What is Turkey Day?
November 16, 2018
Warm nights with family, delicious ham and turkey to eat, a time of thanking others for what they have done. That is Thanksgiving. But why do we do all that? What is the history of Thanksgiving?
What is it that the students know about the holiday–like what year was the first Thanksgiving?
“I don’t know,” said Ian Granzow ‘19.
“1492,” said Haden Vanpatten ‘19.
The first thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 with the pilgrims and the Wampanoag indians. That was 397 years ago. At that point is was not even a religious holiday yet. That was two years later in 1623.
Now why was it celebrated religiously? Here is Vanpatten’s guess.
“Because it is a time of showing thanks to friends and family,” Said Vanpatten.
Now that was a very close guess but the reason that it turned into a religious holiday was because of a two month drought. After it had rained they were thankful to god and had a feast to thank him turning it into a holiday.
Even though it’s nicknamed “Turkey Day,” the reality is we eat a wide range of food. That can be turkey, ham, potatoes, and corn. But what were the foods that they ate back then?
“Corn and beans,” said Granzow.
“Turkey, corn, and other plants,” said Vanpatten.
The foods that they did eat back then for thanksgiving is waterfowl, venison, ham, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash.
The United States is not the only country to celebrate Thanksgiving. There are a total of nine different countries that celebrate one, according to one Wall Street article. But they all have different ways of celebrating the holidays.
Some of the other countries that celebrate are Canada, Germany, and Japan. So it is celebrated all over the world.