Prompt Cast
The History and Traditions of Thanksgiving
TLDR Thanksgiving is a secular holiday with religious overtones that originated in the Americas and has spread to other countries. The first Thanksgiving was more of a harvest festival than a harmonious gathering between pilgrims and natives, and the tradition of Thanksgiving as a national holiday was established in 1863 by Abraham Lincoln.
Timestamped Summary
00:00
Thanksgiving is a secular holiday with religious overtones that originated in the Americas and has spread to other countries, and its traditions are unique to the holiday.
01:42
The first Thanksgiving was likely not the first celebration of its kind in North America, with recorded celebrations occurring in Virginia in 1607, St. Augustine, Florida in 1565, and even on Baffin Island in Canada in 1579, and the 1621 feast held by the pilgrims was never actually called a Thanksgiving in any of the written accounts.
03:17
The first Thanksgiving was more of a harvest festival than a Thanksgiving, and it was not the harmonious gathering between pilgrims and natives that it is often portrayed as, as both groups had suffered devastating losses and the feast was more of a survival celebration; the creation of Thanksgiving as an organized holiday didn't occur until after the Revolutionary War.
04:47
The tradition of Thanksgiving as a national holiday was on and off for decades until Sarah Josefa Hale, author of "Mary Had a Little Lamb," successfully persuaded Abraham Lincoln to declare Thanksgiving in 1863, and since then it has been celebrated annually on the last Thursday of November.
06:19
Turkeys became popular and associated with Thanksgiving because they are native to North America, large enough to feed a big feast, and easier to eat in the fall rather than feed through the winter.
07:43
Thanksgiving traditions include football games, parades sponsored by department stores, the gifting of turkeys to the White House, and the celebration of Thanksgiving in other countries such as Canada and Norfolk Island.
09:05
Thanksgiving is celebrated in Japan and Liberia, and is a unique holiday that is not tied to a specific religion, nationalism, or individual.
