问题补充：
感恩节来历过程用英语怎么描述 英语
答案：
【答案】 Thanksgiving, or Thanksgiving Day, is a holiday celebrated in the United States on the fourth Thursday in November. It has officially been an annual tradition since 1863, when during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national day of thanksgiving to be celebrated on Thursday, November 26.[1] As a federal and popular holiday in the U.S., Thanksgiving is one of the major holidays of the year. Together with Christmas and the New Year, Thanksgiving is a part of the broader holiday season.
The event that Americans commonly call the First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for guiding them safely to the New World.[2] The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days, providing enough food for 53 Pilgrims and 90 Native Americans.[3] The feast consisted of fish (cod, eels, and bass) and shellfish (clams, lobster, and mussels), wild fowl (ducks, geese, swans, and turkey), venison, berries and fruit, vegetables (peas, pumpkin, beetroot and possibly, wild or cultivated onion), harvest grains (barley and wheat), and the Three Sisters: beans, dried Indian maize or corn, and squash.[2][4][5][6] The New England colonists were accustomed to regularly celebrating thanksgivings—days of prayer thanking God for blessings such as military victory or the end of a drought.[7]
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Traditional celebrations[edit] Foods of the season
Traditional Thanksgiving dinnerU.S. tradition compares the holiday with a meal held in 1621 by the Wampanoag and the Pilgrims who settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. It is continued in modern times with the Thanksgiving dinner, traditionally featuring turkey, playing a central role in the celebration of Thanksgiving.
In the United States, certain kinds of food are traditionally served at Thanksgiving meals. Firstly, baked or roasted turkey is usually the featured item on any Thanksgiving feast table (so much so that Thanksgiving is sometimes referred to as Turkey Day). Stuffing, mashed potatoes with gravy, sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, sweet corn, various fall vegetables (mainly various kinds of squashes), and pumpkin pie are commonly associated with Thanksgiving dinner. All of these are actually native to the Americas or were introduced as a new food source to the Europeans when they arrived. Turkey may be an exception. In his book Mayflower, Nathaniel Philbrick suggests that the Pilgrims might already have been familiar with turkey in England, even though the bird is native to the Americas. The Spaniards had brought domesticated turkeys back from Central America in the early 1600s, and the birds soon became popular fare all over Europe, including England, where turkey (as an alternative to the traditional goose) became a fixture at English Christmases.[34]
The less fortunate are often provided with food at Thanksgiving time. Most communities have annual food drives that collect non-perishable packaged and canned foods, and corporations sponsor charitable distributions of staple foods and Thanksgiving dinners.[35]
[edit] Giving thanks
Saying grace before carving the turkey at Thanksgiving dinner in the home of Earle Landis in Neffsville, Pennsylvania. (1942)Thanksgiving was originally a religious observance for all the members of the community to give thanks to God for a common purpose. Historic reasons for community thanksgivings are: the 1541 thanksgiving mass after the expedition of Francisco Vásquez de Coronado safely crossing the high plains of Texas and finding game,[36][8] and the 1777 thanksgiving after the victory in the Revolutionary War Battle of Saratoga.[8] In his 1789 Proclamation, President Washington gave many noble reasons for a national Thanksgiving, including for the civil and religious liberty, for useful knowledge, and for God’s kind care and His Providence.[37] The only presidents to express a specifically Christian perspective in their proclamation have been Grover Cleveland in 1896,[37] and William McKinley in 1900.[37] Several other presidents have cited the Judeo-Christian tradition. Gerald Fords 1975 declaration made no clear reference to any divinity.[37]
The tradition of giving thanks to God is continued today in various forms. Various religious and spiritual organizations offer services and events on Thanksgiving themes the weekend before, the day of, or the weekend after Thanksgiving.
At home, it is a holiday tradition in many families to begin the Thanksgiving dinner by saying grace (a prayer before or after a meal).[38] The custom is portrayed in the photograph Family Holding Hands and Praying Before a Thanksgiving Meal. Traditionally, grace was led by the hostess or host, though in later times it is usual for others to contribute.[39]
[edit] Vacation and travelOn Thanksgiving Day, families and friends usually gather for a large meal or dinner. Consequently, the Thanksgiving holiday weekend is one of the busiest travel periods of the year.[40] Thanksgiving is a four-day or five-day weekend vacation for schools and colleges. Most business and government workers (78% in ) are given Thanksgiving and the day after as paid holidays.[41] Thanksgiving Eve, the night before Thanksgiving, is one of the busiest nights of the year for bars and clubs, as many college students and others return to their hometowns to reunite with friends and family.[42]
参考资料：
/wiki/Thanksgiving_(United_States)
