Thanksgiving Holiday

1. THANKSGIVING
A United States Holiday

2. Background
• Thanksgiving means ¨giving thanks¨
• On Thanksgiving, Americans are thankful for
the good things in their lives
• It is a holiday that ´began´almost 400 years
ago
• The most notable part of Thanksgiving is the
Thanksgiving meal

4. Thanksgiving´s Beginnings
• The “first” Thanksgiving was almost 400 years
ago, in 1621, in Plymouth, Massachusetts
between the pilgrims, Protestant separatists
from England, and Wampanoag Native
Americans
• Plymouth one of the first places people from
England lived in what is now the United States

5. Mayflower ship
Plymouth Plantation

6. • The pilgrims had a hard time living in
Plymouth. They were hungry and many died
until Squanto and other Wampanoag Native
Americans helped them learn how to farm
• To celebrate the new harvest and friendship,
the pilgrims and Native Americans celebrated
the ´first´ Thanksgiving with a big meal
together

9. • Video about Thanksgiving:
http://www.history.com/topics/thanksgiving/
history-of-thanksgiving/videos/history-of-the-
thanksgiving-
holiday?m=528e394da93ae&s=undefined&f=
1&free=false

10. Later on…
• Thanksgiving was celebrated as a religious holiday
among white settlers in their churches
• Relations between white settles and Native
Americans became extremely bad. Eventually
descendants of these white settles would kill
most Native Americans
• There was no set day to celebrate Thanksgiving
until after the American Civil War (1860s)

11. Today
• Thanksgiving is celebrated on the last
Thursday of November
• Thanks giving is a national holiday; most
people do not work or go to school on this day
• On Thanksgiving most people meet with
family and friends in their homes and cook a
big meal

12. Traditional Thanksgiving Foods

13. Other Thanksgiving Activities
• On Thanksgiving morning many Americans
watch the Macy´s Thanksgiving Day parade in
New York City on television
• During the afternoon some watch National
Foodball League games
• People eat, talk, and play games with their
families and friends

14. Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade

15. Football game on Thanksgiving day

16. Texas Tradition: Fry the Turkey

18. My family at Thanksgiving a few years
ago