Thanksgiving Day is the only holiday in the United States and Canada. It was pioneered by the United States. Its original intention was to thank the Indians. Later, people often used this day to thank others. Since 1941, Thanksgiving has been held on the fourth Thursday of November every year. From this day on, people will take two days off to reunite with their families, no matter how busy they are. Thanksgiving is held between November 22-28 every year. Thanksgiving is the most authentic and American among the national holidays in the United States. Thanksgiving in Canada began in 1879 and is on the second Monday of October every year. , the same as Columbus Day in the United States.
[Edit this paragraph] The origin of Thanksgiving
A land of growing resentment
In the mid-1760s, New England Christian patriarch John Eliot Already converted hundreds of Indians to Christianity. Several "prayer towns" were also established. But when he was delivering the gospel to Chief Wampanoag (Metacomet), Chief Metacomet grabbed the dean's coat, tore off a button and held it up to the dean's eyes. Claiming that he was as interested in Christianity as he was in a button—and then throwing the button to the floor with a swoop of his hand.
"Metacomet", he became famous for launching a war against colonial expansion in the days to come. The people of the British colonies gave him the nickname "King Philip", his real name Instead it was forgotten. Philip's father, the old chief Massasoit, had established friendly relations with colonial immigrants. He has leased and resold large tracts of land to new immigrants. However, the constant influx of immigrants has no end to their thirst for land. The New England colonial government used various methods to force surrounding tribes to sell their land. War disputes between Indian tribes increased the chiefs' demand for guns and ammunition. When furs and native products were insufficient, they had to exchange land.
When the old chief "Messe Yi" died in 1661, the tribe was already surrounded by colonies. Indians had to abide by colonial laws when going to towns. If an Indian fell drunk on the street, he would be whipped or serve ten days of hard labor. The strict laws of the Puritan colonial government kept the Indians in bondage, and their resentments deepened.
Not long after Philip's brother (Wamsutta) succeeded as chief in 1662, he was summoned by the Plymouth court. Although he had the honor of a chief, he was escorted to the judge at bayonet. What is even more strange is that after the judge's arraignment, Philip's brother fell ill and died soon after reigning for less than two years. Philip suspected that the white colonial government had poisoned him to death. Philip inherited his brother's chieftaincy with suspicion and resentment towards the colonial government.
In 1675, several events intensified the conflicts between the colonial people and the Indians.
A group of cattle belonging to the colonial residents ran into the Indian cornfields and trampled the crops-it is said that this happened from time to time. The Indians shot and killed eight horses, and the colonial residents fired back, killing one Indian, causing sudden tension between the whites and the indigenous people;
The case of John Sassamon trial. John Sismond was a member of the Wampanoa tribe. His parents died of smallpox when he was a child. A Puritan family adopted him, and he was naturally influenced to become a Christian. John Sismond received a good education and also entered Harvard University to study. After he returned, he served as Chief Philip's translator, traveling between the tribe and the colonial government.
John Sismond once warned the colonial government that King Philip had attempted rebellion. Soon, Sismond was murdered. A court composed of whites and Indians convicted the three suspects of murder, and the three criminals were executed. One of them was a close associate of King Philip. The entire case pointed to King Philip as the manipulator behind the scenes. King Philip felt forced by the situation and decided to rise up.
Bloody war
King Philip commanded the tribal soldiers to quickly attack the colonial towns. He gave his men instructions: burn all the houses, destroy all the towns, and kill all the white people. . Wherever King Philip went, flames rolled and blood flowed everywhere. An eyewitness described the place where the tribesmen attacked: two old men threw their upper bodies outside the door, while their lower bodies were burned inside the door. A young woman was lying in the yard, her head pierced by a bullet. The head of the baby not far from her was stabbed with a bayonet...
The fear of King Philip enveloped the land of New England. The colonists abandoned their newly opened homes and shrank to the Atlantic coast. of larger towns. King Philip's troops were equipped with flintlock muskets, which were more advanced than the matchlock muskets equipped by the colonial government troops. Therefore, in the early stages of the war, King Philip's offensive was fierce and arrogant. He had the ability to direct war, and he designed several ambushes in a row, killing nearly 200 government troops.
This in turn stimulated chain rebellions by several other tribes (Narragansetts, Nipmucks, Pocumtucks, and Abenakis). Tribes that were originally hostile to each other formed under the same goal of opposing the whites' occupation of their homes. ally.
