Why Do We Celebrate Thanksgiving?

This time of year, people everywhere are getting ready for a happy Thanksgiving, a time full of food, family, and friends. When we think of Thanksgiving, we think of turkey, shopping, football, and fun, but why do we celebrate Thanksgiving?

Here, you’ll learn a little about the history of this grateful day, as well as some tips on how to celebrate Thanksgiving the best way possible this year.

Celebration of Thanksgiving

The celebration of Thanksgiving has been happening for as long as civilizations have been on the earth. It is a beautiful way to end the year and celebrate the November holidays, by giving thanks for all the good we have in our lives.

In the early 1600s, the first Pilgrims who landed in the New World had a celebration to give thanks for their first successful corn harvest. After their next successful harvest season, they had yet another celebration feast to give thanks for their bounty, thus igniting an annual celebration.

For centuries, this celebration of Thanksgiving spread throughout the colonies and in all communities, and in the late 1800’s, Abraham Lincon proclaimed Thanksgiving Day as one of the official November holidays.

The date was changed to the middle of November over 100 years later by Franklin D. Roosevelt, who used it as a way to boost revenue during the Great Depression. This was met with much pushback, and was soon moved back to the fourth Thursday of November, which has been the official date of the celebration of Thanksgiving ever since.

How to Celebrate Thanksgiving

Even if all Americans don’t know the answer to ‘Why do we celebrate Thanksgiving’, most know how to celebrate Thanksgiving, and the answer is with food. 90% of Americans serve some sort of poultry, with Turkey being the most common bird on the table on Thanksgiving Day.

Some families serve duck, goose, and even chicken. Other Thanksgiving Day staples include mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Food isn’t the only important aspect of this annual celebration, fellowship is a very important highlight. Getting together with family and friends, neighbors and loved ones is reason enough to celebrate all you are thankful for during the November holidays.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Whether you keep it small and intimate, or large and chaotic, we hope your Thanksgiving event will be one filled with love and laughter. Remember why we gather on the fourth Thursday of each November, to give thanks for what we have and those around us.