Thanksgiving is a day filled with food, football, turkey trots, and the Macy’s Day Parade.
Although many do not know the full origin of Thanksgiving, or why we continue to celebrate it each year.
“Somewhat, but I haven’t been taught much,”Maria Souza, Sophomore, said when asked if she knew the history of Thanksgiving.
The line between fact and myth on this holiday has been tangled for centuries. It is difficult to look through it all and determine what really happened, versus what was said in old textbooks and television.
Thanksgiving “started” in 1621, when the Pilgrims celebrated their harvest, after a devastating winter which killed half their population.The celebration lasted three days.
One myth is that the Wampanoag people were invited to the feast, however this has been found to be untrue. No one is certain of how the Native Americans came to be at the celebration, and there are many theories of why. It is true that this harvest became an important moment in American history.
Some theories even claim that the first Thanksgiving originated in Virginia
Another myth just as muddled as the origins of Thanksgiving is that turkey was eaten at the first dinner, though there are no reports specifically stating that turkey was served.
“I had no idea that turkey was not served at the first Thanksgiving dinner,” Newtown resident Cardin Young said.
“There are primary source writings about wild turkey being abundant in the area that fall, yet they do not specifically mention if they were at the First Thanksgiving” Tom Begley, Executive Assistant at Plimoth Plantation, Tom Begley, said in an interview with The New York Times in 2017.
Historians are certain, though, that other forms of wildfowl were served, such as goose, duck, or even venison.
Thanksgiving foods we relate to the holiday such as apple pie and cranberry sauce were absent from this first dinner.
In fact, apples originate from Central Asia, and were just barely introduced to North America in 1621, and there was no flour to make a crust, or cranberry sauce. The reason these foods are now on our tables today is because most of them were recommended in cooking magazines in the early 20th century, such as Godey’s Lady’s Book, a woman's magazine.
Another fact unknown by much of the American population is when, in fact, Thanksgiving became nationally recognized.
The editor of the Godey’s Lady’s Book, Sarah Josepha Hale was a leader in creating the holiday. She petitioned presidents to make it a holiday for years, to promote peace for the country. Abraham Lincoln passed the Thanksgiving Proclamation on October 3, 1863, therefore declaring it as a national holiday to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26th.
However, President Lincoln does not mention the first Thanksgiving in the proclamation, instead stating Thanksgiving was a way to create unity in the country. Since then, each president has proclaimed it a holiday.
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