Does anyone know where did we get the holiday known as Thanksgiving from,why do we celebrate and why do we have special foods we eat,and why isn’t the holiday commercial like Christmas?
The History channel has it all, videos included!
Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.
Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Thanksgiving stamp. Designed by the artist Margaret Cusack in a style resembling traditional folk-art needlework, it depicted a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables, under the phrase "We Give Thanks."
September 29th, 2009 at 10:42 am
Thanksgiving Day is a harvest festival. Traditionally, it is a time to give thanks for the harvest and express gratitude in general. It is primarily a North American holiday which has generally become a national secular holiday with religious origins.
The dates and whereabouts of the first Thanksgiving celebration are a topic of modest contention. Though the earliest attested Thanksgiving celebration was on September 8, 1565 in what is now Saint Augustine, Florida[1][2], the traditional "first Thanksgiving" is venerated as having occurred at the site of Plymouth Plantation, in 1621.
Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second Monday of October in Canada and on the fourth Thursday of November in the United States. Thanksgiving dinner is held on this day, usually as a gathering of family members.
References :
wiki
September 29th, 2009 at 11:02 am
because christmas is more of a ‘give me presents holiday’ and thanksgiving is when you sit on the table and eat a meal with ur family.
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September 29th, 2009 at 11:07 am
Pilgrims who arrived on the Mayflower had a difficult time adapting to the rugged life here in America. Many did not survive and those that did owed their live to the Native Americans who shared their food and taught the Pilgrims what to plant and how.
They two groups joined in a Thank you meal. So that is the first Thanksgiving.
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September 29th, 2009 at 11:27 am
Certainly you Cannot be from this Country or even in this Country legally!
Even immigrants who are Legally in this country have to take some measure of American History!
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American History Elementary School level!
September 29th, 2009 at 12:01 pm
It has something to do with people called pilgrims coming over and making peace with the indians or something like that!
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September 29th, 2009 at 12:39 pm
The first Thanksgiving took place in the fall, and was a thank you dinner from the Pilgrims of Plymouth, Massachusetts to the Wampanoag tribe for helping them plant and harvest corn, clams, lobsters and other native foods. They had a feast that included turkey, lobster, corn, clams, deer and other foods native to the area.
I think the commercialism of Christmas comes from the tradition of giving gifts. Originally the gifts exchanged were home made (the tradition dates back to the Celts, long before industrialization) but in modern times people have stopped making gifts and started buying them instead, which retailers have taken advantage of.
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September 29th, 2009 at 12:46 pm
The History channel has it all, videos included!
Though many competing claims exist, the most familiar story of the first Thanksgiving took place in Plymouth Colony, in present-day Massachusetts, in 1621. More than 200 years later, President Abraham Lincoln declared the final Thursday in November as a national day of thanksgiving. Congress finally made Thanksgiving Day an official national holiday in 1941.
Sarah Josepha Hale, the enormously influential magazine editor and author who waged a tireless campaign to make Thanksgiving a national holiday in the mid-19th century, was also the author of the classic nursery rhyme "Mary Had a Little Lamb."
In 2001, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative Thanksgiving stamp. Designed by the artist Margaret Cusack in a style resembling traditional folk-art needlework, it depicted a cornucopia overflowing with fruits and vegetables, under the phrase "We Give Thanks."
References :
http://www.history.com/minisite.do?content_type=Minisite_Generic&content_type_id=60820&display_order=3&mini_id=1083