History of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving has always had a deep significance for people, with families and friends spending time bonding with each other over the thanksgiving traditions.  Thanksgiving Day has a deep history and was initially meant not as a holiday but rather a form of gathering where people participated in celebrating for the good harvests.  The origin of Thanksgiving dates back to the year 1821 with the Indians and pilgrims celebrating the harvest.

The Thanksgiving traditions can be traced back to the Pilgrims who had sailed into the country on the Mayflower. These were part of the English Separatist Church and had fled England to avoid religious persecution. After travelling to Holland they came to America, The set foot on American soil on 11th December 1620 and their initial days were filled with turmoil as the harsh winters caused destruction with as many as 46 of the 102 people losing their lives. After this destruction however the harvest the following year was good and this was when the remaining people decided to celebrate this with a feast and this feast included the Indians who has helped the Pilgrims in that year.  This celebratory event lasted for three days and wild ducks are geese were a part of their feast and it was here that the word turkey was mentioned by the Pilgrims even though it was only much later that the traditional thanksgiving turkey came to play such an important role in the festivities.

While many of the modern day thanksgiving delicacies obviously were not a part of this celebration the Pilgrims did eat boiled pumpkin and a type of fried bread. Other items included in the feast were lobster, fish, dried fruits and plums.
After this event it was only in June 1676 that another thanksgiving feast was arranged and enjoyed by the people. In that year on June 20 a meeting of the governing council in Charlestown in Massachusetts was held to determine the best way to express gratitude for the comfort and good fortune enjoyed by the community. Edward Rawson, a clerk declared June 29 as the Thanksgiving Day through vote.  This celebration was also meant to be in recognition of the recent victory of the colonists over the heathen natives. It was another hundred years later that all the 13 colonies joined in this thanksgiving celebration and this happened in October 1777.

Finally in 1789 George Washington declared the National Thanksgiving day but this move had to face much opposition even from people like Thomas Jefferson. Sarah Hale, a magazine editor propounded and promoted this occasion and holiday and wrote about it extensively in magazines such as Boston ladies. Finally in 1863 her efforts paid off when President Lincoln declared the last Thursday in the month of November as the Thanksgiving Day. In 1841 this occasion was sanctioned as a legal holiday by the Congress. Thanksgiving was celebrated as the traditional harvest festival in many other cultures such as the Romans, Chinese, Egyptians and the Hebrews and Greeks. In modern times Thanksgiving day is celebrated in Canada on the second Monday in the month of October while in United states it continues to be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in the month of November.