Thanksgiving Full Story

November and December are special seasonal months for the whole world. The 26th day marks the coming of the new worldwide occasion- Thanksgiving.

The celebration of Thanksgiving in the US is not new, it is a traditional and folk celebration when American families gather and share food together and spread this sense of warmth.

However, after the waves of adapting and borrowing the American lifestyle, the national Thanksgiving earned a sense of international recognition.

The origins of the celebration date back to the 17th century when the earliest European colonizers of the newly discovered America harvested crops for the first time.

The story begins with the arrival of a small ship called the Mayflower, carrying 102 passengers who were searching for a new homeland to express their religious rituals freely.

They reached America in March and made use of their goods and restored food until they were hit by a brutal winter. Most of the settlers died due to cold and hunger.

After long months of suffering, they were gifted by the coming of some native Americans who taught them the ways of harvest and planting. In addition, they celebrated together with the first harvest of the crops and organizing a huge celebration of the successful harvest.

During the American Revolution, the Continental Congress designated one or more days of thanksgiving a year, and in 1789 George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the national government of the United States. New York was the first American state to adopt an annual Thanksgiving celebration.

Since this celebration is a great example of the harmony between the Native Americans and the newcomers, Ibraham Lincoln made use of it as a national celebration of America during the tragic years of the Civil War to unify the Americans.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaxK_5j1pBg

This festival lasted for at least three days. According to History Website, "Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Because the Pilgrims had no oven and the Mayflower’s sugar supply had dwindled by the fall of 1621, the meal did not include pies, cakes or other desserts, which have become a hallmark of contemporary celebrations."

Nowadays, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November and it is followed by the annual Black Friday.