Origin and History of Thanksgiving

So once in every year we throng
Upon a day apart,
To praise the Lord with feast and song
In thankfulness of heart.
- Arthur Guiterman

Thanksgiving is a time when every thing is put on hold and a few days are spent in gratitude and celebration. This day is filled with Thanksgiving activities. To understand the origin and history of Thanksgiving we would need to go back almost 400 hundred years to the year 1620.

It was in the year stated above that more than a hundred people who had begun to question the beliefs of the Church of England sailed across the Atlantic Ocean wanting to settle in the New World. These pilgrims who settled in the New World (now known as Massachusetts) found the New World very difficult as they had arrived too late and were unable to grow many crops to ensure their survival.

Disaster struck and half the colony died from disease! It was only in the following spring that Indians taught then how to grow corn, which was a revelation to the colonists. The Indians taught the colonists how to grow many other crops in the unfamiliar soil. They taught them how to fish and hunt too.

Time went by and the autumn of 1621 revealed bountiful crops of corn, beans, and pumpkins. The colonists now had plenty to be thankful for, so a feast was planned in which 90 Indians and the local chief were invited. The invitees bought deer to roast along with turkeys and other wild game. The menu also covered kinds of corn, squash dishes and popcorn.

This celebration continued in the years to come. It was only after the United States became an independent country that the Congress recommended that one yearly day should be celebrated as Thanksgiving Day by the whole nation. It was George Washington who suggested November 26th. When the bloody civil war finally ended in 1863, Abraham Lincoln asked all Americans to set aside the last Thursday in the month of November to celebrate thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Facts

• In the United States, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November.
• In Canada, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the 2nd Monday in October.
• Mayflower was the name of the ship that the pilgrims sailed on.
• Beer was the drink that was on board the Puritan ship.
• The first Thanksgiving feast carried on for 3 days.
• The first national Thanksgiving Day proclamation was issued by President George Washington in the year 1789. It was in the year 1795 that he issued it again.
• It was on the 3rd of October 1863 that Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Proclamation, which stated that the last Thursday of November was officially set aside for Thanksgiving.
• It was in the year 1827, that Sarah Josepha Hale who was an editor with a magazine, began a thanksgiving campaign. It was thanks to her efforts that Thanksgiving was observed as a day for national Thanksgiving and prayer.

Thanksgiving Traditions

Traditions form an inseparable part of the celebrations. As different families come together to celebrate this wonderful occasion, more traditions are added, ensuring that the celebrations are better.

Here are two Thanksgiving Day traditions:

Thanksgiving Prayers

This is a practice that some families follow on Thanksgiving Day morning. In most families the same member says the prayers every year while some families rotate members so that a different member says the prayer every year. In some families, each member takes a turn in saying his/her personal prayer out aloud.

Thanksgiving Dinner

Most families celebrate Thanksgiving Day with a dinner that consists of mashed potatoes, olives, cranberries, turkey, stuffing and large variety of other goodies. Most of the silverware, tablecloth and dishes form an indispensable part of the Thanksgiving meal.