Americans has an official holiday each year to
celebrate thanksgiving. Many people celebrate but they don’t know many facts
about it. You should ask these questions first to increase your curiosity to
know about celebrating thanksgiving that takes place each year. Why does
America celebrate thanksgiving? When was the first celebration of this feast? How
does America celebrate it each year? Many people dislike reading history. Thus,
we offer you brief historical facts emerged with recent ones to know about
thanksgiving in America and you will surely enjoy it.
1-Do you know when, and who is the first person
who celebrated the thanksgiving in America?
The first people who celebrated the the thanksgiving
were the pilgrams. The pilgrims were one of the great founders of America. They were pious people and very religious.
They left England in order not to make their religion dirty. They were
oppressed by the king of England because he became the head of church. The king
Henry 8th cut his ties with Catholicism to divorce his wife and
marry another wife to have children. So that he oppressed all people, who do
not follow Catholicism. They were known also as the puritans or the separatists
since they separated themselves from the church. They were the only
intellectual colonists through history. They were self-made and self-educated
in order to understand and execute the god’s will. Their main aim was to apply justice, equality,
and freedom. They sold their houses and properties and travelled by foot to
America where they installed. They used to believe in purity. They exemplified
the seriousness of reformation Christianity. They interpreted everything and
all events as symbols with deeper spiritual meanings. Thus the thanksgiving was a religious feast
at the heart. It took place in history
in 1621. The first person who celebrated it was William Bradford (1590-1657).
He was one of the separatists or the pilgrims. He was a deeply pious man and well
educated person. He was one of the colonists who kept peace between Americans
and natives. He was the first person who celebrated the thanksgiving with natives
to thank god and to strengthen the relationship with the natives. He was a man
who learnt many languages such as “Hebrew” just to see with his own eyes the
will of god and his beauty in the world.
2-From a religious feast to a public holiday:
Thanksgiving has become a public holiday in the
nation that people celebrate each year. According to the national archives of
the United States, It is recognized that the first federal congress asked the
president of the United States to recommend to the nation a day of the
thanksgiving on 28 September 1789. After that, George Washington proclaimed 26
November 1789 a public holiday which was the first day celebrated under
constitution. But the date of the thanksgiving changed after as the presidents
of the United States went and the new ones came. When Abraham Lincoln became a
president during the civil war, he proclaimed that they should celebrate the
thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November each year. After that, when he
went and Franklin Roosevelt came, he decided to change the date of the
thanksgiving to the second Thursday of November arguing by economic reasons.
This caused a big confusion. As results, about 32 states accepted the change of
the date but 16 states refused to change the date. To end the confusion, the
congress set a fixed date of the thanksgiving which was declared as the last
Thursday of November on 6 October 1941.
3-What do they cook on thanksgiving:
Going back to history and talking about natives
first to know what they cooked the day of celebration. It’s amazing and weird
to know about it. Natives killed five deers as a gift to thank god. It was
common that time that deers were the best gift for god since it’s the beautiful
and the noble animal in their belief. To express their worshiping to god, they
chose the most beautiful thing to thank him with. After that, Americans used to
have a turkey on their menu the day of the thanksgiving as a tradition to thank
god. Besides, they prepare many other dishes to take have also in their menus.
