In the beginning there was no set date for Thanksgiving, it was decided on an ad hoc basis by the states. It wasn't until 1863, after U.S. independence, that President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday.
The last Thursday of November is Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving Day is an ancient holiday created by the American people, and it is also a holiday for Americans to get together as a family, so Americans are always grateful to mention Thanksgiving Day.
The origin of Thanksgiving Day goes all the way back to the beginning of American history. 1620, the famous "Mayflower" ship full of intolerable religious persecution in the United Kingdom domestic Puritans 102 people arrived in the Americas. 1620 and the winter of 1621, they encountered unimaginable difficulties in the middle of the famine and cold. By the end of the winter, only 50 or so of the settlers had survived. At this time, the kind-hearted Indians sent the necessities of life to the immigrants, and specially sent people to teach them how to hunt, fish and plant corn and pumpkins. With the help of the Indians, the immigrants finally got a good harvest, and on the day of celebrating the harvest, in accordance with traditional religious customs, the immigrants set a day to thank God and decided to invite the Indians to celebrate the festival together in order to thank them for their sincere help.
On the first Thanksgiving Day, the Indians and the settlers gathered together, fired a salute at dawn, marched in procession into a house used as a church, expressed their thanks to God in reverence, and then lit a bonfire and held a great feast. The next day and the third day there were wrestling, races, singing, dancing, and other activities. The first Thanksgiving was a great success. Many of these celebrations have been passed down for more than 300 years and remain to this day.
Every Thanksgiving Day, the United States up and down the country is very lively, people in accordance with the custom to go to church to do thanksgiving prayers, urban and rural cities and towns everywhere to hold a parade in costume, theater performances and sports competitions, etc., the school and the store are also in accordance with the provisions of the holiday rest. Children also imitated the appearance of the Indians in those years and wore strange costumes, face painting or masks to the streets to sing, blowing horns. Families from the diaspora also come home for the holiday, sitting around and munching on delicious turkey.
Americans, meanwhile, can't get enough of inviting their friends, singles, or those far from home to **** off on this day. Since the 18th century, there has been a custom in the United States of sending baskets of food to poor families. At the time, a group of young women wanted to choose one day of the year to dedicate to good causes and thought Thanksgiving would be the perfect day to do so. So when Thanksgiving came around, they loaded up a basket full of food and delivered it to the poor in person. The story spread far and wide, and soon many people followed their example.
The most important meal of the year for Americans is Thanksgiving dinner. In the United States, a country where life is fast-paced and competitive, weekday meals are extremely simple. But on Thanksgiving night, families throw a big feast, and the abundance of items is staggering. Turkey and pumpkin pie are a must at the holiday table, from the president down to the common man. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is also known as "Turkey Day".
Thanksgiving food is rich in tradition. Turkey is the traditional Thanksgiving main course, it is originally inhabited in North America, wild birds, and then by the people of large numbers of breeding, to become a delicious poultry, each can weigh 40 to 50 pounds. Usually the turkey stomach stuffed with a variety of seasonings and mixed food, and then the whole roasted out, the skin baked into a dark brown, by the host with a knife cut into thin slices to share. Then each person pours his own marinade and sprinkles it with salt for a delicious flavor. In addition, traditional Thanksgiving foods include sweet yams, corn, pumpkin pie, cranberry moss seed jam, bread baked by oneself and a variety of vegetables and fruits.
Games
After the Thanksgiving feast, some families often played traditional games. On the first Thanksgiving, there were dances, contests, and many other entertainments, some of which have been passed down to this day. One game was called the Cranberry Race, which involved placing a large bowl with cranberries on the floor and 4-10 contestants sitting around, each given a needle and thread. At the beginning of the game, they threaded the needle and thread and then strung up the cranberries one by one for three minutes; whoever strung them up the longest won the prize. As for the slowest person, they jokingly gave him a prize for being the worst.
There is another corn game that is also very old. It is said to have been handed down in honor of the time when five pieces of corn were given to each immigrant in the midst of food scarcity. When the game was played. People hide five pieces of corn in the house, and it is up to everyone to split up and find them; the five people who find the corn participate in the game while the others watch from the sidelines. The game began, five people will quickly peel the corn kernels in a bowl, who first peeled who won the prize, and then by the people who did not participate in the game around the bowl next to guess how many kernels of corn inside, guessed the number of the closest awards to a big idea of popcorn.
People's favorite game to be counted pumpkin race. Contestants use a small spoon to push the pumpkin to run, the rule is that you can never touch the pumpkin with your hands, the first to the end of the prize. The smaller the spoon, the more fun the game.
In addition to these activities, some families spend the holiday driving out into the countryside or taking a plane trip, especially to Plymouth Harbor, where immigrants settled. There, you can see the Mayflower replica and Plymouth Rock, and spend a few hours touring the village. The village is modeled after what it was like back in the day. During the tour, there are people dressed up as churchgoers to talk to visitors, making it an immersive experience.
Over the years, the custom of celebrating Thanksgiving has been passed down from generation to generation, whether in the rocky West Coast or in the beautiful scenery of Hawaii, people almost in the same way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day, Thanksgiving Day is no matter what kind of beliefs, what kind of nationalities of Americans are celebrating the traditional holiday.