As Thanksgiving draws near, I have decided (really this time) to do a history of Thanksgiving post. Spoiler alert: the first Thanks giving was probably in October! Don’t worry, I’ll have a little gratitude list and traditions part later.

The History of Thanksgiving

Really, a day of “Thanksgiving” in Christian context means a day to give thanks. It could be in February, August, or December. But as as every child knows, the Pilgrims sailed in the Mayflower in 1620, and the next year, they and the Wampanoag tribe had the first thanksgiving the following year. Well that’s WRONG. I don’t have a enough time to go in depth, if you want the full true story, please let me know in the comments. Anyway, the Pilgrims ( we’ll call them the Separatists because they’re really separating from the Church of England.) were really bad at farming, so the Wampanoag tribe agreed to help them in exchange for defense against other hostile tribes, although the relationship was actually pretty shaky In the early fall, the Separatists had a surplus of food, so they had a harvest festival. Being true Americans, they began to shoot their guns in celebration, and the Wampanoag thought it was an attack, so they brought their warriors and prepared to fight. When they realized it was a party they shot some deer and caught some eels (yes, instead of turkey, they had eels). Actually, thanksgiving celebrations were pretty rare until the 1860’s. During the revolutionary war, George Washington gave his men a day of thanksgiving, and it was common to celebrate in New England. Beginning in the 1840’s, Sarah Hale began a letter writing campaign to the presidents to make thanksgiving a national holiday. During the civil war, Abraham Lincoln made it a national holiday to try to help unify the nation. In the early 1900’s some states moved thanksgiving to the 3rd thursday in November. Eventually, it was moved back to the 4th thursday, to become the thanksgiving we know and love.

My Thanksgiving Traditions

In my family we have two big traditions.

#1: TURKEY

In my family, we love turkey. We roast a giant turkey every year. Usually, my dad roasts the turkey, but in the last few years I get to help. We usually use butter in our rub, and we stuff it with onions, garlic, lemons, and thyme.

#2:POUND CAKE

The official pound cake maker in the family is my grandma. Unlike turkey, I have always helped make pound cake, and I get payed in the delicious, creamy batter. We like to put nothing except vanilla as flavoring.

My Gratitude List

I am required to put a gratitude list in here, so I’m going to make it a competition. You all will make your top 10 things your grateful for and post it in the comments. As the overriding force in this blog, I will choose the winner. Here’s mine:

1. my brain 🧠
2. my heart 🫀
3. My health 😷
4. My family 👨‍👩‍👦‍👦
5. my books 📚
6. my grandma, for making pound cake 🎂
7. my grandpa, for making pancakes 🥞
8. my other grandma, for making gumbo 🍲
9.  my other grandpa, for all the fun time I had with him before he passed
10. my friend 30Kellan 🦎

I can’t wait to see your’s! Happy thanksgiving!

( submissions are due by Sunday, November 26th.)