Thanksgiving Day: What's the history of the holiday and why does the US celebrate with turkey?
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When is Thanksgiving Day 2016?
Thursday November 24th, (the fourth Thursday in November).
Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the 'holiday season' in the United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941. FDR changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (because there are sometimes five Thursdays in the month).
While Britons think of it as a warm-up for the Yuletide period, many Americans think it of it as just as important as Christmas.
What is the history of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving Day can be traced back to the 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the religious refugees from England known popularly as the Pilgrims invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season.
The previous year's harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620 half of the pilgrims had starved to death.
Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash (the Three Sisters); catch fish, and collect seafood.
There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving, but it's clear that Turkey was not on the menu. The three-day feast included goose, lobster, cod and deer.
So why do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day?
Pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote a letter about that now-famous meal in 1621 which mentioned a turkey hunt before the dinner.
Another theory says the choice of turkey was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I who was eating dinner when she heard that Spanish ships had sunk on their way to attack England.
Queenie was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be served. Some claim early US settlers roasted turkeys as they were inspired by her actions.
Others say that as wild turkeys are native to North America, they were a natural choice for early settlers.
Classic Thanksgiving dishes
Turkey: and/or ham, goose and duck or turduken (a spatchcocked combo of three whole birds!)
Stuffing (also known as dressing): a mix of bread cubes, chopped celery, carrots, onions and sage stuffed inside the turkey for roasting. Chestnuts, chopped bacon or sausage, and raisins or apples are also sometimes included in the stuffing.
Pies: pumpkin pies are most common, but pecan, apple, sweet potato and mincemeat pies are also quite popular.
Who set the date of Thanksgiving Day?
'The National Thanksgiving Proclamation' was the first formal proclamation of Thanksgiving in America. The first President of the United States George Washington made this proclamation on October 3, 1789.
Then in 1846, author Sarah Josepha Hale waged a one-woman campaign for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a truly national holiday.
In the US the day had previously been celebrated only in New England and was largely unknown in the American South. All the other states scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays at different times, some as early as October and others as late as January.
Hale's advocacy for the national holiday lasted 17 years and four presidencies before the letter she wrote to Lincoln was successful. In 1863 at the height of the Civil War he supported legislation which established a national holiday of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November.
Lincoln perhaps wanted the date to tie in with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620. Although we now use the Gregorian calendar. In 1621 the date would have been November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar.
So Hale finally got her wish. She is perhaps now better known, though, for writing the nursery rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
'Franksgiving'
In 1939, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to try and give a boost to retailers before Christmas during the Great Depression.
Several states followed FDR’s lead but 16 states refused move the holiday shift, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, the a resolution was passeed returning the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November.
Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart later described the Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941 as "Franksgiving".
The Presidential reprieve
Eating turkey is actually more associated with Thanksgiving than it is Christmas in the States with over 50 million turkeys served up every year in the US.
Every year, though, the POTUS ‘pardons’ at least one turkey. This year, Jihad Douglas, chairman of the National Turkey Federation introduced a pair of turkeys at the Willard Inter Continental Hotel ahead of their 'pardon' by President Obama at the White House.
The names of the main turkey and his alternate were announced at the annual White House ceremony.
The public presentation of two prize turkeys to the commander-in-chief in the lead-up to Thanksgiving had been a time-honoured photo op since the 1940s.
But on Nov 17, 1989 - 200 years after George Washington's proclamation (see above) - President George H.W. Bush formalised the tradition when he pardoned a 50-pound turkey in the White House Rose Garden.
“Let me assure you," Bush said to the 30 schoolchildren present. "This fine turkey will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now.”
Two years earlier Ronald Reagan told the assembled press he would have "pardoned" Charlie, the White House turkey at the ceremony that year when he was asked if he would have pardoned the key players in the Iran-Contra scandal.
The presidential turkey pardon has remained an annual Thanksgiving ritual ever since.
Original Post: Click Here
When is Thanksgiving Day 2016?
Thursday November 24th, (the fourth Thursday in November).
