Thanksgiving is a famous and beloved holiday in the United States and Canada. It is celebrated in these states at different times - in Canada - at the beginning of October, and in the USA - at the end of November, but the traditions of the celebration in these countries are approximately the same.
Thanksgiving Day is not just a holiday with a family feast and delicious dishes, for which only the most relatives and close ones gather. It is also a day on which everyone can express their gratitude to their neighbor for everything that has happened in his life for a year. The tradition of this holiday dates back to the distant historical past of the United States.
The beginning of the tradition
The holiday was started by English settlers who arrived on the shores of the New World in November 1620 and founded the first English colony. The winter that found them on the shores new to them turned out to be extremely harsh. More than half of the settlers died from disease, cold and hunger. When spring came, the settlers tried to grow a new crop, but on the rocky soil, their efforts could not be crowned with great success. Then they were rescued by local Indians from a nearby tribe. It was they who showed the British how to cultivate the land and what crops to grow on it.
The reward for the labors and all the hardships endured in the first months was a bountiful harvest. People were no longer threatened by starvation and lack of food during the winter months, so the inhabitants of the colony decided to celebrate this event. They prepared a rich dinner and invited local Indians to their table to share a meal with them, thanking them and God for their salvation. For the holiday, four large birds were caught and fried, later called turkeys. It was this bird that became an integral part of the holiday.
Thus, the first day of Thanksgiving not only offered thanks for the help, but was also associated with the holiday of a bountiful harvest. Since then, Thanksgiving Day has been celebrated in the United States at the end of November; it was legalized among national holidays by the first president of this then young country, George Washington.
Thanksgiving Day Celebration
For Thanksgiving, it is customary to prepare a rich lunch from the same set of foods that were once on the tables of immigrants: fried turkey, pumpkin and pumpkin pies, corn, baked chestnuts, nuts, oranges and apples. All members of a large family gather for dinner, usually older relatives invite the whole family to their house, where the main celebration takes place. Before lunch, everyone tells what they are grateful for on this day, what has happened in their lives over the past year. Thanksgiving opens America's winter holiday and family feast season, which lasts throughout December until the New Year.
On this day, holiday parades are held throughout the country, depicting scenes from history and showing the native people of America - Indians and settlers in costumes from that distant era. All over the country, charity events are held to help poor people and orphans. And at this time, the holiday sales begin in stores throughout the country.