For a time, New England was in turmoil and besieged from all sides. The war enveloped Plymouth, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, and the Connecticut River Valley (Rhode Island, Massachusetts. Connecticut River Valley), and the colonists felt panic and despair.
However, the war situation began to reverse within a year. King Philip's army could not replenish its ammunition and its food reserves were depleted. The military camp had to be stationed close to the river, fighting and fishing at the same time. The troops dispersed into small groups, the original allied tribes split, and some tribes left. The fighting capacity of the anti-colonial alliance was greatly weakened.
The colonial army, which had obtained new weapons and equipment and sufficient food and grass, began to concentrate its forces to fight back. There were two famous sneak attacks that severely damaged Indian tribes. Government troops surrounded the Indian camp at night and attacked suddenly at dawn, killing 600 Indians at one time and 1,000 at another time. Among them were many women and children. The colonial army's retaliatory actions were also very brutal.
A year later, King Philip's offensive was completely gone and turned into a roving guerrilla. In the summer of 1676, King Philip and a few of his followers were besieged in the swamp. After he was shot to death, his body was chopped into pieces and thrown into the water. His head was picked up on the tip of a spear. Street parade. The city of Plymouth celebrated the victory with great joy.
The losses in King Philip's War were heavy. According to statistics from the colonial government, 1,200 farmhouses were burned down, 13 towns were razed to the ground, and 8,000 horses and livestock were killed. More than 600 soldiers died in the battle, and about 2,000 civilians, women and children died. The war debts owed by the colonies exceeded the total assets of the colonies.
The number of deaths on the Indian side is ominous, generally believed to be three times that on the colonial government side. An estimated 2,000 people died on the battlefield alone. Infectious diseases kill more people than war. Take King Philip's Wampanoa tribe as an example. There were about 15,000 people before the war. War and disease wiped out nine out of ten of the population. The main leaders of the captured tribes were hanged, King Philip's wife and son were also sold to Bermuda as slaves, and a few escapees joined other tribes. The "Wampanoa" tribe has since been wiped out.
King Philip eventually perished with his small country. He only left behind a sentence that made the colonists tremble:
"If you fight, you will die, if you die, you will die. "determined not to live until I have no country." - Wampanoag sachem, King Philip 1675
Thanksgiving without a benefactor
Thanksgiving is a traditional holiday unique to the United States and Canada. On Thanksgiving, many people will look back on the history of immigration with tenderness. The first batch of European immigrants set out from Plymouth, England, and experienced hardships on the Mayflower, arriving in North America in the winter of 1620 (they later named this landing point Plymouth).
At that time, heavy snow covered the wilderness, cold and hunger put the immigrants into desperate situations, and some people died. Fortunately, the Indians discovered them and provided generous assistance, and they were able to survive. The new immigrants received a good harvest the next year, held a big turkey feast, and celebrated with the Indians. The feast lasted for three days and three nights...
But people didn't know that this simple and hospitable tribe was Wan The warm-hearted Indian chief of the Wampanoag tribe was King Philip's father, Massasoit.
In 1618, the east coast of North America was attacked by the infectious disease "smallpox". A large number of indigenous residents died and some villages were deserted. The chief was happy to allow these distant visitors to settle in these abandoned villages and form friendly alliances with them. This brotherhood lasted for nearly 50 years.
European immigrants expanded to the North American continent at an annual growth rate of 3%. In 1676, there were 52,000 immigrants in New England. Immigrants are mainly anti-guests. They are proud of their advanced culture and have a discriminatory and disdainful mentality towards Indians. Some businessmen often use coaxing methods to seek benefits in their interactions with the ancient indigenous peoples, causing the Indians to gradually lose trust in the white people.
In the early days, the colonists would say "Thanks Giving" to the generosity of the Indians; later, it evolved into "Taking" if you don't "Giving". The root of King Philip's War lies in the conflict over the development and utilization of land resources. In the actual situation where there is no land ownership, there is no right to develop and utilize it, it has transformed into a war to compete for and maintain land ownership.
The history of North America seems to reveal such a cold law: if there is a more effective way of developing a piece of land that can create greater social wealth, then the land will eventually be developed in this way. conduct. Cultural traditions, land ownership, religious laws, human ethics, etc. cannot stop the operation of this hidden law.
Although Indians are the oldest inhabitants of the Americas and the most original owners of this land, trying to maintain inefficient and traditional land use methods will always fail. This failure is not in a civilized way, but in a barbaric way.
Unfortunately, it manifested itself in a very barbaric way: the Indians not only lost their land ownership, but also lost the lives of many tribesmen. The bitterness of failure is unbearable to remember.
