Happy Thanksgiving 2015!

Thursday, November 26, 2015 is Thanksgiving, America’s beloved holiday of giving thanks for the blessings in one’s life. It is believed that the Wampanoag tribe, along with some of the Plymouth colonists, are the original participants in the first Thanksgiving. Unlike their European holiday co-hosts, the Wampanoag tribe has stayed in relatively the same location, as most of the estimated 6,000+ Wampanoag descendants are still living in the Massachusetts area today. Despite the almost immediate infatuation with Thanksgiving amongst Americans, Thanksgiving wasn’t officially an American holiday until President Abraham Lincoln declared it a national holiday in 1863.

In 1863, Thanksgiving was celebrated on the last Thursday in November, although this wasn’t universally accepted. Due to the ongoing American Civil War, there was no agreement, nationally, on when the holiday should be celebrated. In time, the “last Thursday” rule was accepted by all. As time went on and American consumerism grew, the holiday would find its date changed by President Franklin Roosevelt on December 26, 1941. Thanksgiving would now be celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, so as to allow extra shopping time in the Christmas season on years where November has five Thursdays. The extra shopping period was designed to give America an economic step up.

Today, Thanksgiving remains a holiday ingrained in the American psyche. Often seen as a checkpoint on the road to the mad shopping season, Thanksgiving is bigger than ever, and despite the ease with which the holiday could become overshadowed by the Black Friday rush, in recent years there has been a heartwarming push to remember and celebrate Thanksgiving traditionally: a celebration of life and as a day of giving thanks for one’s blessings and fortune, surrounded by loved ones and friends. From the Jefferson County Post, to you, Happy Thanksgiving.