Today is Thanksgiving Day in America. Thanksgiving Day in the USA: date, history, pardoning of the turkey, congratulations. History of Thanksgiving

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Thanksgiving Day in the USA is one of the most popular and favorite American holidays, along with Christmas and Easter. It is celebrated on the fourth Thursday of November. On this day, Americans attend a church service, after which they gather with their families for a festive dinner.

Among the main culinary delights of the United States, on Thanksgiving Day, the crowning American dish deserves special attention - stuffed turkey. Among the most common breeds of these birds today is the White Dutch Turkey.

But why exactly did the turkey become a symbol of the holiday table and what is remarkable about the holiday of gratitude? To answer these questions, it’s worth delving a little into the history of Thanksgiving on American soil.

History of Thanksgiving

The origin of the holiday is associated with a group of English Protestant Puritans who, fleeing religious persecution in their homeland in September 1620, sailed on the ship Mayflower to the New World. After two months of sailing, their ship landed on the east coast of America (New England).

They landed in what is now the state of Massachusetts, where it was decided to set up the first camp. However, the New World was not merciful to the settlers: difficulties in finding food, the harsh local climate, unknown diseases - all this contributed to the deterioration of living conditions. More than half of the colonists became seriously ill and died on the new continent in the first winter from hunger and want.

The surviving Puritans created Plymouth Colony, the oldest English settlement in America, and little by little established friendly relations with the local aborigines. The American Indians played a decisive role in their survival; they happily responded to the requests of their new neighbors and helped them organize their lives and run their households.

Thanks to the Indians, the settlers learned to cultivate the land, grow pumpkins, sow beans and corn, and hunt wild turkeys. By the way, the strangers received the recipe for the famous maple syrup from the Indians.

An unexpectedly rich harvest in the fall of 1621 became a reward for the colonists' efforts. And since the first settlers were deeply religious Christians, they decided to give thanks to the Lord for his mercies. The Indians of the tribe that helped them stay alive were invited to the celebration.

For a long time, Thanksgiving was an unofficial holiday in New England and was celebrated sporadically.

After the declaration of US independence in 1776, the young country had to quickly acquire its own traditions and holidays. Thanksgiving Day in the United States became a national holiday in 1789 with the help of the first President George Washington. He signed a decree to celebrate Thanksgiving Day on November 26th of each year.

And yet, the holiday gained national recognition and love only in 1864, when on this day Abraham Lincoln called on the troops of the North and South to end hostilities and, sharing a common table and food, come to a peaceful solution to the issue. A year later, the civil war came to an end, and it was decided to celebrate Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of every November. In 1941, this date was approved by law.

Traditional Thanksgiving Treats

Over the years, Thanksgiving has created many traditions that are carefully observed by residents of the United States. On this bright holiday, Americans rush to church in the morning, and then the whole family gathers at a festive table laden with traditional dishes, and they all read a prayer of thanks together.

On the eve of the holiday, the house is decorated with berries and branches, bouquets of brown, yellow and orange chrysanthemums, which is associated with autumn and a rich harvest. On this day, several generations of the same family meet at the same table in the elders' house. During a family meal, each of those present thanks the Almighty for all the joyful events that took place in his life in the past year.

Turkey is the main attribute of the holiday feast. The mother is most often involved in preparing ceremonial dishes, but only the head of the family is trusted to carve the turkey. The first pieces of the treat go to the children, then they are distributed according to seniority. This is how, from a tender age, Americans strive to form in the minds of their children respect for family traditions and a passion for national dishes.

Sweet potato yams, pumpkin pie, and cranberry sauce are also usually present on the table. According to historians, these were the dishes that graced the first Thanksgiving table back in the 17th century.

The traditional holiday drink on this day is apple cider, which is usually served hot and always well seasoned with spices.

There is a tradition of pardoning a turkey at the White House on the eve of the ceremony. This is done so that at least one bird can avoid the fate of becoming the main dish of the feast. Several months before the ceremony, about thirty turkeys are selected, whose nominations are then posted on the White House website. Anyone can give their voice to the bird they like. The winning turkey and her “understudy” are carefully prepared for an honorary meeting with the president - they are fed by hand, thus teaching them not to be afraid of strangers.

The first official ceremony to pardon a turkey was held in 1989 by US President George H. W. Bush. Since then, every year the luckiest turkey and its “understudy” avoid the fate of being roasted and, after a solemn pardoning ceremony, are transferred to the zoo, where they live until old age.

