Thanksgiving??

[highlans]

Being from the uk I do not understand your thanksgiving could some one please explain the history behind it thankyou.

[DianaB]

I'll try and give you a brief (?) history lesson. If I leave anything out maybe someone can help out.

The Pilgrims were the first to arrive in America, I can't remember the year. When they arrived it was a very hard time for them because they had to build housing and grow gardens with winter coming soon after they arrived here. They became sick and lost many people during the winter and provisions were extremely low. When spring arrived the people who were left began their gardens and plowed and planted their fields with help from the Indians. They were able to build better housing and became more prepared for the next winter. In the fall, after everything was harvested, the Indians and the Pilgrims got together and had a huge feast. It is called Thanksgiving because they were giving thanks to God.

[RLC12345678]

Here....read this. It tells the Thanksgiving Story in detail. It is basically the same thing Diana said, but gives more detail.

http://wilstar.com/holidays/thankstr.htm

[Janet]

WOW!!! You guys are good. I always knew of course why we celebrated, but it was nice for all the details to be refreshed. A really nice history lesson. If we had small children in the house, it would be a great article to read before the meal. huh, I just may do it anyway....

Thanks ladies,

[Lindsey]

Thanksgiving is also celebrated in Canada, but for different reasons. The first Canadian "Thanksgiving" was when an English explorer was trying to find a passage to the Orient but instead landed on what is now Newfoundland. He gave thanks for being safe after a long journey. After that, it was also a celebration for other explorers, settlers, etc. Finally it became that Thanksgiving was a day to give thanks for a bountiful harvest. Since we are further north, our harvest season is much earlier and Thanksgiving is celebrated on the second weekend of October every year.

[Lindsey]

I'm going to add something here, although I don't want to start anything up... The way I was taught about Canadian/American history in high school outlined the source of the American Thanksgiving history as quite different than is taught in American schools... This site shows the history from the Indian point of view, which is how much of our history courses were taught. I feel that it's a case of history being re-written which has been done thousands of times in history.