Why Is Thanksgiving A Holiday?

Thanksgiving is an American holiday focused on feasting and fun with family, but why do we celebrate it? There are different reasons that Americans choose to celebrate or ignore Thanksgiving. Schoolchildren learn that Thanksgiving was a harmonious banquet between Native Americans and the Puritan pilgrims that traveled to America on the Mayflower, but many people choose to avoid Thanksgiving due to a different historical rendition of the holiday. 

The true historical context of Thanksgiving remains a little fuzzy. Some choose to observe this holiday as a “Day of Mourning”, and since 1970, the fourth Thursday of November is a day of protest for American Indians in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Pilgrims settled on land that was originally a Pawtuxet village that was destroyed because of disease, and they robbed graves and stole corn in order to survive.

The first Thanksgiving between Pilgrims at Plymouth and the Native tribe of the Wampanoag was declared by Massachusetts Governor John Winthrop, who wanted to give thanks for the safe return of the pilgrims who traveled to Mystic, Connecticut and massacred the Peqout tribe. However, there’s an entirely different reason why Thanksgiving became a national holiday for modern Americans.

Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving a national holiday on Oct. 3, 1863. He did so to show appreciation for the Union Army’s victory at the battle of Gettysburg. The announcement shadowed the “day of public thanksgiving and prayer” that George Washington called for after the American Revolution. Thanksgiving became a day of thanks and reflection that marks the end of brutal war.

Though all of the different meanings to Thanksgiving are subjective, the American holiday of Black Friday has only one implication. It’s the time when people will line up outside retail stores at 5 a.m. or earlier and trample each other to save a few dollars. It’s difficult to not find irony in all the hostility surrounding what’s supposed to be a national day of thanks. 

The history of Thanksgiving may be convoluted, but should it stop the American public from stuffing themselves with food and reuniting with their families? Each American has the choice of how or if they celebrate this holiday, and the choice may depend on your ancestral culture or lack thereof. So, whether you’re an immigrant, a native, a vegetarian, or carnivore, you have the choice of what the third Thursday in November means for you. 

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