Many people wonder how Thanksgiving came about.
Some believe Thanksgiving is a religious holiday. Others think it is just another way for Hallmark to make money.
According to www.christiananswers.net, the Pilgrims started it all. They held a great feast in Massachusetts, December 1621, to thank God for the harvest he sent them.
President George Washington issued a proclamation in 1789, to celebrate the United States’ first day of Thanksgiving. Also, in that year, the Protestant Episcopal Church proclaimed the first Thursday in November as their day of Thanksgiving.
The Christian Answer website, attributes Sarah Joseph Hale, the editor of Godey’s Lady’s Book, with promoting the idea of an annual national Thanksgiving Day.
She contacted President Lincoln and asked that he issue the last Thursday of November as the official Thanksgiving Day.
Then, in 1863, Lincoln passed the Thanksgiving Proclamation.
Since then, The United States has celebrated Thanksgiving every year on the last Thursday in the month of November.
“Thanksgiving to me is a time for bonding,” said Henrietta Brown, 19, criminal justice student from South Carolina.
“I get closer and closer to family more and more every year.”
“This is also the day when most freshmen finally get to go home to see their families again,” she said.
Even though the history of Thanksgiving is recorded as a religious holiday, many people treat it as a normal day.
“This holiday is not a normal day, it’s a day to spend with your loved ones,” said Roy Lacey, 20, a political science student from Chicago.
Thanksgiving is a holiday that is not only appreciated because of the bonding, but because of the large meals that families come together to share.
“I love going home just to eat the food,” said Seyon Dunbar, 21, a business administration student from Miami.
“Everyone in the family has to make their own special dish for us to eat at dinner time.”