The document provides information about the history and traditions of Thanksgiving in the United States. It discusses how the first Thanksgiving was celebrated by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag Native Americans in 1621. It also describes common Thanksgiving activities like parades, football, and sharing meals with family and those in need. Modern Thanksgiving traditions include turkey, stuffing, potatoes, and pumpkin pie.

1. Thanksgiving Day in the USA It is observed on the last Thursday of November. This is a very popular festival in this country.

4. “ The Embarkation of the Pilgrims ” Robert Walter Weir (American Hudson River school painter,1803–1889), "The Embarkation of the Pilgrims " (1844), US Capitol Rotunda, Oil on canvas

5. The Mayflower 's destination was northern Virginia, but the ship was thrown off course by a storm. On December 11th the Mayflower landed at Cape Code (now it`s near Boston) and decide d to stay. The Pilgrims' first winter was very difficult. There were not enough houses built when the snow began to fall. Many Pilgrims stay ed aboard the Mayflower through the winter. The Pilgrims suffer ed from the bitter cold and lack of food, and only half survive d . A group of people called the Wampanoag were already living in the area of Plymouth. How do you think they felt watching these new strangers ? November 1620–February 1621: The First Days of Pl y mo u th

6. Spring & Summer 1621: Building a Friendship In April, the Mayflower sail ed back to England. All of the Pilgrims chose to stay. The Wampanoag share d their knowledge of trapping, hunting, fishing and farming. A Wampanoag named Hobbamock move d with his family to Pl y mo u th. How were the Wampanoag and Pilgrim communities changed by their friendship and cooperation?

7. T HE summer days were full for the busy Pilgrims. In the fields there were only twenty men and a few boys to do all the work. There was corn to hoe, and there were gardens to weed and care for. When time could be spared from this work, there were barns to be built, and the fort to finish . The brave men worked from morning till night preparing for the next long winter. The sun and the rain helped them. The crops grew wonderfully, and soon the hillsides were green with growing corn , and wheat , and vegetables . When the warm days of early summer came, there were sweet wild strawberries on the sunny hills. A little later, groups of boys and girls filled their baskets with wild raspberries and juicy blackberries . There was no sugar to be used for jellies and jams , but trays of the wild fruits were placed in the sun to dry for winter use.

8. October 1621: Harvest Feast Pl y moth Governor William Bradford declare d a feast to give thanks to God for their first harvest. Massasoit and 90 other Wampanoag we re invited to join the 52 Pilgrims for this three-day feast. The English serve d wild turkeys, geese, and ducks. The Wampanoag brought five deer, along with lobsters, clams, oysters, and fish. The feast also include d cucumbers, carrots, cabbages, turnips, radishes, onions, beets, corn, and wild fruits. Why was this Thanksgiving feast so important? How was this first celebration similar to Thanksgiving dinners today?

9. “ The first Thanksgiving "

12. Happy Turkey Day !

14. Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner What is a Traditional Thanksgiving Dinner? Is it similar to a Traditional Christmas Dinner Menu? A traditional thanksgiving dinner includes corn bread stuffing , mashed potatoes , turkey , cranberry sauce /jelly , sweet potatoes , squash and a variety of other dishes. Favourite desserts include pumpkin pie with whipped cream .

16. ” Turkey Day” T-Day is usually a family day with joyous reunions, celebrated with a traditional T - dinner. Many families like to share the day with others, inviting to their dinner foreign students, military people stationed far from home and people who have no families. It's also a time for serious religious thinking, church services and prayer. Many Americans also show increased concern for the poor. Charitable organizations and churches provide food or serve dinners for the needy.

17. Thanksgiving Parade of floats

18. Football finals The oval ball used in American football has a pointed oval shape, and usually has a large set of stitches along one side

19. Modern observance The fourth Thursday in November, Thanksgiving Day, ushers in the "official" start of the Christmas season in our modern day world. Marked with parades, huge family meals, wall-to-wall football, and the appearance of Santa throughout malls and stores, the festival has become a commercial event in which the origins and meaning of the day are almost totally obscured.

20. Celebrating the harvest tradition

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