True Essay History on Thanksgiving Day

Thanksgiving Day is a traditional family holiday that is associated with turkey and parades. It is a lovely time that people spend with family by eating delicious dishes and watching TV. This unusual and interesting holiday makes a lot of people curious about its origin.

What events initiated the celebration of this feast? What are the roots of this holiday and where from does it originate?

American schoolchildren are always told that this holiday takes its root back to the pilgrims. In 1620 this religious community settled the Plymouth Colony at the territory of present Massachusetts. Friendly local inhabitants of the American territory started to teach newcomers how to live on their land. Thus, in 1621 they gathered to celebrate this feast together. According to various sources, the feast was attended by 90 men from the Wampanoag tribe and about 50 Mayflower passengers. That time menu included corn, fowl and deer. The feast lasted for three days.

In fact, it appeared that the feast was rooted before Plymouth. When making a deeper research it is possible to find even several locations that claim that the first Thanksgiving was held on their territory.

According to the trustworthy sources Thanksgiving Day was first celebrated in 1619 in Virginia. Citizens of the Berkeley Hundred gathered together to celebrate, although their menu included some oysters and ham. Anyway, most people confess this event to be the start of such a famous and beloved family holiday.

However, there are records that state that Seloy tribe in Florida arranged celebration with bread, salted pork and garbanzo beans in 1565.

Those feasts differ from our modern concept of the holiday and menu is quite unusual for us. Thus, for pilgrims of Plymouth, their celebration had a religious background. It is hard to determine the precise date and purpose of the holiday origin and the territory where the tradition was rooted.

There is a number of researchers that are sure that the Thanksgiving Day was rooted even after the pilgrims. Seems to be quite unbelievable, is not it? According to these sources, the holiday was rooted by the Massachusetts colony governor John Winthrop. He declared this day a day of thanksgiving in honor of the colonial soldiers who had slaughtered about 700 men, women, and children on the territory where Mystic (Connecticut) currently locates.

Thus, as you see there are a lot of historical discrepancies and sources that make holiday origin quite an unclear and dubious event. Perhaps, the holiday evolved within different territories and came to certain a culmination that made it wide-spread and popular. Similar to the origin it is difficult to define the initial purpose of the holiday. Most probably it really has a religious background. Anyhow, as it is stated below, the facts differ.

It is always interesting to know the history and origin of the holiday. In such a way you make it not just a meaningless celebration, but enrich it with the flavor of traditions and history. Regarding Thanksgiving Day the well-known history about pilgrims appeared to be not so obvious. In fact, this uncertainty about the holiday makes it even more intriguing and initiates and motivates to explore more about this feast.

In spite of the history, Thanksgiving Day is the synonym of the warm, family atmosphere. It is associated with delicious food and the circle of the closest people. Even the name of this holiday is so great and means expressing gratitude. Enjoy this great holiday and spend a perfect celebration with your family.