A Little Thanksgiving History

thanksgiving_dinnerTomorrow Americans will celebrate our version of Thanksgiving Day. In kitchens all across the country, cooks will be preparing our traditional Thanksgiving Day dinner of roasted turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, vegetables, cranberry sauce and pies. Many different cultures celebrate some kind of autumn harvest festival. Most historians believe the American Thanksgiving dinner dates back to the fall harvest celebration in 1621 at Plymouth Plantation after the Wampanoag Native Americans taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish and cultivate the land so they wouldn’t starve. According the History.com, our Thanksgiving Day didn’t become an official holiday until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that it would be celebrated in November of each year. In 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed it into law that each year the holiday would be celebrated the 4th Thursday of November.

Curiously, nearly 90% of Americans will eat turkey on Thanksgiving, but it is not clear whether turkeys really were or were not on the original Thanksgiving dinner table. Certainly pies were not because there was a sugar shortage at the time and the Puritans did not have ovens to bake them in! I can’t even imagine Thanksgiving Day without pumpkin pie and turkey. What we do have in common with the original Puritans and Wampanoag Native Americans is the need to celebrate and remember what we are thankful for. So what are you thankful for? Readers, if you live outside of America, does your country have an autumn harvest festival? Tell us about it so we can learn more about our world and its cultures. Keep Reading and Happy Thanksgiving! Mrs. Hembree

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