Thanksgiving today

On Thanksgiving Day, festive costume parades take place everywhere in the United States. On the central streets of cities, carnivals, enchanting processions, theater and circus performances are held in honor of the first settlers of America. The first such parade was held in 1924 in Detroit.

However, the most famous Thanksgiving Day parade has been held annually in New York since 1927 with the support of the largest department store chain, Macy's. The effectiveness and scale of this event is enhanced by the participation in the parade of giant inflatable toys depicting cartoon and comic book characters.

Also, on the eve of the holiday, it is customary throughout the country to devote time to charity. At this time, charitable organizations collect donations in the form of money, things, food, organize free lunches and distribute gifts to the homeless and low-income people. A wonderful tradition, isn't it?

On the American continent, another tradition arose not long ago, beloved by the local population, and it is associated with the holding of final American football matches on Thanksgiving Day.

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday” (due to heavy traffic jams on the streets). This day is significant because it marks the beginning of the long-awaited season of pre-Christmas sales in stores across the country.

Thanksgiving Day is a favorite American family holiday, which has its own history and good traditions. This holiday is awaited in every family, as it is another reason to enjoy communication with family and close friends, and also to thank the Lord for his support in difficult times.

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Well, first the Indians taught them how to survive, but they killed them for it and drove them to reservations

Traditionally, on this day, Americans praised God for a rich harvest; now the holiday has lost its religious roots and turned into a family celebration.

The idea of celebrating the end of the harvest dates back to ancient times. In North America, this holiday was transformed into thanksgiving prayers for a rich harvest, accompanied by abundant food. According to some reports, the first thanksgiving services for European settlers took place in 1607 in Jamestown, as well as in the colony of Maine.

However, in most cases, the history of the holiday is associated with settlers who arrived in America from England at the end of 1620. In the fall of 1621, the governor of the Plymouth colony they founded, William Bradford, invited the neighboring Indians to celebrate with the settlers a three-day holiday in honor of the first harvest harvested after the hungry winter in the New World, which the colonists survived largely thanks to the help of the natives.

This was the first Thanksgiving, but the colonists not only did not call it that, but also did not plan to make it a tradition - the next year there was no holiday, it was held again only in 1623, after the settlers, worried about the drought, prayed for rain for a long time - and received it.

For a long time the holiday was unofficial. European settlers held local fall harvest celebrations. Each state itself determined the date of celebration.

The first official Thanksgiving Day was declared in 1777 by the Continental Congress and took place on December 18, 1777.

In 1789, the first US President George Washington declared the holiday a national event. The date for “A day of public thanksgiving and prayer” was November 26, Thursday. However, in subsequent years, Thanksgiving continued to be celebrated irregularly. It became a national holiday only in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln announced that from now on the last Thursday of November would be celebrated as Thanksgiving Day. True, already in 1865 the holiday was celebrated on the first Thursday of November - as proclaimed by US President Andrew Johnson. In 1869, President Ulysses Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving. In other years, Thanksgiving Day was celebrated on the last Thursday of November.

In 1939-1941, to expand the Christmas shopping season, US President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the penultimate Thursday of November. The transfer caused a split among the states - 16 states refused to change the tradition and continued to celebrate the holiday in the old way. After two years of confusion and complaints, on December 26, 1941, Roosevelt signed a law establishing Thanksgiving Day on the fourth Thursday in November.

Over the years, the holiday has developed a number of traditions that Americans carefully observe. Thanksgiving Day is usually celebrated in the house of the elder of the family with relatives. Relatives and friends come from all over the country to sit around a common table laden with traditional food. An obligatory attribute of the feast is turkey (in various versions of its preparation), sweet potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, stuffing with cracker cubes with spices, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie - what, according to historians, was on the tables of the colonists back in the 17th century.

The traditional holiday drink is apple cider. It is served hot and seasoned with spices.

Another holiday tradition is the turkey pardoning ceremony, which is held at the White House on the eve of the holiday. In accordance with this tradition, at least one turkey must avoid the fate of ending up on the holiday table.

The tradition of honoring the Thanksgiving turkey, according to the most common version, began in 1947, when the National Turkey Federation first presented the bird to US President Harry Truman. However, it was not until 1963 that President John Kennedy allowed the bird he had received as a gift to live.

The first official ceremony to pardon a turkey was performed by US President George H. W. Bush. Every year since then, the turkey and its “stand-in” (the stand-in is chosen in case something suddenly happens to the first bird before the ceremony) are spared the prospect of being roasted.

Another attribute of the holiday is. The first such parade took place in 1924 in Detroit.

