This year's language assistant, Bea, shared with the IES Huelin students the history and meaning of Thanksgiving in the United States.

1. Thanksgiving
By: Bea Escalante

2. Thanksgiving
 Thanksgiving day is celebrated on the last
Thursday of November every year.
 Families gather to eat dinner together and give
thanks for all they have received during the year.

3. Thanksgiving Food
The traditional food items are:
Turkey Mashed
Potatoes
Corn
Bread
Corn
Stuffing
Sweet
Potato

4. History
 In 1620, the Puritans sought freedom from the
religious persecution of King James in England.
 They sailed to find a new place to live on a ship
called the Mayflower.

5. The Mayflower
 The Mayflower was a ship meant to carry food and
supplies, not people!
There
were 102
people.
Most
passengers
were men, but
there were also
women and
children.

6. The Journey
 It took the Puritans or Pilgrims 66 days to arrive to
America.

7. New World = New Home
 On November 11, 1620 the Pilgrims arrived to
Massachusetts and settled there.

8. The Thanksgiving Feast
 In 1621, a year after their arrival to America, the
pilgrims had a 3 day feast to celebrate their first
successful harvest.

9. The Thanksgiving Feast
 They invited the Wampanoag Indians to the feast.
The Wampanoag had taught the pilgrims how to
fish, hunt, and harvest.

10. Official Holiday
 In 1863, in the middle of the American Civil War,
president Abraham Lincoln proclaimed that
Thanksgiving Day would be celebrated every year
on the last day of November.
 He thought this would unite the country.

11. Thanksgiving in Modern times
 Thanksgiving is one of the most important holidays
in the United States. For some people, it is more
important than Christmas.

12. Thanksgiving Parade
 Macy’s (department Store) has a parade every
Thanksgiving morning in New York city.
 About 3,5 million people gather on the streets of
New York to see the Parade.
 About 50 million people watch the parade on
television.

13. The Official Pardoning of
the Turkey
 Every year, the current president of the United
States “pardons” a turkey.
 That means that instead of killing it, the turkey is
sent to a farm to live a happy life!