THANKSGIVING DAY
*HISTORY*
Thanksgiving is special day that is celebrated in America. This day is to honor the first English pilgrims who came to the United States when they left their original country of England in search of a better life and the opportunity to be free from the King of England’s rule. First landing at Plymouth Rock, which is located on the east coast of the country in New England, the Pilgrims struggled with great difficulties to survive. The Pilgrims first set foot at Plymouth Rock on December 11, 1620. The first winter in Massachusetts was really bad and 46 out of the original 102 Pilgrims died. It was a long and hard winter for them. Local Native Americans that they had gotten to know, helped a great deal by showing the Pilgrims about corn (which they had never seen before) and how best to hunt and plant in the New England climate. The Pilgrims and the Native Americans, then known as Indians, had a great celebration to honor their friendship and the bounty that they had hunted and reaped. In New England, the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth in 1621 by the Pilgrims together with 91 Indians. It is believed that the Indians helped the Pilgrims through that difficult period and without them, the Pilgrims would not have survived.
This custom soon spread from Plymouth to other New England colonies. In October 1777, all the 13 colonies joined in a thanksgiving celebration.In 1789, President George Washington issued a general proclaimation naming November 26 a day of National Thanksgiving. At the same time that year, the Protestant Episcopal Church announced that the first Thursday in November would be set aside yearly for giving thanks. However, it was only in 1830 when New York had an official state Thanksgiving Day that other Northern states soon followed.
Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the last Thursday in November 1863 as "A day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father." However, in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed it to one week earlier. This was to help businesses by lengthening the shopping period before Christmas. There was an uproar and it was changed back to its original date two years later. Then, Congress changed it again after 1941 to the fourth Thursday of November and it would be a legal federal holiday.
Today, Thanksgiving Day is usually a family reunion dinner celebration. Roast turkey is a favorite dish on this day. The Christians also attend church services and pray, thanking God for all the blessings for the year.
Thanksgiving Day is known informally as "Turkey Day".
*SYMBOLS of THANKSGIVING*
The Turkey
Thanksgiving Day celebration will be incomplete without the legendary turkey. The Pilgrims used to call any wild fowl, turkey. The turkey is usually the main course of most household during this celebration.
Thanksgiving Day celebration will be incomplete without the legendary turkey. The Pilgrims used to call any wild fowl, turkey. The turkey is usually the main course of most household during this celebration.
The Cornucopia
The Cornucopia is a symbol of nature's productivity. It is the "horn of plenty" and is the most common symbol of a harvest festival. It is a horn-shaped container or basket that is filled with the abundance of a harvest. The traditional cornucopia was a curved goat's horn.
The Pumpkin
Another symbol of the modern Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pie. The pumpkin is one of the most important symbols of the harvest festival and is an American favorite.
The Cornucopia is a symbol of nature's productivity. It is the "horn of plenty" and is the most common symbol of a harvest festival. It is a horn-shaped container or basket that is filled with the abundance of a harvest. The traditional cornucopia was a curved goat's horn.
The Pumpkin
Another symbol of the modern Thanksgiving dinner is the pumpkin pie. The pumpkin is one of the most important symbols of the harvest festival and is an American favorite.
Cranberries
Cranberries are a kind of berry. Its name originated from crane berry because of its pink blossoms and drooping head which reminded the Pilgrims of the crane. The Pilgrims found out how to sweeten the bitter cranberries with maple sugar. The cranberry sauce was and is still used as a compabion of turkey during Thanksgiving dinner.
Beans
Native Americans taught the Pilgrims to grow beans next to cornstalks. Beans are a special symbol of thanksgiving feast.
Cranberries are a kind of berry. Its name originated from crane berry because of its pink blossoms and drooping head which reminded the Pilgrims of the crane. The Pilgrims found out how to sweeten the bitter cranberries with maple sugar. The cranberry sauce was and is still used as a compabion of turkey during Thanksgiving dinner.
Beans
Native Americans taught the Pilgrims to grow beans next to cornstalks. Beans are a special symbol of thanksgiving feast.
*THANKSGIVING DAY QUOTES*
If the only prayer you said in your whole life was, "thank you," that would suffice. Meister Eckhart
He who thanks but with the lips
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
J.A. Shedd
Thanks but in part;
The full, the true Thanksgiving
Comes from the heart.
J.A. Shedd
For flowers that bloom about our feet;
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new. Will Carleton
Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. W.J. Cameron
For tender grass, so fresh, so sweet;
For song of bird, and hum of bee;
For all things fair we hear or see,
Father in heaven, we thank Thee!
Ralph Waldo Emerson
I awoke this morning with devout thanksgiving for my friends, the old and new. Will Carleton
Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action. W.J. Cameron
http://www.kiddyhouse.com/Thanksgiving/
http://www.thanksgiving-day.org
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