How Thanksgiving Day is Celebrated in the USA: History and Traditions. What is Thanksgiving? What date is Thanksgiving in America?

Thanksgiving Day is a national, family holiday for Americans, celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. Relatives and friends gather at a large common table to thank the Almighty for all the good moments that they had in the past year.

Where did this holiday come from?

In 1620, in November, the British migrated to North America for the first time. The settlers traveled to the continent on the Mayflower ship for several months in the terrible cold. Most of them died due to severe frosts and hunger. The survivors under the leadership of William Bradford, with the help of local Indians, were able to establish a colony and began to cultivate the land, build houses and grow crops.

In the fall of 1621, the colonists unexpectedly received a very large harvest, and then Bradford invited everyone to gather at a single table and, thanks to God, celebrate this day. The Indian tribe brought with them four birds, later called the turkey.

Today it is one of the important attributes of this celebration. In the future, the settlers celebrated the holiday only when a good harvest was collected.

Thanksgiving Day Traditions

What is this celebration?

Going to church

All loved ones get together, and before the meal go to the service in order to say words of gratitude to the Almighty in the temple of the Lord.

Dinner table

Traditionally, on this day, several generations of families stay in their parents' house, even if they live in different cities. Sitting at a common table, they take turns turning to the Lord and to each other, thanking them for peace and harmony. With a great sense of patriotism, everyone together will surely say the following phrase: "God save America."

No lunch is complete without stuffed turkey and pumpkin pie. At least one of the birds should be pardoned and not end up on the table as a roast. The President every year on this holiday has mercy on a turkey by sending it to the zoo.

Writing songs, poetry

Residents of the United States compose songs, poems, poems in honor of this day.

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Watching a match of the national football team

This has become a very recent Thanksgiving tradition. The whole family gathers in front of the TV screens after dinner to cheer for their favorite team.

Parades

On Thanksgiving Day, Americans in the costumes of Indians and settlers organize holiday parades, in which world stars often take part.

Crowds of dressed up people with music and huge inflatable toys in the form of cartoon characters or popular programs, go out into the street to greet each other.

The evening will end with a solemn fireworks display. The most famous parade is held every year in New York.

Charity events

On the eve of the holiday, Americans organize charity events... They try to help those in need. Tables with food are set up on the streets to feed the homeless, funds for donations are organized at metro stations, where they collect money, toys, clothes, so that they can then be distributed to the poor and the sick.

Benevolence Day is a traditional holiday in the United States. All Americans are very much looking forward to his offensive, preparing in advance, they stock up on turkey and come up with a costume for the parade. On this day, united by the spirit of patriotism, they become one. Families, gathering in full force, forget quarrels and misunderstandings, forgive each other for all insults.

This event teaches people to be compassionate, friendly, understanding and sympathetic. No one will remain indifferent to such a religious celebration.

We would like to more often acquaint you with the traditions of those countries in which English is a native language. And we'll start with Thanksgiving Day. Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States on November 22 this year - let's get ready for it! Find out what's true and what's not: Canada celebrates its Thanksgiving Day, the turkey was not always on the tables of Americans, and the Macy's parade appeared several years ago.

At the mention of Thanksgiving Day, many associate with the Mayflower and the pilgrims in ridiculous hats. Today we will learn more about this holiday and its traditions.

Thanksgiving story in English

Let's watch a lesson from CrashCourse and find out why our school ideas about Thanksgiving in the United States are not entirely true - the early colonists did not advocate for freedom of religion, but for stuffing their pockets with money.

The little green area mentioned in the video is Canada. This country celebrates its Thanksgiving Day. Let's find out why this is so:

Want to know more about American and British traditions? Sign up for a free introductory lesson to.

Thanksgiving traditions in the USA

Americans love this holiday and follow many Thanksgiving traditions. Let's learn about the basics from the following video:

The first parade from Macy’s department store chain mentioned in the video took place in 1924. NBC has broadcast the three-hour show in New York City since 1952, but many families with children come to Manhattan to watch the spectacle live. To the music of the orchestras, giant balloons in the form of cartoon characters fly between the skyscrapers - they reach the height of six-story buildings.

Want to take a virtual tour of the Macy’s parade from the 1920s to the 2000s? At the bottom of macys.com is its interactive history.

