Thanksgiving is on the last Thursday of November every year. It is a time to spend with your family and give thanks for what you already have and to show love to your family and friends. This is a day when most Americans get together, eat until they burst, and fight over who does the dishes once the meal is done, or go back to their homes, hoping that next year's Thanksgiving isn't so horrible. It really depends on who you have for your family. Sounds like a great American tradition right?

How did Thanksgiving come about?

There are various arguments on how Thanksgiving came about. If you're on facebook, you have the people posting about the great American tradition and then you have others posting how we got the holiday from killing off Native Americans. Well, in a small way, both groups of people are correct.

According to the history website, “In September of 1620, most colonists remained on board their ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy, and other outbreaks of contagious disease. On the Mayflower, only half of the crew remained to live and see their first spring in New England. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore where they were visited by an Abenaki Indian who greeted them in English. Several days later, he returned with another Native American, Squanto, a member of the Pawtuxet tribe who had been kidnapped by an English sea captain and sold into slavery before escaping to London and returning to his home on an exploratory expedition. Sqaunto, taught the Pilgrims how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in rivers and avoid poisonus plants. He also helped forge an alliance between the settlers and the Wampanoag, a local tribe, which would endure for more than 50 years and tragically remains one of the sole examples of harmony between European colonists and Native Americans.”

When was Thanksgiving made into an official holiday?

According to the national archives, “On September 28, 1789, just before leaving for recess, the first Federal Congress passed a resolution asking that the President of the United States recommend to the nation a day of thanksgiving. A few days later, President George Washington issued a proclamation naming Thursday, November 26, 1789 as a “Day of Publick Thanksgivin”- the first time Thanksgiving was celebrated under the new constitution....It wasn't until President Abraham Lincoln's (in the midst of the civil war) Proclamation that Thanksgiving was regularly commemorated each year on the last Thursday of November.”

So, here is your brief glimpse into why we have a Thanksgiving holiday. Either way, be thankful for what you have and enjoy the time with your family and/or friends. Don't eat too much, and certainly offer to help with the chores. Also, don't forget to bring something for the holiday as that is the polite thing to do regardless of what it is you're bringing. I'm probably bringing a case of Mike's Hard for my own family...

Happy Thanksgiving!