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The history of thanksgiving differences and similarities between the first thanksgiving and modern ones
The tradition of thanksgiving
Paper on history of thanksgiving
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The truth behind the tradition is surprising. Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims seem to go together, but the truth is, the Pilgrims never held an autumnal Thanksgiving feast. However the Pilgrims did have a feast in 1621, after their first harvest, and it is this feast, which people often refer to as "The First Thanksgiving". This feast was never repeated, though, so it can't be called the beginning of a tradition, nor was it termed by the colonists or "Pilgrims" a Thanksgiving Feast. In fact, a day of thanksgiving was a day of prayer and fasting, and would have been held any time that they felt an extra day of thanks was called for. Nevertheless, the 1621 feast has become a model that we think of for our own Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims were not the first people to have a celebration of this kind. Many other civilizations held festivals to celebrate the harvest. The ancient Greeks and Romans prayed to the gods and goddesses of the harvest, and also originated the idea of the cornucopia--the horn of plenty. The Jews celebrate the holiday Sukkot, which honors the awards of the harvest, and the Chinese enjoy the celebration of the Harvest Moon. Even native New Yorkers commemorate the harvest long before Thanksgiving arrives. Pumpkins, apples and corn are abundant in the open-air markets of the city beginning in late September. The autumn of 1621 yielded a plentiful harvest and the Pilgrims, gathered together with the Massasoit Indians to reap the awards of hard ...
When spring came Squanto helped the pilgrims by teaching them how to plant corn, how to find berries and nuts and how to catch fish. In 1921 the pilgrims and Wampanoag celebrated the first thanksgiving as part of their religion, and to celebrate their first successful harvest. George Washington once said, “It is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of almighty god, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits and humbly to implore his protection and favor…” This relates to Squanto helping the Pilgrims with the phrase, “To be grateful for his benefits,” all the benefits Squanto brought changed the fate of the
The first Thanksgiving was a celebration of coming together between Native Americans and the English settlers in the fall of 1621 in Plymouth Colony. Before this first Thanksgiving, the settlers were preparing for the harsh coming winter by gathering food and supplies. With the help of Squanto, a Wampanoag Indian who knew English, the settlers to grow corn and use fish to fertilize the soil for better harvest. Squanto helped the Colonists learn how to fish. This brought the Wampanoag Indians closer to the English settlers. They began to work together, soon the Native Americans offered to help hunt for and with the English settlers. The leader of the Wampanoag, Massasoit and 90 of his mencame for the first Thanksgiving. For three days, the English and the native men, women and children celebrated together playing games, singing songs, dancing and feasting on their harvest. Their meal consisted of corn, shellfish and other roasted meat like duck, goose and venison. This marked the historic and first Thanksgiving holiday of the history of our nation.
But they were days of prayer, not just of feasting. The tradition of the Pilgrim’s first Thanksgiving is both a myth and legend. The pilgrims did not celebrate Thanksgiving the next year or any year thereafter, but some of their descendants later made a “Forefathers Day” that usually occurred on the 21st or 22nd of December. Some presidents made one-time Thanksgiving holidays and in 1863 Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday. Our Thanksgiving today is the fourth Thursday of November, thanks to President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939. But the pilgrims first thanksgiving began at some unknown date between September 21 and November 9. The date of Thanksgiving was probably set by Lincoln to somewhat correlate with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21 of
Cherokees valued the corn so much that they held the Green Corn Ceremony to honor the corn
Thanksgiving Compare and Contrast Food, Family, and Fun!! Thanksgiving is a national holiday in the United States, always celebrated on a Thursday in November. There are many different ways people celebrate Thanksgiving. You give thanks and celebrate what you are most thankful for. Thanksgiving is a national holiday that has many different traditions, activities, and foods in different families.
Unfortunately, after winter had passed, half of the population had passed away. As soon as they could, the Colonists began to plant crops and build their colony. They were taught by the Natives, how to grow corn and how to make animal traps for food and clothes. Once it was fall time, the colony was no longer struggling. So, in celebration of their great success, the first Thanksgiving was practiced with the Natives.