Let's take a look at the studio where they design balls for the parade:

How long the first Macy’s parade was and how many people attended it, we learn from the following video:

If you want a holiday turkey or other traditional dish for Thanksgiving, use the recipes in the following video:

If you miss the holidays in the fall and decide to celebrate Thanksgiving, don't forget to decorate your home:

And the final Thanksgiving tradition is the big sale known as Black Friday.

Thanksgiving in American advertisements

Thanksgiving is celebrated on a grand scale in Canada and the United States. It's a big family celebration where families get together, eat turkey, watch soccer games and Macy’s parade. If we forgot to tell you something about the celebration of Thanksgiving Day in the USA, write in the comments - we will be glad to receive additions!

Holidays in Great Britain and the USA are a part of English-speaking culture and civilization. As we study these festivities, we come into contact with the customs and traditions of the English-speaking people. The history of the emergence and development of the United States of America is interesting and full of extreme events. Thanksgiving - holiday history, movies

Thanksgiving Day in America is not just a tradition, but also the history of the beginning of an entire state. As you already understood, today we are discussing Thanksgiving Day in the United States, the origin of this holiday, the customs of celebrating this day and everything related to it.

How did Thanksgiving come about?

Thanksgiving in America is celebrated not only in the United States, but also in Canada. Thanksgiving Day, or Thanksgiving Day, is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States and on the second Monday in October in Canada.

The history of the appearance of this holiday goes back centuries, when the first settlers from England arrived to the shores of America in 1620 on the now famous ship "Mayflower". The voyage was heavy, stormy; settlers landed on a cold November day in Massachusetts.

Not everyone managed to survive the first cold winter. More than half of about a hundred people died from hunger, cold and disease. Those who survived founded the Plymouth Colony. They were helped to survive by the local Indians, who taught them how to cultivate the land and grow those crops that were suitable for stony soil.

The following year, 1621, was surprisingly fruitful. The pilgrims, that is, the immigrants who arrived, decided to thank God for the bountiful harvest and had a meal. They invited the chief and 90 Indians to this meal because they helped them in their time. So, the autumn harvest day became Thanksgiving. Subsequently, a good harvest and Thanksgiving was celebrated from time to time, it was not a permanent holiday.

After America won independence and a single US state emerged, the first President J. Washington proposed celebrating Thanksgiving as a national annual holiday on November 26.

In 1941, the United States Congress passed legislation stating that Thanksgiving would be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November.

Welcome to the Thanksgiving Day!

The customs and traditions of this holiday are very interesting. And they have not been violated to this day.
According to an ancient tradition, several generations of the same family gather in the elders' house for a festive dinner. Each family member expresses gratitude for all the good things that happened in his life. People ask God to protect their country and send down prosperity to it. Today's Americans eat on this holiday what their ancestors ate in the legendary harvest year of 1621.

Dishes traditional for this holiday have long become symbolic. Stuffed turkey with cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie, corn cobs, chestnuts, oranges, apples, nuts ( nuts), grapes. All this personifies the abundance of nature's gifts of autumn.
Thanksgiving customs and traditions

Many cities host holiday parades in honor of Thanksgiving Day, the most famous is the parade in New York. It involves large inflatable toys. In Canada, Thanksgiving is celebrated in almost the same way, only dumplings with turkey filling are also served on the table.

The day after this holiday is called Black Friday. On this day, pre-Christmas sales in stores begin.

If you want to know about this holiday ...

If you want to know more about Thanksgiving in the United States, then movies can help you. The film is always fun to watch, especially with friends or the whole family. We bring to your attention a movie that acquaints the viewer with the traditions and customs of this holiday.

Film " Hannah and Her Sisters"Is a tense love story experienced by several main characters. The atmosphere heats up to the brim with Thanksgiving when everyone gets together.

Romantic Comedy " Thanksgiving Day". This film tells the story of a family's adventures on this holiday. This movie can be watched by the whole family.

The famous film " Scent of a Woman»Also covers this topic. The fate of a blind man will not leave anyone indifferent. A film about how people's lives can change forever.

Intense drama " The Ice Storm»Reveals difficult human relationships. A film about a family drama in which everyone cannot find themselves. On the eve of Thanksgiving, the weather changes abruptly, as will the fate of the heroes.

