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| 11-26-15 |
Have you given thanks to your Slavic bride already on the Thanksgiving Day? |
Thanksgiving is perhaps one of the most famous American holidays in Eastern Europe; even those who are not very interested in the subject probably heard mentions of this festival in Hollywood movies or television reports. Tell your Slavic girls about the holiday.
The historical celebration of Thanksgiving Day has its roots in the very beginning of American history - the time of planting of British colonists on the east coast of the country in the 17th century. Most of the settlers who arrived on the ship "Mayflower" at the end of the year 1620, did not survive the harsh winter. Several dozen survivors together with the local Indians spent a lot of time and effort to grow a good harvest on American land and their work was quickly rewarded. In honour of this event, the governor of the colony, William Bradford proposed to arrange a holiday, to which representatives of the friendly Indian tribe were also invited. The Festival lasted three days.
It was the first Thanksgiving, but the colonists didn't call it that way and they did not plan to make it a tradition as the next year there was not the holiday. They celebrated it a year after the colonists long prayed for rain due to drought season - and they got it.
It took a long time before the holiday was the same for the American nation; Only in 1777, it was first celebrated in all 13 colonies of the country. In 1789, George Washington officially proclaimed the National Day of Thanksgiving, but only in 1863, the President Abraham Lincoln identify it as the national holiday celebrated on the last Thursday of November.
Today, on the tables of Americans traditionally one can find the turkey (in different variants of its preparation), pumpkin pie, and a dish of corn - the dishes that were on the tables of the colonists in the distant 17th century.
The tradition of writing songs for Thanksgiving Day has been around for centuries, and for more than 80 years has another tradition - New York's annual parade in honour of Thanksgiving. |
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