Thanksgiving is just around the corner. Some
have a family get-together, while some others enjoy their lone time by indulging
in their own hearty meals and binge-watching their favorite shows.
Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving Day in the
United States? Let us go over a brief history of this all-important American
holiday.
In a 1789 proclamation, President George Washington
called on the people of the United States to acknowledge God for affording them
“an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their
_______________ and happiness” by observing a day of thanksgiving. Devoting a
day to “public thanksgiving and prayer,” as Washington called it, became a
yearly tradition in many communities.
Thanksgiving became a national holiday in 1863. In that
year, during the __________ War, Abraham Lincoln made his Thanksgiving Day
Proclamation. He asked his fellow citizens “to set apart and observe the last ____________
(which day of the week?) of November
next as a day of thanksgiving and praise……”
It was not until 1941 that Congress finally designated
the fourth ________________ (which day of the week?) in November as
Thanksgiving Day, thus creating a federal holiday.
Of course, Thanksgiving is not born of presidential
proclamations. ____________ _____________
(who was the original tribes living/owning the American land?) harvest
festivals had been celebrated for centuries, and colonial services date to the
late ______th century. Thanksgiving Day, as we know, began in the early 1600s
when settlers in both __________________ and Virginia came together to give
thanks for their faith. The most widely known early Thanksgiving is that of the
Pilgrims in Plymouth, ________________ (which State?), who feasted for 3 days
with the __________________ (Which native American tribe?) people in 1621.
Turkey has become the Thanksgiving fare because at one
time it was a rare treat. During the 1830s, an 8- to 10-pound bird cost a day’s
wages. Even though turkeys are affordable today, they still remain a
celebratory symbol of bounty. In fact, astronauts named _______________________
and Edwin Aldrin (who first landed on the Moon) ate roast turkey in foil
packets for their first meal on the Moon.
When did the presidential turkey pardon start? The Turkey
pardon ceremony officially began with President ________________ in 1989, but
the practice of pardoning a turkey may date back as far as the ________________
administration.
*One quick fun idiom! Know the meaning of “talk turkey”?
It means….._______________________
(*Source
from the Old Farmers’ Almanac)
Answer Keys
1. safety
2. Civil
War
3. Thursday
4. Thursday
5. Native
American
6. 16th
7. Massachusetts
8. Wampanoag
9. Neil
Armstrong
10. George H.W. Bush, Abraham Lincoln
*to talk turkey means “to
have a frank and honest talk”
image source: https://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/first-thanksgiving-meal
