![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/thanksgiving-2022-pies-parades-presidential-pardons-and-the-history-behind-the-day/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/thanksgiving-tukey_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfSVWeZ_vEN7c6bHu2jJnT8.jpg&description=Then in 1846, author Sarah Josepha Hale waged a one-woman campaign for Thanksgiving to be recognised as a truly national holiday. In the US the day had previously been celebrated only in New England and was largely unknown in the American South. All the other states scheduled their own Thanksgiving holidays at different times, some as early as October and others as late as January. Hale's advocacy for the national holiday lasted 17 years and four presidencies before the letter she wrote to Lincoln was successful. In 1863, at the height of the Civil War, he supported legislation which established a national holiday of Thanksgiving on the last Thursday of November. Lincoln perhaps wanted the date to tie in with the anchoring of the Mayflower at Cape Cod, which occurred on November 21, 1620. Although we now use the Gregorian calendar. In 1621 the date would have been November 11 to the Pilgrims, who used the Julian calendar. So Hale finally got her wish. She is perhaps now better known, though, for writing the nursery rhyme 'Mary Had a Little Lamb'. In 1939, President Roosevelt moved Thanksgiving up a week to try and give a boost to retailers before Christmas during the Great Depression. Several states followed FDR's lead but 16 states refused the holiday shift, leaving the country with rival Thanksgivings. FDR changed his mind after coming under pressure from Congress and in 1941, a resolution was passed returning the holiday to the fourth Thursday of November. Atlantic City mayor Thomas D. Taggart later described the Thanksgiving holiday from 1939–1941 as "Franksgiving". There are several potential reasons Americans eat turkey on the big day: one claims that the pilgrim Edward Winslow wrote a letter about that now-famous meal in 1621 which mentioned a turkey hunt before the dinner. Another theory says the choice of turkey was inspired by Queen Elizabeth I who was eating dinner when she heard that Spanish ships had sunk on their way to attack England. She was so thril){kind=link}
When is Thanksgiving this year, and how can you celebrate?
Thanksgiving – one of the biggest events in the American calendar – will soon be upon us, and yet the most exposure Britain gets to the holiday is by watching US television series’ Thanksgiving-themed episodes.
The American version of the holiday was originally celebrated in the United States to mark a day of giving thanks for the harvest and the blessings of the past year.
Yes, there’s the turkey and candied yams; there’s an annual parade and people either watch or play a football game – but there’s a lot of reason behind these fun and delicious traditions.
If you are wondering, how did this day become so important? Why does the president pardon a turkey and what on earth is ‘ambrosia’? Here is everything you need to know about Thanksgiving.