United States’ holiday, did not begin until November 1863 during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln officially established the holiday as a way to improve relations between northern and southern states as well as the U.S. and tribal nations.
Why Is Thanksgiving Is so Important for Us?
Thanksgiving in the USA is meant to bring family and friends together over a big meal to express gratitude and thanks. Historically, the holiday commemorates the unity of the Pilgrims and the Native Americans, who gathered together in 1621 for a feast symbolizing peace and goodwill between their cultures.
What Are 5 True Facts About Thanksgiving?
- The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 over a three day harvest festival.
- Turkey wasn’t on the menu at the first Thanksgiving.
- Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving a national holiday on October 3, 1863.
- The history of U.S. presidents pardoning turkeys is patchy.
What Do Native Americans Think of Thanksgiving?
It’s important to know that for many Native Americans, Thanksgiving is a day of mourning and protest since it commemorates the arrival of settlers in North America and the centuries of oppression and genocide that followed.
Is Thanksgiving Culturally Sensitive?
It’s also culturally sensitive to consider the Native perspective when it comes to Thanksgiving. The First Thanksgiving is often depicted with “nameless” Native American tribes coming together with Pilgrims to give thanks and share a meal together.
Which President Refused Thanksgiving a Holiday?
But there’s one president who refused to endorse the tradition: Thomas Jefferson. Ever since Jefferson first declined to mark the day in 1801, rumors have swirled that the third president despised the event. But it was more complicated than that.
Is Thanksgiving Related to Religion?
But if you think it’s a Christian festival, then you’re wrong. Thanksgiving is in fact a secular festival, and has its origins in the 17th century, when the Americas were slowly being colonised by the British, and other European nations.
Featured Photo by Kelsey Chance on Unsplash
