As an au pair in America, partaking in the many traditions of Thanksgiving is a great way to develop a deeper understanding of American culture. From football to butterball, here is a brief guide to modern Thanksgiving in America.
The Basics of Thanksgiving
As its name implies, Thanksgiving is a time to express your gratitude for all the good things in your life and is often celebrated with family and friends. It is thought to have originated with the first harvest after the Pilgrims landed, but didn't become a national holiday for over two hundred years after. Today, Thanksgiving is celebrated on the 4th Thursday in November with a huge feast, parades, and football games.
The Feast of Thanksgiving
You simply can't have Thanksgiving without
In 1621 November 24, Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag indians shared a feast in Autumn for the celebration in the colonies. For about 2 centuries America has celebrated Thanksgiving. It is a holiday for everyone to give thanks and the pilgrims. In 1621 November 24, Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag indians shared a feast in Autumn for the celebration in the colonies.
What I was taught as a kid about pilgrims and thanksgiving is very misleading. In elementary, I like most kids. Where taught that Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to the Americas on three ships. Soon after arrival. The English/pilgrim’s made allies with the natives, made homes.
The story is of a feast shared between the Pilgrims, who were among the first European settlers in North America, and the Wampanoag, a native American tribe. The tale of Thanksgiving is often told as a symbol of cooperation and friendship between
Introduction In America, many individuals like to eat. Devouring decadent dishes like steak and potatoes, shrimp pasta, chocolate cheesecake, and other delicacies are what most humans enjoy to partake when eating. Thanksgiving, a holiday that Americans just recently celebrated, is a very popular time where people enjoy delving into plates of turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and huge assortments of pies. Concluding from this, no person would ever think about feasting on another individual that they love and care about.
As a child growing up, our parents taught us many fictional characters and myths. For example, Santa Calsus, the Easter Bunny, and the myth behind the tooth fairy. Theses thoughts or “tales” are placed in our head so as children, we have the idea of a perfect happy world. In elementary school, I was taught that thanksgiving was simply a time to stuff your face with turkey. As a grew a bit older thanksgiving was expounded and I learned that the first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated in Plymouth by Pilgrims and Native Americans, and this information was still incorrect.
Thanksgiving a time where people sit around the table and be thankful for the things they have. However, many people know of how it became a holiday, but people don’t know is who started this holiday. The man who had started Thanksgiving was named William Bradford; It started from his marriage ceremony in the New World where the (Johnson) Wampanoags Native Americans (Whitehurst and Ruffin 18) brought over turkeys and deer to feast on (Johnson). William Bradford was the second governor of Plymouth for his wisdom and leadership; he ran for governor for thirty years with a five year break.
That is not really what happened; they probably did not have a table or pretty clothes. They ate what they had, not anything that they wanted. The schools don’t really portray what actually happened on the first thanksgiving. The trip on the Mayflower wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows, it was harsh. The ship took off from Plymouth with 102 pilgrims in the year of 1620.
Giving is the most important part of Thanksgiving. Another important part of Thanksgiving dinner is to be able to sit down, relax and enjoy your meal with the company of your loved ones. By taking steps in advance you can assure a successful Thanksgiving dinner, minimizing being overwhelmed. Start with your guest list and planning your dinner menu. While searching for recipes, look for simple and easy.
Martha looked at the myth of Thanksgiving. The idea that an entire family would happily get together for a huge meal. The family will think and talk about everything that they are thankful for. This is heavily discussed in elementary schools. As a child I remember my teacher suggesting that at dinner we should go around the table and have each family member say something that they are thankful for.
The smells of fried turkey and homemade pumpkin pies permeate through the whimsically decorated halls in my house. Awaking to the sound of the Macy's day parade and peeling of grandma’s special potatoes never gets old. Thanksgiving is the most momentous day of the whole year for me. It’s such a special feeling to see the whole family together, cooking, laughing, and of course eating! Thanksgiving has an idiosyncratic place in my heart, mostly because thanksgiving is celebrated at my house and has been for over 15 years now.
As studied by Janet Siskind, the American Thanksgiving celebration is actually a very detailed ritual that contains many symbols. Similar to other rituals, the holiday reinforces certain social structures and “…reaffirms values and assumptions about cultural and social unity, about identity and history, about inclusion and exclusion” (168). The Thanksgiving ritual is centered around a return home, as people traveled from their urban homes back to their rural home to meet with their larger family. As a result, “the household became the site of ritual performance…” (175). The goal of the Thanksgiving ritual was to reaffirm the family and renew traditional ties, especially as more people had started moving into the cities around the time that the holiday became popular in the United States (176).
understand why society is taught to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr Day, 4th of July, and Memorial Day because they are all recognizing our country and how it was made better, but there is no reason at all to celebrate Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving was the first time the pilgrims and Native Americans set aside their differences and feasted together. Not everybody knows what happens a couple of hours later after the meal. Everyone was friendly until the pilgrims burned as many native Americans' houses and land as they could while the Native Americans were distracted and rejoicing. The Native Americans were caught so off guard they had no time to react.
Introduction: A Look at Macy’s History When someone thinks of Thanksgiving in America many think of football, turkey, pilgrims, Native Americans, and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. It has been a staple of Thanksgiving Day since it began on Christmas of 1924. (Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade History) Every year the parade draws millions of people to the streets of New York City, and to the TVs at their homes. This Thanksgiving Day tradition shows how much and how long
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrating how the Pilgrims invited the local Native Americans to a harvest feast after a particularly successful growing season. Thanksgiving should be a day of rest and giving thanks. A day to spend time with your family and friends. In conclusion we should all work together to make Thanksgiving that special day of rest and thanks, and change Black Friday to some other day before or after Thanksgiving.
So really we only do this because we get out of helping do the dishes and clean up the gorge.. But we come in normandy and help because grandpa will not ask for help because he just retired and still don't want to give up of working. Now probably if we stayed out there and played sports we would get yelled at to come help clean because we have a lot to clean and a lot of tables to seat people. When we have to clean up their are so many mom you don't know which one to listen to so you have to decide which one will yell at me the most So what do I do for thanksgiving.