Thanksgiving Day - Święto Dziękczynienia

Thanksgiving Day is celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the United States. It has a special significance for American people. Its origin goes back to the first half of the 17th century. In December 1620, a ship named Mayflower brought over a hundred English men and women to the coast of North America. They were all members of a religious sect of Puritans. They had to leave England because they wanted to reform the Church of England and became very unpopular. In fact, most of them were persecuted.

When these first Pilgrims landed in America, they founded a colony called Plymouth. However, half of them did not survive the severe winter. The others did not die but only because the native Indians called Wampanoag agreed to help them and taught them how to plant corn. In October 1621 in Plymouth, Massachusetts, the Pilgrims held a feast to celebrate the good harvest and to thank God for his blessings. The main dish was roast turkey. The Pilgrims called that day Thanksgiving Day. The Pilgrim leader, Governor William Bradford invited the neighboring Wampanoag Indians also to the feast. The first Thanksgiving celebration lasted three days.

President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving Proclamation in 1789 and again in 1795. Abraham Lincoln issued a 'Thanksgiving Proclamation' on third October 1893 and officially set aside the last Thursday of November as the national day for Thanksgiving. Earlier, the presidents used to make an annual proclamation to specify the day when Thanksgiving was to be held. President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the Thursday before last of November as Thanksgiving Day in 1939. He did so to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the state's economy. Congress passed an official proclamation in 1941 and declared that from then on Thanksgiving would be observed as a legal holiday on the fourth Thursday of November every year.

Nowadays Americans celebrate Thanksgiving Day in a family circle. They gather together at the table and enjoy a traditional dinner of roast turkey. Young people who study or live far away usually come home for the Thanksgiving feast. Some Americans go to church on that day to thank God for his generosity. Thanksgiving Day is regarded as a special one for the needy, who receive gifts of food from charitable organizations and churches.

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Vocabulary

significance - znaczenie

origin - korzenie, początki

brought over (od: bring over) - przywozić

Pilgrims - pielgrzymi

persecuted - prześladowani

to found a colony - założyć kolonię

the severe winter - sroga (ostra) zima

to plant corn - uprawiać kukurydzę

to hold a feast - urządzić ucztę

good harvest - dobre zbiory

blessing - błogosławieństwo

roast turkey - pieczony indyk

neighboring (pisownia AmE) - sąsiadujący

last - trwać

issue - wydać

proclamation - proklamacja, obwieszczenie

set aside - ustanowić

annual - coroczne/roczne

hold - odbywać się

restore - przywrócić

to pass (a law) - uchwalić (ustawę)

observe - obchodzić

legal holiday - oficjalne święto

generosity - hojność

the needy - potrzebujący

charitable organizations - organizacje charytatywne