The History of Thanksgiving Day
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. In fact, more people in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving than they do Christmas. Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday in a country that officially separates church and state so this probably makes sense.
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. She was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be served. Some claim early U.S. 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.
Mashed potatoes with gravy.
Sweet potatoes: often served as candied sweet potatoes, sometimes topped with marshmallows.
Butternut squash.
Corn.
Green beans.
Cranberry sauce.
Plain bread rolls, savoury biscuits or corn bread (popular in the southern US states and some parts of New England).
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 U.S., 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 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s lead but 16 states refused to move the holiday, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, the 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 U.S. 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 Intercontinental 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 - 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.
There are still two Thanksgivings
Canadians mark Turkey Day, too, in fact it was the first country to do so. Canada celebrates a separate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. It was first celebrated by the arctic explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578 - more than 40 years before the Pilgrim fathers arrived in the New World.
Let's talk turkey
When European settlers encountered turkeys for the first time in the early 1500s, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl. Since this group of birds were thought to come from Turkey, the North American bird was dubbed 'turkey fowl'. This later became shortened to 'turkey' and entered the vernacular. The English navigator William Strickland, who introduced the turkey into England in 1550, was granted a coat of arms which included a "turkey-cock in his pride proper".
The official record of his crest in the archives of the College of Arms is said to be the oldest surviving European drawing of a turkey. In Portuguese the translation of turkey is 'peru'. The exotic birds taken back to 16th century Portugal had come from there, you see.
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. In fact, more people in the U.S. celebrate Thanksgiving than they do Christmas. Thanksgiving Day is a secular holiday in a country that officially separates church and state so this probably makes sense.
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.
 |
| The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1899) |
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. She was so thrilled with the news she ordered another goose be served. Some claim early U.S. 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.
Mashed potatoes with gravy.
Sweet potatoes: often served as candied sweet potatoes, sometimes topped with marshmallows.
Butternut squash.
Corn.
Green beans.
Cranberry sauce.
Plain bread rolls, savoury biscuits or corn bread (popular in the southern US states and some parts of New England).
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.
 |
| Lincoln and Hale |
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 Franklin D. Roosevelt’s lead but 16 states refused to move the holiday, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, the 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 U.S. 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 Intercontinental 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.
 |
| Go in peace (not in pieces): President Obama pardons the National Thanksgiving Turkey during the 68th annual presentation of the turkey in the Rose Garden of the White House |
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 - 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.
There are still two Thanksgivings
Canadians mark Turkey Day, too, in fact it was the first country to do so. Canada celebrates a separate Thanksgiving on the second Monday in October. It was first celebrated by the arctic explorer Martin Frobisher in 1578 - more than 40 years before the Pilgrim fathers arrived in the New World.
Let's talk turkey
When European settlers encountered turkeys for the first time in the early 1500s, they incorrectly identified the birds as a type of guineafowl. Since this group of birds were thought to come from Turkey, the North American bird was dubbed 'turkey fowl'. This later became shortened to 'turkey' and entered the vernacular. The English navigator William Strickland, who introduced the turkey into England in 1550, was granted a coat of arms which included a "turkey-cock in his pride proper".
The official record of his crest in the archives of the College of Arms is said to be the oldest surviving European drawing of a turkey. In Portuguese the translation of turkey is 'peru'. The exotic birds taken back to 16th century Portugal had come from there, you see.
Credit: The Telegraph UK
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