Everywhere in the United States, people are gathering for Thanksgiving, a national tradition and a national treasure. But where did this custom first appear?
Although the original Thanksgiving's precise date is unknown, many historians agree that it dates back to the Pilgrims' first harvest in 1621. There were allegedly 90 Native Americans and 53 Pilgrims during the three-day festival in Plymouth.
George Washington, who led the revolutionaries at the time, maintained the practise in 1777, after they had defeated the British at the Battle of Saratoga. Lincoln made it a federal holiday in 1863, in the middle of the deadly American Civil War. Since then, it has been repeated annually.
Many people hit the road over the Thanksgiving weekend. An estimated 54.9 million Americans will go 50 or more miles from home for Thanksgiving celebrations, according data compiled by AAA.
This year's Thanksgiving will be the most costly in the last 37 years, as reported by the Farm Bureau in their annual poll. The price of a typical Thanksgiving meal is expected to rise by 20% from the previous year.
Stat of the day from the American Farm Bureau. The cost of the US Thanksgiving dinner will be 14% higher, with some turkeys costing 24% more than last year. The estimates for the higher cost of turkeys for UK Christmas dinner range from 5-10%. #food #inflation
— Anne Ashworth (@AnneAshworth) November 24, 2021
A 16-pound turkey costs $5 more than it did a year ago. Sales of stuffing, a Thanksgiving staple, are up 69% over the previous year. Despite the financial blow, Thanksgiving is the one day of the year when Americans consume an average of 4,500 calories more than usual.
While many Americans like sitting down to a turkey dinner on Thanksgiving, they are less enthusiastic about engaging in another iconic Thanksgiving tradition: discussing politics. Almost two-thirds of Americans are against discussing politics over a meal, as reported by WalletHub.
Of course, many people also use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to help others. Millions of pounds of food and hundreds of millions of dollars are donated to the Salvation Army and other charities every year on Giving Tuesday.
Turkey Trots are held in thousands of cities across the United States, with participants raising money for charities or just getting some exercise before the holiday feast.
The preceding is a summary of an article that originally appeared on Oann.
