Happy Thanksgiving

Hi everyone,
today is thanksgiving day. Do you know what that is? One of my students (Nairajane Ellery) made a research and wrote this nice text explaining everything.
Before you start reading it, I'd just like to say that I'm thankful for many things in my life: my family, my website (www.skypeclassesluisa.com), my students, my friends, the food I eat every day, for being healthy...
And you, what are you thankful for?

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is the name for a traditional event widely celebrated in North America. It has begun with the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians. Some pilgrims left Plymouth in England in 1620s and 1630s emigrating to the US and arrived at the Massachusetts Bay. After a brutal winter coincident with their arrival, which killed some of their people they started their settlement with the aid of American Native Indians, who taught them how to cultivate the land, extract saps from trees, catch fish in the river, etc. So, in November 1621, after the Pilgrims’ first corn harvest proved successful, a celebratory feast was organized by the Governor William Bradford, which invited also the Indians tribes. This celebration although not called Thanksgiving is assumed by historians as being the First Thanksgiving event. Dishes prepared for the feast mainly consisted of traditional Native American spices and cooking methods and fowls. Further, for this fist celebration, a Native American guest brought five deer. Unlike the modern Thanksgiving celebrations, the meal did not include pies and cakes because they had a shortage of sugar. Anyone can learn more about this settlement visiting the museum Plymouth Plantation in Massachusetts.

In 1789, George Washington issued the first Thanksgiving proclamation by the US government and he called upon American to express their gratitude for the happy conclusion to the country’s war of independence and the successful ratification of the US constitution. Here, the focus on successful harvest is missing. This has also happened in Canada where Thanksgiving was firstly celebrated by the explorer Martin Frobisher who has tried to find a northern passage to the Pacific Ocean and then instituted a Thanksgiving celebration to thank for surviving the perils of his journey.

However, after French and American (from New England) settlers have arrived in Canada, Thanksgiving celebrations were directed to express their thanks for the good harvests.

 

 

Although Thanksgiving celebration has been subjected to the influence of governors during the revolutionary period, the President Roosevelt  (US) finally fixed the Thanksgiving holiday to the fourth Thursday of November. In Canada Thanksgiving was fixed to be a statutory holiday on the second Monday of October. Either in the United States or Canada, Thanksgiving celebrates harvests.

Thanksgiving are also for one reason or another celebrated in Germany, Grenada, Liberia, Japan, the Netherlands, Korea and Norfolk Island (pertains to Australia). South America does not celebrate Thanksgiving.

In US this celebration involves a family dinner and large meals centered around a big bread-based stuffed and toasted turkey (main dish), mashed potatos, gravy, pumpkin pie, drinks and happiness.

However, as a main feature of American people, consumerism cannot be forgotten during such celebration. Then, in this respect, retailers established the Black Friday shopping which used to start around 4:00 and 5:00 pm and was said to be the beginning of Christmas shopping season. Nevertheless, last year Black Friday started at Thursday midnight and this has raised some objections because families say it is happening too early and this frustrates Thanksgiving celebrations as shoppers are eager to leave the family dinner to line up in the shopping doors for getting the best offers.