In America, Thanksgiving celebrates the harvest. It usually falls on the fourth Thursday of November.

Other cultures have harvest celebrations as well. Below is information on the history of the holiday and how different cultures celebrate.

• History
• Greek
• Roman
• Chinese
• Jewish
• Egyptian
• America

History

When the Pilgrims fled England to avoid persecution, they went to Holland. From there, they decided to make an expedition to the "New World" -- America. A group called the Merchant Adventurers paid for the trip, but the Pilgrims owed them seven years of work in the New World. On September 6, 1620, 100 people left from Plymouth, England, on a ship called the Mayflower.

After 65 days of sailing, they landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts, on November 10, 1620. They had a hard time getting started -- and after the first winter, only 50 Pilgrims survived.

Their luck changed on March 16, 1621, when they met Samoset, an Abnaki Indian, who spoke a little English. He introduced them to another Native American, Squanto, who had traveled to England and Spain and was almost fluent in English. Squanto taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the new land -- how to get maple syrup from trees, which plants were poisonous, and, most importantly, how to plant Indian corn.

The next year, the Pilgrims had a huge harvest and William Bradford, the governor of the Pilgrim colony, declared a day of thanksgiving, celebrated with a big feast for colonists and Native Americans alike. Three years later, the Pilgrims had another plentiful harvest and declared November 29th the official day of Thanksgiving.

In the late 1770s, the Continental Congress suggested that each year, Americans should celebrate a national day of Thanksgiving, and beginning with President Lincoln in 1863, presidents have declared such a day each year.


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Greek

The Greeks celebrated Demeter, the goddess of grain and the harvest. They had a Thesmosphoria festival in fall after the harvest. On the first day of the festival, married women built huts out of leaves and plants and put cushions inside. On the second day, the women fasted. On the third day, they had a huge feast with corn, sweets, fruits and pork.
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Roman

The Romans honored Ceres, the goddess of corn, with the Cerelia festival on October 4. They sacrificed pigs and the first foods collected from the harvest, and had a feast with parades and entertainment.
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Chinese

The Chinese celebrate the harvest with the Chung Ch’ui festival. The festival is held on the full moon occurring on the 15th day of the eighth month of the Chinese calendar. They consider this to be the birthday of the moon, and they have moon-like cakes. They eat ham and fruit and give moon cakes to each other.
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Jewish

Sukkot is celebrated in fall. The name comes from the huts that Moses and the Israelites lived in for 40 years in the desert searching for the Promised Land. Sukkot lasts eight or nine days, and starts on the 15th day of Tishri (a Hebrew month), five days after Yom Kippur.
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Egyptian

The Egyptians honor Min, the god of the harvest and fertility. They celebrated in spring because that is when their harvest was. They pretended to weep when they harvested corn so the spirit of the corn would not be angry with them for picking it.
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America

In America, families typically eat turkey, cranberry, stuffing, gravy, potatoes, vegetables and pumpkin pie for Thanksgiving. But all families are different, and your family might have its own traditions. No matter how your family celebrates, there are many ways you can contribute. If you don’t make decorations in school, you can find pumpkins, pinecones or leaves in your area to decorate. You can help cook or even suggest a new recipe you’d like to try. Just remember that Thanksgiving is about being grateful for all that we have -- family, friends and love.
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