The Joy of Thanksgiving

Sometime about 1607/8, a group of villagers in Scrooby, in Nottinghamshire in the English Midlands, were unhappy with the ways of the Church of England. They decided that the only way to practice their religion was to separate themselves from the Church of England.  These people left England and moved to Amsterdam and from there they moved on to Leiden. They stayed in Leiden for some time; however, in a land where the culture and language was strange and difficult, they feared that they faced eventual extinction. They decided to move out in search of a new land which they could claim as their own. The people departed on the Mayflower in 1620 for the land of America. The passengers of the Mayflower came to be known as the Pilgrims. 

The pilgrims sighted land in November 1620. The ship was anchored in the Provincetown Harbor where the party crossed over the mainland and started explorations of the area. The pilgrims founded settlements in Plymouth. In honor of the new life that they were about to begin, the pilgrims gave a huge feast to mark the occasion. Life for the pilgrims was hard. During the first winter they lost a lot of their population to the harsh winds and scarce food. Only 50 of the original 110 pilgrims survived. Finally an Indian named Samoset and his friend Squanto taught the pilgrims how to grow corn and other crops. The first year brought in a successful harvest but the second year proved tough. The Pilgrim Governor William Bradford ordered a day of fasting and prayer and soon after that the rains came. To celebrate the rains, November 29th was proclaimed as a day of thanksgiving. In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation declaring the fourth Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving Day.

Thanksgiving marks a day of continuous feasting. The original thanksgiving feast consisted of corn, beans and pumpkins. Lack of flour led to the absence of bread at the feast. But the plentiful supply of meat and vegetables made up for it. There is no evidence to suggest that turkey was served at the feast. Most likely there were ducks and chicken. The use of turkey can be traced back to Lincoln’s nationalization of Thanksgiving. Since a turkey could feed more people than a chicken, President Lincoln ordered turkeys to be sent to the troops as a cost effective measure. Today’s Thanksgiving dinner traditionally consists of turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, corn, turnips, rolls, pecan pie, and pumpkin pie.

In the United States, Thanksgiving is celebrated as a part of a four day long weekend. The department store, Macy, takes out an annual Thanksgiving Day parade which is the highlight of the festival. Many sports teams hold special Thanksgiving matches too. The day after Thanksgiving Day marks the unofficial beginning of Christmas shopping. That day, known as Black Friday is the busiest day for sales. Often great bargains can be found on Black Friday. Most retailers open up stores earlier than usual and draw hordes of crowds to their stores.