The most famous parade is held annually in New York. It is organized by the largest chain of department stores, Macy's. The main attraction of the parade is huge inflatable toys (characters of cartoons, fairy tales and television shows), which are carried from Central Park to the entrance to the department store (between Seventh Avenue and Broadway). Since 1952 year the parade is broadcast on television.

After Thanksgiving, traditional pre-Christmas sales take place in all stores across the country; since the 1960s, this day has also been known because of the huge traffic jams that occur on the streets.

The material was prepared based on information from RIA Novosti and open sources

Each country has its own holidays, which often become international, and among such holidays we can highlight Thanksgiving Day, which in the USA, Canada and Great Britain is celebrated today at the state level, being a general civil holiday. On this day, it is customary for the whole family to gather, talk about their successes and thank God and all family members for this. In recent years, purely American holidays such as Thanksgiving have been added to the number of Orthodox and state holidays in Russia, while many do not even understand where this holiday came from and what, by and large, it means. Thanksgiving Day in America, Canada and England is celebrated differently, and the dates are different, but they are united by the belief in family ties and gratitude to God for everything that you have managed to achieve.

When is Thanksgiving celebrated in different countries?

Before you understand what Thanksgiving Day is and why it is celebrated on such a grand scale, you need to plunge into history. Everyone knows that in the 16th and 17th centuries, sailors from Europe actively conquered undeveloped lands, and Thanksgiving Day in America, the date of which is constantly changing, goes back to the distant year 1620. It was then that members of the shipwrecked expedition landed on the soil of modern America. Most of the expedition members drowned, others faced cold or starvation, but some sailors still managed to survive. And the Indians helped them in this, teaching them how to survive in difficult conditions; they began to hunt and grow edible plants. By the way, the first harvest showed good results, and this became the reason for the celebration of Thanksgiving Day, in which the indigenous people also took part, bringing their treats.

Thanksgiving Day 2016, the date of celebration of which falls on every fourth Thursday of November, was thus first celebrated in America in 1621, and therefore this tradition has survived to this day and Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in this month, and this tradition in America has grown into holiday of national significance. This was legislated only in the mid-20th century. Today, just like in America, Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in England, perhaps because it was the English sailors who were, for the most part, among the first settlers. It should be noted that Great Britain learned about the existence of Thanksgiving relatively recently, but the popularity of the holiday here today is enormous.

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On November 24, the United States celebrates one of the most beloved national holidays - Thanksgiving Day. Its indispensable component is the solemn ceremony of “pardoning” the turkey that takes place the day before...
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“A Uniquely American Holiday”: Facts about Thanksgiving

An indispensable part of Thanksgiving is the solemn ceremony of “pardoning” the turkey that takes place the day before. Photo: © Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

On November 24, the United States celebrates one of the most beloved national holidays - Thanksgiving Day. An indispensable part of it is the solemn ceremony of “pardoning” the turkey that takes place the day before.

Turkey is considered the main dish on Thanksgiving Day in the United States, but according to tradition, at least one of them must avoid the fate of ending up on the holiday table. On this occasion, a real ceremony is performed at the White House, during which the president is presented with a special specimen weighing up to 25 kilograms. Having accepted the gift, the owner of the White House grants freedom to the bird, thereby demonstrating a gesture of forgiveness.

This year, current US President Barack Obama will hold a “pardon” ceremony for the last time. Obama once admitted that Thanksgiving was his favorite holiday “because it is so uniquely American.” Meanwhile, Thanksgiving Day is also a public holiday in Canada, but there it is celebrated on the second Monday of October.

How did the holiday come about?

The tradition dates back to 1621, when the first settlers of the Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts held a festival to thank God for surviving the harsh winter, as well as the native Indians who taught them how to grow crops locally. The Indians brought to the table three birds unfamiliar to Europeans; later they began to be called turkeys. Since then, the colonists traditionally held a holiday before the onset of winter, and turkey became its indispensable attribute.
- After the emergence of a unified state, the country's first president, George Washington, in 1789 proposed celebrating Thanksgiving Day on November 26 at the national level, calling on all Americans on this day to express their gratitude for the successful end of the Revolutionary War. Then the holiday was celebrated irregularly and on different days.
- In 1863, by decree of President Abraham Lincoln, its annual celebration was established on the last Thursday of November, and in 1941, by decision of Congress, on the fourth Thursday of November.

How is Thanksgiving celebrated?