Of course, some people regard King Philip's War as a battle between Indian culture and European culture, tending to establish Christian civilization; some people regard it as a racial war between white people and indigenous people, intended to inspire nationalism. emotions; some people find evidence of the evil of colonial expansion and prove the justice of opposing colonialism; others use the serious violations of human rights that occurred in this war to expose the hypocrisy of holding high the banner of human rights in the United States today; even white supremacy Activists can also find numerous examples of the ignorance and backwardness of people of color in order to support the theory of white racial superiority... All of these are all based on what they like, trying to pick a petal of color from a thousand gardens to represent spring.
Now back to the troubles related to human ethics. The portrait of the old chief "Massasoit" should be hung at the Thanksgiving banquet, but in the face of the historical scar of the old chief's son King Philip and his tribe being wiped out, how should we feel about Thanksgiving? ?
[Edit this paragraph] China’s “Thanksgiving Day”
Some people in China have suggested that China also establish a Thanksgiving Day. Although Western Thanksgiving Day has its religious connotations, it can fully absorb its positive elements, integrate it into traditional virtues, and give it new meaning to establish a "Thanksgiving Day" with Chinese characteristics. We learn from Western festivals and set up Chinese Thanksgiving Day so that children can learn to think differently and understand their parents; adults can be considerate of each other and have more harmonious interpersonal relationships.
The last Thursday of November every year is Thanksgiving in the United States. Thanksgiving is a holiday created by Americans. It is also a holiday for American families to get together. On this day, families get together to enjoy the Thanksgiving fire. Chicken and pumpkin pie and more. Some college students suggested that Chinese college students should set up their own Thanksgiving Day. On this day, they can express their love and gratitude to their friends and teachers, and connect it with the reality around them. He felt that this made sense.
In fact, since ancient times, the Chinese nation has been willing to help others and repay kindness. "If you receive a drop of kindness from others, you should repay it with a spring of water" was once a famous saying. Chinese education pays more attention to scores and admission rates. In addition, many children are only children. The doting of their families causes children to take other people's care for granted. Many students do not know how to thank and appreciate, but only know how to ask for it; they even treat those who care too much about themselves. Family members become rebellious and bored.
There are also situations among adults who are ungrateful and forget their roots, and everything is only based on profit. In a civilized society, it is necessary to know how to be grateful and have a grateful heart; this is also an important requirement for building a harmonious society, which can promote harmonious and harmonious relationships between members, groups, classes, and groups of society, and promote Mutual respect, trust and help between people.
Therefore, many people suggest that a Thanksgiving Day should be established in China so that students can learn to think differently, cherish their friends, and understand their parents; so that adults can suspend their numbness and indifference and sincerely consider and care for others.
[Edit this paragraph] Thanksgiving customs
On Thanksgiving Day, the whole country in the United States is bustling with excitement. People go to churches to pray thanksgiving according to custom, and costume ceremonies are held everywhere in cities and towns. Parades, theatrical performances, sports competitions, etc., schools and shops are also closed as required. The children also imitated the Indians in those days and put on weird costumes, painted faces or put on masks and went out to the streets to sing and play trumpets. Families living in other places will also go home to celebrate the holidays. The family sits together, munches on delicious turkey, and says "Thank you!" to their families. After Thanksgiving, the school asks students to draw a Thanksgiving picture, and most students draw turkeys.
At the same time, hospitable Americans will never forget this day to invite friends, bachelors or people far away from home to celebrate the holiday. Since the 18th century, the United States has had a custom of giving baskets of food to poor families. At that time, a group of young women wanted to choose one day of the year to do good deeds, and thought that Thanksgiving was the most appropriate day. So when Thanksgiving comes, they pack a basket full of food and deliver it to the poor’s homes in person. This incident spread far and wide, and soon many people imitated their example. No matter who they meet, they will say: "THANK YOU!"
Thanksgiving Shopping and Black Friday
Thanksgiving shopping has become an American custom. In the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, the total sales of the U.S. retail industry can account for more than one-third of the entire year. It is the traditional peak season for discounts and promotions for various merchants. The crazy shopping month begins on Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, which is known as Black Friday. The reason why it is called this is said to be because early in the morning on Friday, everyone rushes to the mall in the dark to queue up to buy bargains. This behavior has a very vivid expression, called Bird of getting up early. ( early bird). "Thanksgiving" in foreign countries is as important as the Spring Festival in China!
