Every year, American families get together and celebrate one of the most important holidays on our calendar, Thanksgiving Day. It is a time for family to be together and people make the effort to fly home for Thanksgiving. In fact, the only holiday more people fly for than Thanksgiving is Christmas. But what is the purpose of Thanksgiving? Why do we even have such a holiday?
Well, Thanksgiving began as a holiday for the Pilgrims. They'd come to America and found a virgin land where they could grow lots of different foods. They'd found the natives to be friendly people who happily shared the wealth (stealing the Indian's land came later). Not to mention that for the first time, the puritan religion of the Pilgrims could be practiced freely without persecution (it was common at the time for European countries to have a state religion and to persecute those who didn't follow it. And while the Jews were always the primary group that was pointed to, other religions suffered as well.).
The first feast was supposed to have lasted for a full three days and had biblical connotations of offering up the first harvest (see the story of Cain Abel where Abel offered the first harvest as a sacrifice to God). It consisted of four wild turkeys and included Indians (they were eating there, not being eaten – no, the Pilgrims were not cannibals).
Actually, it seems that Queen Elizabeth had an important role to play in the Thanksgiving story as well and gave us a real answer to the question, what is the purpose of Thanksgiving? According to the story, she was busy feasting on a goose when she heard that the Spanish armada, which had been planning to attack British interests had sunk. She was so excited that she ordered a second goose be brought out for thanksgiving.
The Pilgrims however didn't have much in the way of geese, so they made do with a turkey.
Today, the purpose of thanksgiving is different than it was then. Today, it is primarily a secular holiday intended to allow people to get together and to be thankful for everything this great nation has to offer them. People will often go around the table and say what it is they are thankful for because it's a tradition. And truthfully, we have much to be thankful for, given that America is still the best damn country on the planet. Now that's the best purpose of all for Thanksgiving.
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