Thanksgiving is a day celebrated in the United States every year. The tradition of Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States can be traced back to the year 1863. Important to note is that Thanksgiving Day is a public holiday in the United States which is celebrated every year in November, (usually the fourth week of that month) and ” it is a big deal in America because Americans believe it to be the unique holiday, hardly found in this form anywhere else on earth” (Baker 1). This holiday is celebrated with a lot of merrymaking and communal
Thanksgiving as it is the day celebrated with an aim of showing gratitude for all the great things that life has given to a person, for example, family, friends, positive feelings and emotions. In an argument advanced by Bradford, “children should be enlightened on the importance of Thanksgiving so that it can be easy to preserve and pass the tradition to the present and future generation” (144). Even though Thanksgiving is often referred to as the harvest festival, it is something more than what it seems to suggest at first sight.
History
Thanksgiving Day was created by people, who were religious people that were running away from persecution in England; they were referred to as pilgrims. Initially, the pilgrims went to settle in the Netherlands, but later, they went to the North America for the purposes of setting up a colony.
Most of the pilgrims arrived in North America in the year 1620 at a time when the autumn season was welcoming the winter season. As Snow says, for them it was “a day of prayer and meditation, not necessry connected with a harvest or a feast. It was a special day of religious observance to acknowledge an act of God’s benevolence” (108). Unfortunately, a big number of the pilgrims died in the North America due to the cold weather they encountered.
The pilgrims began to engage in farming activities during the spring season. During their short stay in the North America, the native Indians assisted the pilgrims by means of guiding them on how to do farming, and also how to cook.
By the end of the summer season, the pilgrims had managed to get a bumper harvest and as such, they were able to store enough food to last out to the winter season . Following the good harvest, the pilgrims decided to organize a festival for the purposes of showing their gratitude to God for the good harvest they got.
Discussion
Throughout the existence of mankind, the greatest happiness emanates from contentment of the individual. As such, it is always prudent for an individual to show his or her gratitude especially to those who in one way or another enabled this or that person to achieve what they were eager to achieve.
Needless to say, the foregoing principle forms the basis of Thanksgiving celebrations in the United States. During Thanksgiving, people celebrate and honor those who forfeited their own interests for the sake of others. The sacrifice made by the native Indian Americans is, therefore, celebrated and honored during the celebration of Thanksgiving. The United States sacrificed their land and gave up their culture for the greater interest of the nation.
Appreciating people is a simple and yet very powerful way of encouraging people for them to continue making more sacrifices and doing what is best for the sake of others. What is more, appreciating others through Thanksgiving presupposes a clear and loud message that the sacrifice made is recognized by the person it was meant for, and that it was satisfactory. “After all, the phrase thank you is cited as a virtual that is above all other virtues in the universe” (Weaver & Gollust 37).
Unlike in the traditional connotation of Thanksgiving, when people were grateful to God for a good harvest, the festival today, which is now celebrated across different countries all over the world, has a bit different meaning; on this day some families, priests, etc. visit the less fortunate and share with them what they have in plenty.
This gesture assures the less fortunate that there are people of good will who do care about them. Some of the significant features of Thanksgiving include family bonding, sharing and cooking meals, festive traditions as well as family values; it is also the dat symbolyzing the meaning of life, and above all a thanksgiving day.
Significance of Thanksgiving
As has been mentioned above, one of the most important aims of Thanksgiving festival is to create bonding between the members of one family. During the celebrations family members come together and strengthen their relationship as a family. Children are taught the values and traditions of the family as well as they are taught to respect the elders in the family and in the society, in general.