Thanksgiving Day traditionally kicks off the 'holiday season' in the United States. The day was set in stone by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 and approved by Congress in 1941. FDR changed it from Abraham Lincoln's designation as the last Thursday in November (because there are sometimes five Thursdays in the month).
While Britons think of it as a warm-up for the Yuletide period, many Americans think it of it as just as important as Christmas.
What is the history of Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving Day can be traced back to the 1621 celebration at the Plymouth Plantation, where the religious refugees from England known popularly as the Pilgrims invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season.
The previous year's harvests had failed and in the winter of 1620 half of the pilgrims had starved to death.
Luckily for the rest, members of the local Wampanoag tribe taught the Pilgrims how to grow corn, beans and squash (the Three Sisters); catch fish, and collect seafood.
There are only two contemporary accounts of the 1621 Thanksgiving, but it's clear that Turkey was not on the menu. The three-day feast included goose, lobster, cod and deer.
So why do Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day?
Pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote a letter about that now-famous meal in 1621 which mentioned a turkey hunt before the dinner.
Another theory says the choice of turkey was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I who was eating dinner when she heard that Spanish ships had sunk on their way to attack England.
Queenie was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be served. Some claim early US settlers roasted turkeys as they were inspired by her actions.
Others say that as wild turkeys are native to North America, they were a natural choice for early settlers.
Classic Thanksgiving dishes
Turkey: and/or ham, goose and duck or turduken (a spatchcocked combo of three whole birds!)
Stuffing (also known as dressing): a mix of bread cubes, chopped celery, carrots, onions and sage stuffed inside the turkey for roasting. Chestnuts, chopped bacon or sausage, and raisins or apples are also sometimes included in the stuffing.
Pies: pumpkin pies are most common, but pecan, apple, sweet potato and mincemeat pies are also quite popular.
Who set the date of Thanksgiving Day?
'The National Thanksgiving Proclamation' was the first formal proclamation of Thanksgiving in America. The first President of the United States George Washington made this proclamation on October 3, 1789.
Then in 1846, author Sarah Josepha Hale waged a one-woman campaign for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a truly national holiday.
In the US the day had previously been celebrated only in New England and was largely unknown in the American South. All the other states scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays at different times, some as early as October and others as late as January.
Hale's advocacy for the national holiday lasted 17 years and four presidencies before the letter she wrote to Lincoln was successful. In 1863 at the height of the Civil War he supported legislation which established a national holiday of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November.
Lincoln perhaps wanted the date to tie in with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620. Although we now use the Gregorian calendar. In 1621 the date would have been November 11 to the Pilgrims who used the Julian calendar.
So Hale finally got her wish. She is perhaps now better known, though, for writing the nursery rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'.
'Franksgiving'
In 1939, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to try and give a boost to retailers before Christmas during the Great Depression.
Several states followed FDR’s lead but 16 states refused move the holiday shift, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, the a resolution was passeed returning the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November.
Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart later described the Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941 as "Franksgiving".
The Presidential reprieve
Eating turkey is actually more associated with Thanksgiving than it is Christmas in the States with over 50 million turkeys served up every year in the US.
Every year, though, the POTUS ‘pardons’ at least one turkey. This year, Jihad Douglas, chairman of the National Turkey Federation introduced a pair of turkeys at the Willard Inter Continental Hotel ahead of their 'pardon' by President Obama at the White House.
The names of the main turkey and his alternate were announced at the annual White House ceremony.
The public presentation of two prize turkeys to the commander-in-chief in the lead-up to Thanksgiving had been a time-honoured photo op since the 1940s.
But on Nov 17, 1989 - 200 years after George Washington's proclamation (see above) - President George H.W. Bush formalised the tradition when he pardoned a 50-pound turkey in the White House Rose Garden.
“Let me assure you," Bush said to the 30 schoolchildren present. "This fine turkey will not end up on anyone’s dinner table, not this guy. He’s granted a presidential pardon as of right now.”
Two years earlier Ronald Reagan told the assembled press he would have "pardoned" Charlie, the White House turkey at the ceremony that year when he was asked if he would have pardoned the key players in the Iran-Contra scandal.
The presidential turkey pardon has remained an annual Thanksgiving ritual ever since.
Original Post: Click Here