THANKSGIVING – A REAL AMERICAN TRADITION

The first images people have when they hear Thanksgiving Holiday is turkey, cranberry sauce and mashed potatoes. However, this American celebration is more than just eating a festive meal. This national holiday finds its roots when the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe celebrated their first successful harvest in the autumn of 1621. The pilgrims had survived a devastating winter in which nearly half had died. It was the help of the Native Americans that ensured the rest of pilgrims would be able to survive. The celebration became a day to mark the blessings in life of friendship, overcoming hardship and showing gratitude for the little things in life.

The first American President, George Washington, in honor of the new United States Constitution proclaimed a Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1789. It was to take place on the last Thursday in November. However, it was the third president of the United States that felt it reeked of kingly practices and discontinued the holiday celebration.

It would be the author of Mary Had a Little Lamb; Sarah Josepha Hale who would influence the presidency to reclaim this national treasure. During the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln was looking for ways to unite the nation, and heeded the advice of Hale, writing an official Thanksgiving Proclamation declaring the last Thursday in November to be a day of Thanksgiving. Since that momentous occasion in 1863, Thanksgiving became a holiday to reflect on the blessings of life in the United States.
In 1941, Congress moved the holiday to the fourth Thursday in November.

It was not until 1905 that Colorado became the first state to make October 12Th as an official holiday. In later years, other states did the same. It was 32 years later that President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared October 12Th as a U.S. official holiday. In 1971, Congress decided to move the official observance to the second Monday of every October.

Thanksgiving is uniquely American. It has no religious significance and there are no set of rules on how to celebrate it. It is a time for family and friends to gather around and enjoy a festive meal. Even though the commercialization of the holiday lends itself to shopping sales, the Macys Day Parade and American football games, the message is quite simply – offering our prayers of gratitude in the land of plenty.

Apply for a U.S. green card today.

This chapter was taken out of the Immigration Bible by Zila Katz and Esq.Dotan Cohen, Adv. Get your copy today

See you in our next edition,

Tom Wright
Editor in Chief
GCUS PRESS