Thanksgiving: The History of the Tradition in The U.S.

In the United States Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last Thursday of November with a big meal filled with turkey, cranberries, green bean casserole and a variety of cakes, but what is the nation celebrating really? What is the history of Thanksgiving?

What people celebrate started with the pilgrims’ centuries ago on December of 1620 when the pilgrims first settled on to the land according to the Thanksgiving thanks website (http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm) but that winter it was really harsh and almost half of the people that sailed on the Mayflower were lost. But in the year 1621 was a plentiful one and therefore the remaining survivors decided to celebrate with a huge feast which lasted three days and the guests included the ninety Native Indians that had helped the pilgrims survive their first year on the new land.

The feast was not held for years until 1676 when the Day of Thanksgiving was declared according the Thanksgiving thanks website (http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm) and later in 1789 it was declared a National’s Holiday by George Washington even though it was highly debated and President Roosevelt decided that it would be celebrated on the last Thursday of November to mainly extended the Christmas shopping season. And of course the festivity was and still is revolved around food and even though turkey is the main character on the Thanksgiving table it is thought that the pilgrims ate other types of meat such as venison and pork on 1621 and they probably had few vegetables and no desserts.

Recently a typical Thanksgiving meal consists of turkey which can also be fried and a lot of side dishes such as yams, green bean casserole and mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce to name a few and another big part of the celebration are the desserts which can come in different shapes and sizes like the most common pumpkin pie, or the sweet potato pie, the pecan pie or the apple pie. Usually this takes place in someone’s home and it can be celebrated with a lot of families and friends or just an intimate setting with your immediate family or whom you call and consider family.