The History of Thanksgiving Day
Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. The day is traditionally set aside to give thanks for the blessings of the past year and to express gratitude to God.
The first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims who had arrived in America from England on September 16, 1620. They had landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts and they celebrated their first harvest with a three-day feast with Native Americans.
The first Thanksgiving Day was celebrated by the Pilgrims on September 21, 1621, after they had survived their first year in America. The colonists were celebrating a successful harvest of Indian corn and squash with members of their Wampanoag tribe neighbors.
A couple of years after Lincoln’s proclamation, in 1865 President Andrew announced the first Thursday of the month as the official Thanksgiving Day. Then in 1869, President Ulysses S. Grant declared the third Thursday in November as an official national holiday to be observed on November 26th each year.
What is the Meaning Behind Thanksgiving Celebrations?
Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful for what we have and to give thanks for our blessings. It is a time to reflect on the past year and all the things that we are grateful for. It also provides an opportunity to spend quality time with family and friends.
The first Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621 when the Pilgrims arrived at Plymouth Rock in Massachusetts after their long journey across the Atlantic Ocean. The celebration was held in honor of their survival and it lasted three days.
The tradition of giving thanks on this day continued with future generations, but it wasn’t until 1863 when President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed Thanksgiving as an annual national holiday that people began celebrating it as a tradition throughout America.
Why Should We Give Thanks to the Lord?
We should give thanks to the Lord because he has blessed us with so many things. He has given us a chance to live and he has also allowed us to be thankful for all that we have. We should not forget about him and instead, we should be grateful for the blessings he has given us.
Giving thanks is a way of showing our appreciation for all that God has done and continues to do in our lives. Thanksgiving is a time when we stop and reflect on what we are thankful for in our lives and how God’s love sustains us through difficult times.
Thanksgiving Day is a day that should be celebrated with gratitude. It is a day when we give thanks for the blessings of life and for the many things that we have that others don’t. But what about thanking God? We owe our thanks to God as well, because, without Him, there would be no Thanksgiving Day at all.