The table can be filled with many different types of foods, and it differs from family to family. However, there are some foods that are seen at almost every Thanksgiving table. First off, the turkey, it is the most important part of the celebration for most families in the United States. There are multiple reasons to why the turkey has become such a big part of Thanksgiving. For example, a colonist named William Bradford wrote in his journals that colonists hunted wild turkeys during autumn of 1621, which is named as the first Thanksgiving. Another reason to why the turkey is an important part of the holiday is because the birds are big and can feed a lot of people compared to other birds such as chickens (Trex, 2008). Although the turkey is the most important food on the table for most families, it is common for most families to also serve some sort of sweet potatoes, for example, a sweet potato casserole with marshmallows. As Thanksgiving is a feast holiday a dessert is usually also served, one of the most common desserts on Thanksgiving is a pumpkin pie. The pumpkin has been around for hundreds of years, and always been a part of thanksgiving, however, it is more likely that the pumpkin was served after being baked or stewed rather than a pie on the first years when Thanksgiving were celebrated (Trex, 2008). As it is a feast holiday the table has many more types of foods, but it varies from family to family what is put onto the table, however, the turkey, sweet potatoes, and the pumpkin pie is almost always found at every Thanksgiving
Textbooks in today’s schools still tell the same story that has been handed down from generation to generation. Every year children dress up and put on plays about the famous story of the first Thanksgiving. No one knows the truth though or at least people pretend to not know the embarrassing truth of our “founding fathers.” Textbooks today give the candy coated version of good saintly Englishmen come to a better world and find good neighbors willing to help in their time of need.
Finding focus and the true reason of Thanksgiving and other holiday celebrations can not only make them enjoyable but meaningful and magical.
Thanksgiving, traditionally, is a time of gathering families together to express our gratitude for one another over a large roasted turkey. According to the Huffington Post, one fifth of the total 235 million turkeys eaten in the United States are consumed on Thanksgiving Day (1). There are a number of different theories on how the turkey got its name. Some people say that Columbus thought that the land he discovered was connected to India which was known for having large flocks of peacocks. When he saw these strange large birds he thought they were related to the peacock family so he named them Tuka, which means peacock in the language of India (2). Others say that the name came from Native American’s calling them Firkee, which was later adapted to Turkey (2). Another theory is that the birds did not come directly from the New World to England. Instead, they came via merchant ships from the eastern Mediterranean Sea which were called ‘Turkey Merchants’ because a lot of the area was a part of the Turkish Empire at the time. Purchasers of the birds back home in England thought the fowl came from the area so they called them ‘turkey birds’ and soon after just ‘turkeys’ (2).
Richard Blanco wrote about how he convinced his family to have turkey on Thanksgiving Day by explaining to them how Lincoln set the slaves and the purple mountain [---] liberty and justice for all majesty free why it is important to celebrate thanksgiving. Similarly, during my childhood, my parents have different religion that do not celebrate Christmas ,but the community that we live in are Christians and they celebrate Christmas so for us not to be isolated, my older brother convinced my parent for us to cook and partake in the celebration by telling them how Christmas came
My favorite Thanksgiving is I think yet to come, because you dont know what the future holds. Now in the past my favorite one has been every year. I said this because every year we eat hefty helpings of good Thanksgiving food. Some of the things that you might see on the Thanksgiving table to feast on might be yams, turkey, dressing,cranberry sauce, and etc……… Every year we prepare, pray, and the gain an exra 15 to 20 pounds because of all of the food we have.
Moraff,C. The Real History of Thanksgiving." Philadelphia Magazine (2012).p.n.d. Data retrieved from http://www.phillymag.com/news/2012/11/20/dark-origins-thanksgiving/ on May 6,2014.
From all historical accounts, it seems that fruit pies as we now know them were invented by the Pennsylvania Dutch. Women in the southeastern counties of the state made delicious, crispy pies encasing every fruit in the region. “It may be,” states Frederick Klees, “that during the Revolution men from the other colonies came to know this dish in Pennsylvania and carried this knowledge back home to establish pie as the great American dessert” (191). Additionally, this pie gained popularity at the triumphant end of the war and the beginning of our country. The recipe migrated north, farmer’s wives learned to make this more involved pie, and consumption swelled. Colonists loved pie so much they ate it for every meal, but, notably, not every farmer could afford it. Thus, pies evolved into a symbol of status. Thomas Jefferson made his own recipe, Ben Franklin grew prize apples in his backyard for his pies, and Martha Washington even served this dessert at diplomatic dinners! Indeed it is the fruition of this unique, thick, two-crusted apple pie, rather than the thin, one-crust English pie, in which we invest our pride. Ever wonder why July 4th parties are marked by apple pies? It’s a carryover from first Independence Day celebrations when the apple pie was at its peak importance to Americans.
I stepped out of the chilly November air and into the warmth of my home. The first snowfall of the year had hit early in the morning, and the soft, powdery snow provided entertainment for hours. As I laid my furry mittens and warm hat on the bench to dry, I was immediately greeted with the rich scent of sweet apple pie, pumpkin pie, mashed potatoes, and the twenty-pound turkey my mother was preparing for our Thanksgiving feast.