The annual presidential turkey releasing ceremony began in 1947 when President Truman was in office, but in fact this traditional ceremony can be traced back to the American Civil War when President Lincoln was in office. One day in 1863, Lincoln's son Ted suddenly broke into a cabinet meeting and asked for the pardon of a pet turkey named Jack, because the turkey that was sent to the White House was about to become people's Thanksgiving dinner.
Bush pardoned the "Flying Bird" turkey [1] On November 22, 2006, Bush pardoned a turkey named "Flying Bird" during a Thanksgiving release ceremony in the Rose Garden of the White House.
[Edit this paragraph] Thanksgiving food
Recipes for the first Thanksgiving include:
Cornbread - cornbread, loved by both British and Indians food. English Cheese Pie - British cheese pie, cheese is very important to the British. Venison - Venison, the Indians brought 5 deer. Ducks & Geese - Ducks and geese, caught by the British. Wild Turkey - wild turkey. Garlic and Onions - Garlic and onions. Pumpkin Pudding - Pumpkin pudding. Indian Pudding - Indian pudding. Thanksgiving Food
Thanksgiving food is very traditional. Every Thanksgiving, Americans must have fat and tender chicken to eat. Turkey is the traditional main dish of Thanksgiving. It was originally a wild bird that inhabited North America. Later, it was raised in large numbers and became a delicious poultry. Each one can weigh forty or fifty pounds. There are still hunting grounds in some places for people to hunt before Thanksgiving. Those who are interested can go to the hunting grounds and spend some money to take home a few wild turkeys themselves. Make the festival more interesting.
There is also a certain emphasis on how to eat turkey. It needs to be roasted whole, the chicken skin is roasted to a dark brown color, and the belly is stuffed with a lot of mixed food, such as crumbed bread. After it is served to the table, the host cuts it into thin slices with a knife and distributes it to everyone. Then each person pours the marinade and sprinkles with salt. It tastes very delicious. In addition to turkey, Thanksgiving foods also include cranberry jam, sweet potatoes, corn, pumpkin pie, homemade bread and various vegetables and fruits. These items are all traditional Thanksgiving foods.
The layout of the Thanksgiving table is also very unique. Instead of placing flowers as usual, housewives put fruits and vegetables. A large pumpkin is often placed in the middle, with apples, corn and dried fruits piled around it. Sometimes people also hollow out apples or pumpkins and fill them with shelled dried fruits or light candles. Normally, the hostess can let the guests into the living room after the meal, but she does not do this on Thanksgiving. The Thanksgiving dinner is sweet, and everyone is willing to stay at the table for a while. They eat and happily reminisce about the past until the last candle burns out.
Chinese Thanksgiving Turkey
You can bake a delicious turkey in your home oven. After thawing a turkey under 20 pounds, marinate it with soy sauce, salt, sugar and some of your favorite ingredients at room temperature for one day, or two days if placed in the refrigerator. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 30 minutes. Then take out the turkey, turn it over, pour out the oil from the roasting pan, and place it in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. At this time, put the half-cooked glutinous rice and stuffing made from pineapple, ham, dried shrimp, etc. into the turkey belly, adjust the oven temperature to 450 degrees Fahrenheit, and smear the outside of the turkey with a little honey and Remove the marinade juice, put it back in the oven for about 30 minutes, then turn over and baste with the marinade, and bake for about 30 minutes. It is not easy to turn the turkey, but only in this way will the turkey be heated evenly, and the meat will be juicy and have the faint sweetness of pineapple.
Traditional Thanksgiving Turkey
When Americans eat turkey, they mostly braise it. Usually, the turkey belly is stuffed with various seasonings and mixed foods, then wrapped in a barbecue bag and roasted whole.
Thanksgiving food
According to the recipe, a turkey of about 20 pounds needs to be roasted for 4 hours until the turkey is completely cooked. The juices from roasting the turkey will be used to make a thick meat sauce, accompanied by sweet cranberry jam as a seasoning for the turkey.
The traditional Thanksgiving meal includes roast turkey, some families use roast goose instead of turkey; and Stuffing, which is stuffed inside the turkey, is made of torn cornbread. (CornBread), white bread and celery, etc.; in addition, there is a thick gravy (Gravy) cooked with turkey offal. There is also a special sauce - Cranberry Sauce, which uses cranberries that are abundant in September and October every year. Other side dishes include roasted potato puree, roasted sweet potato puree, green beans, biscuits and more. The final dessert is of course pumpkin pie, but you can also prepare walnut pie or apple pie.