All these films can be found on the Internet. Until next time!

Thanksgiving is celebrated in America since 1863.

Thanksgiving Day: The history of the holiday among Americans is rooted in the distant past. The holiday of gratitude was first celebrated 400 years ago and is associated with the development of new lands. The idea of ​​celebrating the end of the harvest arose on 26.12.1620, when, after a difficult two-month voyage, a ship finally arrived at the American coast Mayflower(May flower).

On this ship were British pilgrims fleeing religious persecution. They set off on such a dangerous journey to settle in the New World and find the long-awaited freedom there. The unfamiliar shore they landed on was named New England, in honor of their abandoned homeland.

Before landing on unknown land, the Mayflower Agreement was signed. American historians attach great historical significance to it - as the beginning of free self-government, a manifestation of inner freedom. The first year in a foreign land turned out to be very difficult for the settlers - after all, they arrived late and could not gather a rich harvest. Winter came, frosts hit, and the pilgrims suffered from hunger and calamity. About half of them died that winter.

And those who survived until spring made friends with the Iroquois Indians, who taught them to grow pumpkins, corn, catch wild turkeys, find edible plants, fish places and springs with drinking water.

When autumn came, the colonists gathered their first rich harvest of pumpkins, corn, beans. In honor of this, they organized a big celebration and invited the local leader and their new Indian friends there. The feast dragged on for several days. Everyone enjoyed the roast turkey, as well as the pumpkin, corn, and sweet potato dishes.

The second year turned out to be less generous in the harvest, and the third was completely dry, so the governor of the pilgrims William Bradford urged the settlers to pray and observe the fast on the day appointed by him. It started raining soon after. The pilgrims decided to celebrate such a wonderful event, and Thanksgiving was instituted.

How the holiday became official

For a long time, the holiday was not official. It was not until 1777 that the National Thanksgiving Day was officially celebrated by the Continental Congress. US President George Washington in 1789 declared this holiday national and set the date - Thursday, November 26.

But the holiday was finally established in 1863, during the Civil War. President Abraham Lincoln then announced that Thanksgiving would be celebrated every fourth Thursday in November.

Pardon turkey

Another tradition that is sacredly revered on this day is the solemn ceremony of pardoning a turkey. It has been taking place at the White House since 1947. Following this tradition, the turkey must avoid the sad fate of being slaughtered and prepared for the festive table.

This tradition became an obligatory annual ceremony in 1989, under George W. Bush, but the National Pardon of the Turkey acquired a special scope under Bush, when the turkeys even began to be transported by first-class airplane and settled in luxury hotels. Shortly before the pardon ceremony, thirty candidates are selected, for whom there is a general vote on the White House website. The birds are specially prepared for the honorable mission - they are well fed, they are taught not to be afraid of strangers.

On the eve of Thanksgiving, the American president is presented with two selected turkeys at a ceremony, the first of which will be solemnly pardoned, and the second will decorate a pompous dinner at the White House.

The role of the "pardoned" turkey is also to replace bird # 1 in case of illness or sudden death. During the ceremony, the president reads out the order and gently strokes the chosen bird. She is sent to the zoo and there she calmly lives to old age.

President of the United States Barack Obama, accompanied by his daughters Malia and Sasha, took part in the pardoning of a turkey for the first time in 2009. A turkey named Courage escaped the fate of being eaten.

After the ceremony, the pardoned bird was sent to Disneyland, California. On Thanksgiving, the chosen turkey became the "grand marshal" of the festive parade there, and after the end of the holiday she was left at Disneyland for life.

Modern traditions of celebration

Songs have been written on Thanksgiving in America for centuries. During the holiday, numerous costumed parades are held, in which people participate in 17th century costumes and the national dress of the Indians.

Currently, Thanksgiving is celebrated in the USA on the fourth Thursday in November. By tradition, family members and friends gather for a festive dinner - several generations in the house of an older relative. This is a family holiday, when relatives and friends come to sit at the table and treat themselves to traditional treats for the holiday - the invariable turkey, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, pumpkin pie. Numerous charitable organizations invite the disadvantaged who are left without a festive dinner on this day.

The President of the United States also helps to feed the elderly and the poor by serving them generous portions of food on their plates. After all, the head of state must show his citizens an example of charity.

