Thanksgiving Day
Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday of both gratitude and mourning.
Today, Americans celebrate Thanksgiving, a holiday of both gratitude and mourning.
Renee Harleston
Reviewer URLOrigin
Thanksgiving has long been celebrated as a commemoration of the autumn harvest meal shared by English colonists and the Wampanoag people in 1621. In 1789, George Washington issued a national Thanksgiving proclamation, encouraging everyone to give thanks for their independence from Great Britain and the ratification of the U.S. constitution.
Although the holiday was adopted by a number of presidents, it was not celebrated consistently until 1863. Abraham Lincoln issued a proclamation, adopting the holiday as a rallying point during the Civil War. The holiday was celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November each year after that until 1939. Franklin D. Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving that year to the third Thursday, in an attempt to pump up retail sales. This move met with pushback, and after a joint resolution in Congress in 1941, Roosevelt officially signed legislation moving the holiday back to the fourth Thursday of the month in 1942.
Thanksgiving holds a complicated place in America. The sanitized Thanksgiving story most learn in school elides the reality of Native American genocide which accompanied America’s beginning. In 1970, Wamsutta Frank James, a member of the Wampanoag tribe, was asked to give a speech praising the Puritans who landed in Plymouth. This disrespectful request prompted James to protest on Coles Hill and found the National Day of Mourning.
The National Day of Mourning is observed by many Native Americans. According to radio station WBUR, many Native Americans fast that day to reflect on the genocidal hardships they faced and continue to face. Additionally, tribes may hold political conferences on this day.
When it is observed
Thanksgiving is an annual federal holiday taking place on the fourth Thursday of November.
Traditions
For those who celebrate, Thanksgiving is centered around a bountiful meal shared with family and friends. Different cultures, regions and families in America feature different traditional foods during their Thanksgiving meal. Turkey is often the centerpiece of many Thanksgiving meals along with side dishes like gravy, stuffing or dressing, cranberry sauce, and seasonal vegetables. Pies also figure prominently at many gatherings: pumpkin, pecan, sweet potato, and more.
Not all turkeys are destined for the table: Each year, the president of the United States pardons a turkey, letting them live out their lives on a farm.
Macy’s department store has hosted a Thanksgiving Day Parade since 1924. The parade, which features live performances by dancers, singers, and musicians, as well as multi-story inflatable floats, is televised worldwide.
If you want to participate in the National Day of Mourning and are not Native American, it is recommended you read about the history and struggles of the Native American people. If you are seeking to read about early American history specifically, the First Nations Development Institute recommends American Holocaust: Columbus and the Conquest of the New World by historian David Stannard.