Thanksgiving: Is It Just Turkey Day?

Every year, millions of people gather with their families and friends to celebrate a very special day: Thanksgiving. However, if you ask many people why they celebrate the fourth day in November, you’ll receive a variety of answers; and usually little to none of those answers match the correct answer. Sure, they may be the reasons why Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today, but not why it first originated.

When the Puritan Pilgrims landed in Massachusetts Bay to escape religious persecution, they tried their hardest to successfully build a life there. However, after their first failed harvest, they were desperate to feed their hungry families. Luckily, the Wampanoag Indians saved the Pilgrims from disaster and showed them techniques on how to grow a harvest in the New World (some tactics you remember from grade school, such as using fish to fertilize corn).

After a beautiful harvest the next year, the Pilgrims were especially grateful for their helpers and invited the Native Americans for a celebratory dinner together, which was later formally known as the First Thanksgiving. The coming together of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe establishes the amazing history in America’s founding. Unfortunately, for many Native Americans, it reflects the terrible persecution and injustices that Americans later inflicted on the indigenous people.

Abraham Lincoln, in 1863, declared that each year Americans would celebrate the gathering of our American ancestors with the Wampanoag Indians. Later, Franklin D. Roosevelt, in 1941, established the official date: every fourth Thursday in November.

Now, Americans remember what they’re thankful for and share their gratitude each year with their families and friends while hogging turkey, pumpkin pie, casseroles, and cranberry sauce. However, let’s not forget the true story of Thanksgiving this year while we reflect on how our lives are filled with the most incredible things.

Works Cited

Mortimer, C. (2016, November 24). Thanksgiving 2016: Why do Americans celebrate it? Retrieved November 23, 2017, from http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/thanksgiving-2016-google-doodle-what-is-it-why-celebrated-usa-turkey-a7436321.html

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