thanksgiving day united state

7/25/2019 Thanksgiving Day United State

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Thanksgiving Day (United

State)Thanksgiving Day, is a harvest festival and an important public holiday which is celebrated on

the fourth Thursday in November in the United States.

Thanksgiving has been celebrated nationally on and off since 17!, after a proclamation made

by "eorge #ashington.

$t has been celebrated as a federal holiday every year since 1%&, when, during the 'merican

(ivil #ar, )resident 'braham *incoln proclaimed a national day of "Thanksgiving and Praise to

our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens" , to be celebrated on the last Thursday in

November.

Together with (hristmas and the New +ear, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday

season.

The event that 'mericans commonly call the -irst Thanksgiving was celebrated by the

)ilgrims after their first harvest in the New #orld in 1%1. This feast lasted three days, and / as

accounted by attendee 0dward #inslow / it was attended by ! Native 'mericans and 2&

)ilgrims.The New 0ngland colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating thanksgivings/ days of prayer thanking "od for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.

'mericans commonly trace the Thanksgiving holiday to a 1%1 celebration at the )lymouth

)lantation, where the settlers held a harvest feast after a successful growing season. 'utumn or early

winter feasts continued sporadically in later years, first as an impromptu religious observance, and

later as a civil tradition.

S3uanto, a )atu4et Native 'merican who resided with the #ampanoag tribe, taught the )ilgrims

how to catch eel and grow corn and served as an interpreter for them. S3uanto had learned the

0nglish language during his enslavement in 0ngland. The #ampanoag leader 5assasoit had givenfood to the colonists during the first winter when supplies brought from 0ngland were insufficient.

The )ilgrims celebrated at )lymouth for three days after their first harvest in 1%1. The e4act time

is unknown, but 6ames aker, then )limoth )lantation vice president of research, stated in 1!!%, The

event occurred between Sept. 1 and Nov. 11, 1%1, with the most likely time being around

5ichaelmas 8Sept. !9, the traditional time.



Seventeenth:century accounts do not identify this as a thanksgiving observance, rather it followed

the harvest. $t included 2 persons who were on the 5ayflower 8all who remained of the 1 who had

landed9 and ! Native 'mericans. The feast was cooked by the four adult )ilgrim women who

survived their first winter in the New #orld 80leanor illington, 0li;abeth <opkins, 5ary rewster,

and Susanna 8#hite9 #inslow9, along with young daughters and male and female servants. Two

colonists gave personal accounts of the 1%1 feast in )lymouth. The )ilgrims, most of whom were

Separatists 80nglish =issenters9, are not to be confused with )uritans who established their own

5assachusetts ay (olony on the Shawmut )eninsula 8current day oston9 in 1%&. oth groups

were strict (alvinists, but differed in their views regarding the (hurch of 0ngland. )uritans wished to

remain in the 'nglican (hurch and reform it, while the )ilgrims wanted complete separation from the

church.

Thanksgiving was celebrated in the 5assachusetts ay (olony for the first time in 1%&, and

fre3uently thereafter until about 1%, when it became an annual festival in that colony. Thanksgiving

was celebrated in the (onnecticut (olony as early as 1%&! and annually after 1%>7, e4cept in 1%72.

The colonists of New Netherland appointed a day for giving thanks in 1%>> and occasionally

thereafter.

$n the 1th century, individual colonies would periodically designate a day of thanksgiving at

different times of the year in honor of a military victory, an adoption of a state constitution or an

e4ceptionally bountiful crop.

?n ?ctober %, 1!>1, both houses of the U.S. (ongress passed a @oint resolution fi4ing the

traditional last:Thursday date for the holiday beginning in 1!>.

<owever, in =ecember of that year the Senate passed an amendment to the resolution that split

the difference by re3uiring that Thanksgiving be observed annually on the fourth Thursday of

November, which was sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes 8less fre3uently9 the ne4t to last.The amendment also passed the <ouse, and on =ecember %, 1!>1, )resident Aoosevelt signed this

bill, for the first time making the date of Thanksgiving a matter of federal law and fi4ing the day as

the fourth Thursday of November.

<owever, for several years some states continued to observe the last:Thursday date in years with

five November Thursdays 8the ne4t such year being 1!>>9, with Te4as doing so as late as 1!2%.

The poor are often provided with food at Thanksgiving time. 5ost communities have annual food

drives that collect non:perishable packaged and canned foods, and corporations sponsor charitable

distributions of staple foods and Thanksgiving dinners.The Salvation 'rmy enlists volunteers to serve

Thanksgiving dinners to hundreds of people in different locales. 'dditionally, pegged to be five days

after Thanksgiving is "iving Tuesday, a celebration of charitable giving.

$n the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. -irstly,

baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table 8so much so that

Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as Turkey =ay9. Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet



potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various fall vegetables, s3uash, and pumpkin pie are commonly

associated with Thanksgiving dinner.

thanksgiving day united state

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