How and Why to We Celebrate Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. It is in fact a federal holiday in the United States from the year 1941. The day is traditionally religious in nature; where each one thanks God for his or her life. The origin can also be traced to the Harvest festival observed during the ancient times. What ever be it, Thanksgiving is now a secular celebration. I think you enjoyed my previous How and Where article

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During the Thanksgiving Day, the we ,Americans love to feast with our family and friends. There will be football games and parades, but feasting is the most important. The main food for the feast is the roasted or baked turkey. Therefore, Thanksgiving Day is also referred to as the Turkey Day. Also on the dinner table, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, sweet corn, cranberry sauce, fall vegetables and pumpkin pie are served. For the vegans or vegetarians, Tofurky or meatless turkey made of Tofu is served.

It is also a day for community work; the less fortunate ones are given Thanksgiving feasts by the community.

The Friday after the Thanksgiving Day is called the Black Friday. This is one of the busiest days in America when people begin their Christmas shopping. Thus, Thanksgiving Week is a long holiday week, a paid holiday for the Americans, after the Halloween Day.

In 1620, a group of English people called the Pilgrims went to settle in North America. They were very religious people who set off to America in a ship called the Mayflower. They landed in a place they called Plymouth. Their first winter was harsh and many of them died due to cold and hunger. In the spring, the Pilgrims made friends with the Native Americans, who taught them to grow corn, beans and pumpkins. After their first harvest, the Pilgrims invited the Natives to a feast, which all of us remember as the Thanksgiving feast.

Christmas Shopping begins the day after Thanksgiving Day. Sports are an important part of Thanksgiving celebration. The most commonly played is the American Football. However, Golf and auto racing have also become popular.

Thanksgiving parades consist of floats with specific themes and images, balloons of cartoon characters and high school bands.

Presidential Turkey Pardon

Ever since the year 1947, the National Turkey Federation and the Poultry and Egg National Board gives the President a Turkey at a White House ceremony. But there have been occasions when the President officially pardons the Turkey rather than eat them.

In the year 2003, the then American President George Bush made a surprise visit to Baghdad to celebrate Thanksgiving Day with the US troops in Iraq. In his Thanksgiving Declaration there, he praised the US troops of their achievements and thanked them of their efforts to fight the extremists in Iraq. He later enjoyed a Thanksgiving dinner with them.

Apart from God, we can thank all those who helped us till date with our daily struggle.I personally would thank my Parents for my wonderful life, my teachers for their valuable guidance, and my friends for the lovely time I spend with them. I need to thank the soldiers who guard my country’s borders and the police men who maintain the law and order. Lastly, I thank the Hub pages for giving me an opportunity to write this piece of Hub.