What is the difference between thanksgiving now and then

Food was plentiful for this occasion and the spirit of thankfulness prevailed over the three-day celebration. Historians believe that on that Thanksgiving day almost years ago the menu consisted of venison — or deer meat — roasted not stuffed turkey, wild fowl including ducks, geese, and even swans, fish, lobsters, pumpkin in some form, squash, beans, dried fruits, some sort of cranberry sauce, and dried Indian maize or corn. The sugar supply brought over on the Mayflower from England was nearly exhausted by the time of the first Thanksgiving, so it is widely surmised that wheat pudding may have been one of the only sweet dishes served.

The Pilgrims used many spices, including cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, pepper, and dried fruit in the meat sauces they prepared. The best way to cook things in the 17th century was to roast them. Many of the meats were put on a spit and turned over a fire for six hours at a time to ensure that the meat was evenly cooked. They didn't have ovens so pies and cakes and breads most likely never made it to that first Thanksgiving dinner table in Plymouth.

Today we enjoy delicious meals served in a warm home where it's quite possible a football game can be heard from a nearby television set. At the dining room table many Americans may enjoy herb-roasted turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, creamed corn, candied yams, almond green beans, cranberry-orange relish, turnip, popovers with butter, pumpkin pie, mince pie, apple pie, and vanilla ice cream.

Others pinpoint as the true origin of Thanksgiving since the Massachusetts colony governor John Winthrop declared a day to celebrate colonial soldiers who had just slaughtered hundreds of Pequot men, women, and children in what is now Mystic, Connecticut. Regardless, the popular telling of the initial harvest festival is what lived on, thanks to Abraham Lincoln.

The enduring holiday has also nearly erased from our collective memory what happened between the Wampanoag and the English a generation later. Massasoit, the Wampanoag paramount chief, allied with the English settlers in the years after Plymouth was established and fought against the French and other tribes. As thousands more English colonists moved to Plymouth, taking over the land, authorities asserted control over "most aspects of Wampanoag life," according to " Historic Contact: Indian People and Colonists in Today's Northeastern United States.

After Massasoit's son, Metacomet, known to the English as "King Philip," inherited leadership, his men were executed for the murder of the Punkapoag interpreter and Christian convert John Sassamon, sparking King Philip's War.

Wampanoag warriors responded with raids, and the New England Confederation of Colonies declared war in Cray Jr. And, being the woman she was, she just kept nagging and promoting it everywhere she went until somebody had to listen!

The provision is always sufficient for a multitude, every farmer in the country being, at this season of the year, plentifully supplied, and every one proud of displaying his abundance and prosperity.

The roasted turkey took precedence on this occasion, being placed at the head of the table; and well did it become its lordly station, sending forth the rich odor of its savory stuffing, and finely covered with the froth of the basting…. There was a huge plum pudding, custards and pies of every name and description ever known in Yankee land; yet the pumpkin pie occupied the most distinguished niche….

She would have done Cecil B DeMille proud! We hope every governor in the twenty-nine states will appoint the same day—25th of November—as the day of thanksgiving! Then the whole land would rejoice at once. The Indians brought five deer and seafood was all around them. Small fowl: Roasted on a spit over open fire. Large fowl: Boiled, to create a broth and make sure it was cooked clear through without burning it. Then it was roasted to crisp the skin. Deer: Made into a hearty stew.

Venison is much lower in fat than most animal meats, 3 grams per serving versus 9 grams per serving. Meat contains high amounts of protein 24 g but venison is lower in calories vs and higher in iron 3. Fish, lobster, mussels, oysters, and clams: Their abundance along the coast made these a staple at every meal.

Lobster, of course, is high in cholesterol; but, ocean going fish are high in Omega 3 fatty acids. Mussels have the most nutrition containing high levels of long-chain EPA and DHA fatty acids, which improve brain function and reduce inflammatory conditions, such as arthritis. And they are an excellent source of zinc and iron, as well as folic acid and vitamin B Farmed Turkey: Today, the wild turkey is eking back from the brink of extinction and is protected.

Throughout that first brutal winter, most of the colonists remained on board the ship, where they suffered from exposure, scurvy and outbreaks of contagious disease. In March, the remaining settlers moved ashore, where they received an astonishing visit from a member of the Abenaki tribe 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 homeland on an exploratory expedition.

Squanto taught the Pilgrims, weakened by malnutrition and illness, how to cultivate corn, extract sap from maple trees, catch fish in the rivers and avoid poisonous plants.

He also helped the settlers forge an alliance with 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.

And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty. Historians have suggested that many of the dishes were likely prepared using traditional Native American spices and cooking methods. Days of fasting and thanksgiving on an annual or occasional basis became common practice in other New England settlements as well.

His successors John Adams and James Madison also designated days of thanks during their presidencies. In , New York became the first of several states to officially adopt an annual Thanksgiving holiday; each celebrated it on a different day, however, and the American South remained largely unfamiliar with the tradition.

Roosevelt moved the holiday up a week in an attempt to spur retail sales during the Great Depression. In many American households, the Thanksgiving celebration has lost much of its original religious significance; instead, it now centers on cooking and sharing a bountiful meal with family and friends.

Turkey, a Thanksgiving staple so ubiquitous it has become all but synonymous with the holiday, may or may not have been on offer when the Pilgrims hosted the inaugural feast in Today, however, nearly 90 percent of Americans eat the bird—whether roasted, baked or deep-fried—on Thanksgiving, according to the National Turkey Federation. Other traditional foods include stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie.

Volunteering is a common Thanksgiving Day activity, and communities often hold food drives and host free dinners for the less fortunate.