Engineer wrote:Can someone explain to what is this thanksgiving thing all about?
All I know it has something to do with indians, or had...
Probably "Thanks, we will now proclaim this area ours, now, let's celebrate."
Anyway, happy thanksgiving I guess.
The puritans AKA the pilgrims first landed on plimoth rock in the 1600's so that they could ferment sprites, (yeah they just wanted beer), but they decided to say in that region of new england, and what they got in return was harsh winters, and disease. over the course of a few years, there was a drought so bad that the whole area risked starvation by winter, so they prayed and prayed, the next day they don't rain and to celebrate the leaders called a thanksgiving, which was a day that they
fasted and thanked god for answering their prayers.
Well since the puritans had outlawed Christmas every fall they would have a great day of thanksgiving, just that this time they had given up fasting. while many of the leaders wanted the festivities in a church and wanted the day to be about prayer, most of the people just said "shut up and eat" so the tradition evolved from a day of fasting to a day of eating pie and reflecting of things that had happened all year.
Fast forward to the American Revolution, George Washington called for a day of thanks giving after the battle of Yorktown (?) because of the impressive victory. this is what has become the power of the leaders to call thanks, and in my community they still do every so often when important things happen.
Fast forward yet again, this time to the American civil war, Lincoln was worried about the tension of the nation and thought of thanksgiving as a way to bring the country together. Well it did at least in the North.
Nor fast forward to West Point Military Academy, where many of the cadets were southern and had never heard of let alone had a thanks giving. Many had never even eaten a turkey before. So, after graduation many Cadets took the tradition home with them and spread it out.
Fast Forward to President Roosevelt, who tried to change the day from the last Thursday in November to the 2 Thursday in November. What he got was outrage from the south, and they decided to all have thanksgiving on the last Thursday in November. Congress Sealed the Deal in Roosevelt's term , that November would be the Last Thursday in November.
If you feel i am wrong in any way please correct me !
Eddiereyes909
"You know we've had to imagine the war here, and we have imagined that it was being fought by aging men like ourselves. We had forgotten that wars were fought by babies. When I saw those freshly shaved faces, it was a shock "My God, my God?" I said to myself. "It's the Children's Crusade."- Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughter House Five
