6:43 PM
Thanksgiving in the US
THANKSGIVING DAY in America is a time to offer thanks, of family gatherings and holiday meals. A time of turkeys ( yum..yum...yum..), stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons. Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November, which this year (2006) is November 23rd.
The Pilgrims or Pilgrim Fathers were early settlers of the Plymouth Colony. Their leadership came from a religious congregation who had fled a volatile political environment in the East Midlands of England for the relative calm of Holland in the Netherlands. Concerned with losing their cultural identity, the group later arranged with English investors to establish a new colony in North America.
In 1609, a group of Pilgrims left England for religious freedom in Holland. Few years later they were becoming concerned, seeing that their children spoke Dutch and were learning to live in Dutch life style. They considered the Dutch ideas a threar to their children's education.
After 11 years, on September 6, 1620, the Pilgrims set sail to New World on a ship names Speedwell. They had trouble with this ship and bought the "Mayflower" in Plymouth, England. They loaded this ship with 44 Pilgrims called the "Saints" and 58 others called the Strangers.
The trip to the New World was long, cold and damp. It took 65 days. The Pilgrims were afraid that their wooden ship would catch fire if they heated their food, so they ate only cold food. By the time land was sighted on November 9th, many passengers had become sick and one had died.
Most people think that the land that the Pilgrims sighted was Plymouth, Mass., but they had actually seen Cape Cod first. They did not settle until they reached Plymouth on November 11, 1620. The first winter was very cold. Most of the days it snowed and sleeted, which made it hard to construct their settlement. In March, the weather began to turn warmer and the health of the Pilgrims improved. Of the 102 original passengers, less than 50 survived the first winter.
THE FIRST THANKSGIVING
On March 16, 1621, one of the most important events took place. An Indian brave walked into the Pilgriins settlement and spoke, "welcome" in English. This Indian's name was Samoset and he was a member of the Abnaki tribe. Captains from fishing boats that sailed of the coast, had taught him to speak English. He spent the hight and left only to return with another Indian named Squanto. Squanto spoke better English than Samoset. Sqaunto told the Pilgrims of his voyages across the ocean to Spain and England. In England he learned to speak English.The October harvest was very successful. The Pilgrims had enough food to make it through the winter. There was corn, fruits and vegetable, fish packed in salt and meat to be smoked. The Pilgrims were getting settled. They had much to celebrate and be thankful for. They were at peace with their Indian neighbors, had houses and food.
The Governor of the Pilgrims, William Bradford, decided to start a day of thanksgiving to be shared by all the colonists and their neighboring native Americas. At this feast were Squanto, Samoset and other Indian friends. Their Chief Massasiot and ninety braves came to celebrate with the Pilgrims for three days.
In 1817 New York State had adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. By the middle of the 19th century many other states also celebrated a Thanksgiving Day. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday.
*Source: 1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pilgrims 2. http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/
3. http://www.internet-at-work.com/hos_mcgrane/holidays/becky.html