Simone
The religious duty, and pleasure, of thanksgiving to God was well established in England before any English speakers came to America, but it was the American colonials who made a feast of it. After the successful harvest of 1621 in the first year of pious Plymouth colony, Governor William Bradford called for a celebration. But rather than spending the day in prayer, the colonists set the pattern for future American Thanksgivings by inviting the neighbors to a big family dinner, with roast fowl as the main dish. It is described in a book published the next year: Two years later, after another abundant harvest, Governor Bradford again "set apart a day of thanksgiving." It was quite some time, however, before we Americans got the idea of doing it every year. The early Thanksgivings were special events, commemorating triumph over adversity. George Washington called for the first national Thanksgiving Day on November 26, 1789, after the independence of the United States was assured. But it took the Civil War to put Thanksgiving on the calendar for good, beginning with President Lincoln's proclamation in 1863 of a Thanksgiving Day at the end of November.Of the customs established by the pious New England colonists, all that we still celebrate in modern America is Thanksgiving. Thankfully, the many cultures that make up the modern American crazy quilt still share a day to count their blessings and eat.