Thanksgiving Day is a family holiday, so traditionally, several generations of Americans gather for a gala family dinner. The main dish of the day and the main symbol of the holiday is stuffed turkey with cranberry syrup. It is usually served with a large sweet pumpkin pie, corn, oranges, chestnuts, nuts and grapes.
- Most US government agencies are closed on Thanksgiving Day, and private organizations can declare a holiday at their discretion. Most Americans don't work the Friday after Thanksgiving. Thus, the holiday stretches over four days at once, and therefore up to 50 million US residents hit the road every year on the eve of the celebration to visit their family and friends.

What kind of bird decorates the holiday table?

The turkey, which traditionally decorates the Thanksgiving table of US residents, is a native American bird. However, in English it was first called “Turkish chicken”, and then simply “Turkey”. Wild turkeys are found throughout much of North America, from Mexico to Canada. But they were first tamed, according to academic research in the USA, by the civilizations of ancient Mesoamerica. Several centuries before our era, the Aztecs and Mayans raised these birds, used them in religious ceremonies, and perhaps even deified them.
- The first turkeys were brought to Europe at the beginning of the 16th century by the Spanish conquistadors. Unseen birds in the Old World have long been confused with African guinea fowl, which were called in different languages either “Indian”, “Calcutta”, or “Turkish” chickens. They were imported mainly by the Portuguese, who at that time largely monopolized trade with Africa and South Asia. But they also actively traded with the Spaniards, and they themselves mastered American routes.
- As a result, different species of birds were assigned the same and mostly erroneous names. And not only in Europe. National Geographic claims that in the Arab Levant, turkeys are called “Ethiopian” birds, in Malaya - “Dutch”, in Kampuchea - “French”, and in Albania even “sea”.
- The famous naturalist Carl Linnaeus, the creator of a unified system of classification of flora and fauna, christened these birds Meleagris gallopavo. This is a Greco-Roman name, which, according to experts, means both “guinea fowl,” “chicken,” and “pheasant.”
- The modern everyday name for “Turkish” turkeys arrived in America from the Old World in the 17th century along with the first colonists. They quickly became convinced of the superiority of local wild birds over domesticated ones, but continued to name them as before.
- By the way, according to the Boston Globe newspaper, the popular belief that it was in the first colonies that the tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving Day as an autumn harvest festival and eating turkey meat along with other gifts of nature was born is in fact incorrect. According to her, venison was the meat of choice in the Plymouth Colony. Turkey was “promoted” as the main holiday dish - tasty, familiar and relatively inexpensive - by the influential publisher of Ladies Journal Sarah Hale. It was she who convinced Abraham Lincoln in 1863 to establish a national holiday in honor of peace, tranquility and harmony in a country tormented by the Civil War.

How did the tradition of "pardoning" the turkey begin?

It is believed that the tradition of “pardoning” turkeys was born in 1947 under Harry Truman. But in 2003, the Truman Presidential Library announced that there was no documentary evidence of this.
- According to US Public Radio (NPR), the tradition dates back to Lincoln. Yielding to the persuasion of his son, who really loved the turkey given to him, the 16th President of the United States decided not to put the bird under the knife.
- The name “pardon” was first used by Ronald Reagan and George Bush Sr. The first joked about this topic in 1987, since the issue of a presidential pardon for the perpetrators of the Iran-Contra scandal was then relevant, and the second two years later used the term “pardon” (pardon) quite officially.

What interesting facts are associated with turkeys and the pardon ceremony?

The turkey could become a national symbol of the United States. This proposal was made by Benjamin Franklin, one of the authors of the US Declaration of Independence and the country's constitution. Moreover, he was quite upset when the choice fell on the eagle.
- The National Turkey Federation notes that the first breakfast on the moon for Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, who set foot on its surface, was turkey meat.
- In 2015, Obama and his daughters gave birth to turkeys Onest and Abe. One of them cackled, and the owner of the White House jokingly told him: “Don’t interrupt!”
- It is noteworthy that the nicknames chosen by schoolchildren for these birds add up to the nickname Honest Abe (“Honest Abe”), which was worn by Obama’s idol, President Lincoln, during his lifetime. However, due to translation in Chinese media, the turkey became the namesake of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.
- Both birds, while awaiting a reception from the president, “settled” in a fashionable hotel under the supervision of the head of the National Federation of Turkey Producers, Jihad Douglas. During the ceremony, Obama called him "Dr. Douglas." Experts believe that the head of the White House did not want to say his name out loud.
- We can talk about preserving the lives of turkeys only very conditionally. They are specially fattened for slaughter, and they do not live long. According to NPR, of all the previously pardoned turkeys, only two were still alive in 2015 - Courage, who was awarded the presidential favor in 2009, and Cheese, who was pardoned in 2014.
- Vox.com states that in 1929, the average weight of a turkey in the United States before slaughter was 13.2 pounds (about 6 kg). By 2013, this figure had reached 30.3 pounds (almost 14 kg). Turkeys have more than doubled in weight not because of a good life: since the 1940s, active breeding work has begun in the United States to breed birds with the largest breast volume. As a result, while wild turkeys were able to fly, today's ones "have a hard time even standing on their feet." "It's hard to believe that this is the seventh time I've 'cute' a turkey. Time flies even if there's no turkey," Obama joked last year.