On this solemn day, they gather to thank fate for all the good things in life. Traditionally, children delight older family members with their prepared performances. The main dish of the holiday is turkey, which on this day always takes center stage on the festive table.

Thanksgiving Day is a public holiday in the United States and is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November. In 2018, it falls on November 22. This is one of the most popular holidays in the country.

Traditionally, on this day, Americans praised God for a rich harvest, now the holiday has lost its religious roots and turned into a family celebration.

The idea of ​​celebrating the end of the harvest dates back to ancient times. In North America, this holiday was transformed into a thanksgiving prayer service for a rich harvest, accompanied by a generous meal. According to some reports, the first thanksgiving services for European settlers took place in 1607 in Jamestown, as well as in the Maine colony. However, in most cases, the history of the holiday is associated with settlers who arrived in America from England at the end of 1620. In the fall of 1621, the governor of the Plymouth colony they formed, William Bradford, invited the Indians living in the neighborhood to celebrate with the settlers a three-day festival in honor of the first harvest after a hungry winter in the New World, which the colonists survived largely thanks to the help of the natives.

It was the first Thanksgiving Day, but the colonists not only did not call it that, but did not plan to make it a tradition - the next year there was no holiday, it was held again only in 1623, after the settlers worried about the drought prayed for rain for a long time - and got it.

For a long time, the holiday was unofficial. European settlers organized local autumn harvest celebrations. Each state determined the date of the celebration itself.

The first official Thanksgiving Day was declared in 1777 by the Continental Congress on December 18, 1777.

In 1789, the first President of the United States, George Washington, declared the holiday a national event. The date of the "Day of Thanksgiving and Public Prayer" ( A day of public thanksgiving and prayer) became November 26, Thursday. However, in subsequent years, Thanksgiving continued to be held irregularly. It became a national holiday only in 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln announced that from now on the last Thursday in November would be celebrated as Thanksgiving Day. True, already in 1865 the holiday was celebrated on the first Thursday of November - this is how US President Andrew Johnson proclaimed. In 1869, President Ulysses Grant chose the third Thursday for Thanksgiving. In other years, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November.

In 1939-1941, to expand the Christmas shopping season, US President Franklin Roosevelt moved the holiday to the penultimate Thursday in November. The postponement caused a split among the states - 16 states refused to change the tradition and continued to celebrate the holiday in the old way. After two years of confusion and complaints, on December 26, 1941, Roosevelt signed into law a law making Thanksgiving the fourth Thursday in November.

Over the years, the holiday has developed a number of traditions that Americans carefully observe. It is customary to celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the house of a family elder with relatives. Relatives and friends come from all over the country to sit at a common table filled with traditional food.

An obligatory attribute of a feast is turkey (in various versions of its preparation), sweet potatoes, yams, cranberry sauce, filling of rusks with spices, sweet potatoes, pumpkin pie - what, according to historians, was on the tables of colonists in the distant 17th century.

The traditional festive drink is apple cider. It is served hot and seasoned.

Another tradition of the holiday is the solemn ceremony of pardoning a turkey, which is held at the White House on the eve of the holiday. In accordance with this tradition, at least one turkey should avoid the fate of being on the festive table.

President Donald Trump pardoned the turkey in 2018. Screen shot video

The tradition of honoring the turkey on Thanksgiving Day, according to the most common version, began in 1947, when the National Federation of Turkey Meat Producers ( National Turkey Federation) first presented the bird to US President Harry Truman. However, it was not until 1963 that President John F. Kennedy left the bird he received as a gift alive.

The first official ceremony of pardoning a turkey was conducted by US President George W. Bush in 1989. Since then, every year the turkey and its "understudy" (the understudy is chosen in case something suddenly happens to the first bird before the ceremony) get rid of the prospect of being fried.

Another attribute of the holiday is traditional costume parades. The first such parade took place in 1924 in Detroit. The most famous parade is held annually in New York. It is organized by the largest department store chain Macy ( Macy's). The main attraction of the parade is the huge inflatable toys (cartoon characters, fairy tales and TV shows), which are carried from Central Park to the entrance to the department store (between Seventh Avenue and Broadway). Since 1952, the parade has been broadcast on television.

After Thanksgiving, traditional pre-Christmas sales open in all stores across the country, also known as Black Friday since the 1960s.