The day of Thanksgiving is probably the most famous American holiday after the Independence Day. The celebrations are typically associated with turkey, family gathering, a rich dinner with a special set of dishes, and a parade of smiling people, orchestras, and humongous balloons. Numerous plays are staged throughout the country, from the school to professional ones, giving credit to the first account of the holiday. The celebration itself is secular, however, it is often linked to religion.
The peculiar menu with traditional dishes is the specialty of the Thanksgiving. The typical classic set of foods includes roasted turkey (it is a must), stuffing (mix of vegetables and bread cubes stuffed inside the turkey), mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, corn, green beans cranberry sauce, and a pumpkin pie (Macphail). The main course – turkey – was not chosen by accident, there is a number of stories why was exactly turkey chosen for the main dish, however, one is known for sure, large populations of wild turkeys lived in North America long prior to the first European settlers and, so they were only natural to be chosen.
The costumes are another feature of this holiday. Why would someone dress like a 17th-century settler from England? For fun? To be a part of a greater phenomenon? While these questions remain up to every American to decide, funny antique black and white costumes are always present on the celebration. The black truncated cone cap, white shirt, black pants and a wide black coat remain unreplaceable.
Among the traditional events that take place on the Thanksgiving Day, a young one stands out. It is the turkey pardoning. This ritual was introduced by Ronald Reagan in 1987. Prior to him, the turkey was presented to the President and cooked for dinner but since 1987, the President officially pardons the bird (the two birds since 2013). The lucky turkey does not end on any table and is sent to the park or reserve (Macphail).
The history of the modern Thanksgiving day started in 1620 when a group of religious refugees departed from Dublin in the search of better life on a small ship called Mayflower. After a long and exhausting journey across the ocean, the Pilgrims (as they are known now) landed on the shore of the Massachusetts Bay and established the colony of Plymouth. The first couple months were very harsh for the settlers, as they arrived at their destination point in the midst of the winter and had to live on a ship. They suffered from cold weather and diseases. In spring when they finally moved ashore, the Indians gave them a visit. Eventually, one of the Indians, Squanto, was previously kidnapped and sold into slavery but escaped and returned to his motherland. As he knew English, he taught the Pilgrims to grow corn, hunt, catch fish, and gather shellfish. He also helped the settlers to form an alliance with a local Indian tribe Wampanoag.
After the first successful harvest in November 1621, the Pilgrims' Governor William Bradford ordered to invite the Wampanoag for the feast which lasted for three days. This celebration is typically considered the first Thanksgiving holiday albeit it did not have this name that time. It is pretty curious that the traditional Thanksgiving dish – turkey, was not present on a feast menu, instead, the treats included deer meat, swans, and lobsters. In contrast to popular belief, this celebration did not actually start the annual tradition. In other colonies, the Thanksgiving was also celebrated but as a holiday dedicated to showing gratitude to God for the rich harvest. Although in the 17th century this holiday was celebrated in a number of colonies, its national foundations were not laid until 1789 when George Washington called the U.S. citizens to “express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the U.S. Constitution” (History.com Staff). From that moment began a campaign of making Thanksgiving a national holiday. Particularly to the 30-years long efforts of a writer Sarah Josepha Hale, Abraham Lincoln in the midst of the Civil War in 1863 made Thanksgiving a national holiday and scheduled it for the November's final Thursday. In 1939, Franklin Roosevelt due to economic considerations moved the holiday a week forward. This decision was widely opposed and boycotted, so in 1941, the President had to reschedule the celebration on the fourth Thursday of November. Since then, this date remains unchanged (History.com Staff).
Thanksgiving was always a mysterious holiday for me. It is often shown in movies and mass media, however, there is always something missing in those depictions that I have seen. It is indeed much more enjoyable and complete experience to be actually involved in this celebration and see it from within. It is a truly wonderful holiday because it creates such a warm and unifying feeling even though it is a secular holiday now, unlike Christmas or Easter, for example. It is very luring to say that Thanksgiving is about turkey (as, by the way, it is always depicted), nonetheless, it is the gratitude which is genuine to this holiday. All the families gather to be together for the celebration, to show their love, and to share their feelings. It seems that everyone is a bit more cheerful and kind on Thanksgiving. This holiday is the example of how we should always treat each other disregarding our differences and circumstances.
Works Cited
History.com Staff, "History Of Thanksgiving". HISTORY.com. N.p., 2009. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
Macphail, Cameron. "Thanksgiving: What's The History Of The Holiday And Why Does The US Celebrate With Turkey?". Telegraph.co.uk. N.p., 2015. Web. 24 Feb. 2016.