What do we know about President Obama's latest turkeys?

This year, Obama will "pardon" two turkeys - Potato (Tater) and Karapuz (Tot).
- The birds were raised in Iowa. This will be the sixth time the state will supply turkeys for the pardon ceremony.
- Potato and Karapuz were born on the farm of Chris and Nicole Domino on July 18th and will be approximately 18 weeks old by the time of the “pardon” ceremony.
- They were chosen from 20 others for their calm nature and underwent special “preparation” for the upcoming ceremony - they learned to stand on the podium and listened to music and “city noises.”
- Potato’s favorite song is “Me too” by Meghan Trainor, Karapuza’s is “Can’t Stop This Feeling” by Justin Timberlake.
- After the “pardon” ceremony, the turkeys will go to Virginia, where they will live out their lives at the Polytechnic University.

What comes after Thanksgiving?

The day after the holiday, hundreds of stores of the largest US retail chains open their doors. The season of pre-Christmas sales and huge discounts is starting in the country.
- Since 1924, every year in honor of Thanksgiving, or rather in honor of the opening of the sales season, the world's largest supermarket, Macy's, organizes a grand parade in New York. This procession, as well as fireworks displays over the East River, are broadcast on television. But it’s not just New York that hosts lavish celebrations—fireworks, parades, and friendly American football matches take place all over the country.
- The vast majority of retailers, such as Macy's, Target, Kohl's, J.C. Penney and Sears traditionally don't wait until Friday, allowing millions of Americans to get the items they need at extremely low prices on Thursday. On Black Friday itself, discounts usually reach 90%. In order to be the first to buy goods at the lowest prices, many Americans line up several hours before stores open.
- A real boom in online shopping in the United States takes place on Cyber Monday, which follows Black Friday. On this day, almost all major online stores in the country sell their goods at bargain prices.
- The custom of holding sales on the Friday after Thanksgiving appeared in the USA back in the 19th century. The term “Black Friday” was first coined by residents of American Philadelphia (Pennsylvania), who were extremely unhappy with the huge traffic jams observed in the city that day. Later, this name began to be applied to the largest sales of the year and already in this meaning spread both in the United States and around the world.

One of the most famous national holidays in the United States gathers millions of Americans around a large family table with a steaming turkey.

Thanksgiving Day is considered an exemplary holiday that reveals the best aspects of the American national character. The main tradition of the holiday is a joint dinner of several generations of a family in the house of its oldest representative. The Thanksgiving meal is more than just a family meal. It gives Americans of different ages a sense of unity and continuity of family traditions. Many of them travel across the country to find themselves at the holiday table with stuffed turkey, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

Another vibrant, albeit relatively new, official Thanksgiving tradition is the Turkey Pardoning ceremony. Every year, the head of the White House, by special “decree,” allows the life of a turkey sent as a gift to his table from the National Turkey Association of the United States. President Harry Truman performed such an act for the first time in 1947, and the ceremony has been held regularly since 1989, during the presidency of Bush Sr.

The most spectacular part of Thanksgiving Day is traditionally in New York. A procession of mummers, clowns, dancers and brass bands carries huge balloons depicting cartoon and comic book characters through the central streets of the Big Apple.

The history of Thanksgiving Day dates back to the emergence of the first North American colony, Plymouth, which was founded by a group of religious sectarians who sailed from England in 1620 on the legendary Mayflower ship. Unfamiliar with the economic conditions on the new land, the colonists failed in the agricultural field. As a result, out of 102 people, only 56 survived the first winter. The “founding fathers” were saved by an Indian named Tisquantum (Squanto) from the local Patsuiket tribe. He showed Europeans how to grow corn, tobacco, pumpkins and beans, and hunt wild turkeys.

Having received a rich harvest in the fall, the first governor of the colony, William Bradford, declared November 26 a day of gratitude to God. In 1939, President Roosevelt established the modern date for Thanksgiving as the fourth Thursday in November. The weekend of this US public holiday also includes the next day - “Black Friday” - on which American stores organize massive sales of goods with maximum discounts.